Remember being a high school student, eagerly waiting for the time you’d be free to flee your parents' home and settle into your own crib where you’d be the one setting the rules? From not making your bed to not washing the dishes, to not waking up early, to… you get it.
The truth is, living on your own couldn’t be further from that careless and rock and roll-inspired freedom we dreamed of when we were little. Renting a place means bills, chores, responsibilities, then more responsibilities and more bills, and… yep, never-ending chores.
What nobody tells you before becoming a proud tenant is that it comes with a landlord. And if you've ever had one, you know very well that not all landlords are nice. Some are pretty weird, kinda insane, seriously annoying, and everything but pleasant.
Below we looked at the craziest landlord stories told by people themselves, so fasten your seatbelt for one hell of a ride.
#1
I F(25) have been renting a house since I was 18 (7 years). When I moved in, the backyard was a large piece of dirt, no lawn or anything, just a decently big backyard with a fence all around. It was a cheap but not great house, but I signed because I wanted the backyard space.
Over the past few years I erected a small garden shed, greenhouse and pizza oven (transportables), planted lots of veggie gardens in big transportable garden beds, and put down some nice pavers, an aquaponics set up, and generally made the backyard a really green and beautiful place to be. It became the green oasis all my friends gathered at.
A few months ago, my landlords let me know they were planning to sell, and my final move out day was a week ago. When I left, I brought my garden with me to my new place - nothing in my last backyard was directly planed into the ground, and nothing permanent. I dismantled the sheds and greenhouse, loaded up all the pots and garden beds onto a truck and cleared the backyard in three days with lots of help.
My former landlords are furious over this, and demand that I return the backyard to the former state - apparently they’d listed the house for sale with pictures of the backyard and potential buyers were walking away from the house when they saw the barren backyard. They’re accusing me of stealing their plants, and wrecking the backyard.
Legally I’m fine - my contract said I could garden, and I have photos from the first real estate walkthrough before I moved in that show that the backyard was in the same state as I first found it (although with more fertile soil now probably). The same real estate agent signed off my final inspection, and I got my deposit back.
I’ve received mixed responses though, because I saw the landlords taking pictures of my backyard before I left but didn’t make the connection because imho when pictures of a house has furniture in it, you don’t expect to also get free furniture. Some of my coworkers suggested that IATA because the house valuation certainly has fallen dramatically because I didn’t tell them I was taking my garden with me, so they couldn’t plan to landscape before lockdown hit.
Tl;dr AITA for moving my garden that I build from my former rental house into my new house, upsetting my former landlords who didn’t expect me to take it with me?
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245points
#2
So, we live in a two bedroom, two bathroom house. He lives in the master bedroom with his own bathroom. My bathroom is the hallway bathroom. Anytime he has friends over or a party, after the party he will text me or leave a note in the bathroom telling me that I need to clean MY BATHROOM, that his party/friends just threw up in or made any type of mess.
I've tried to tell him that I clean up after myself after every time I use the bathroom and I don't think I should clean up after anyone else. But he says that I pay rent for the room and the guest bathroom, so its my responsibility to clean that bathroom no matter who uses it.
Also, some of his friends have broken certain minor things in the bathroom and he says I need to fix or replace it since my bathroom is the guest bathroom and it doesn't matter if his friends broke it, which I've told him that there is no way I'm going to do and I will just leave it broken or have him fix it, since he is the landlord.
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143points
#3
Hi all. I (22f) live with my mom and siblings (53f, 16f, 11m). To keep this short, we have lived in an illegal basement apt. for 18 years. I was told by LL (landlord) that it met govt. requirements and only found out it was illegal after he begged us not to call an inspector for a sewage leak he refused to fix in November. At first we were afraid to, but a housing program was coming through and we'd had enough, so after swimming in sewage for a month we called the inspector. He was not happy, because he was getting fined every day starting mid-Feb for having an illegal place (We had a fire escape, so they didn't have to emergency evacuate us). We continue to clean 20 gallons of sewage from our living room everyday, and no we can't fix it, because we have to tear down walls to find the guilty pipe.
He still hasn't fixed it. All the events in the past four/five months is half-blackmail from him to get us to move out without facing court fines. We had roach and mice infestations caused by our neighbors that, both times, he refused to do anything about. His dad stole our Christmas packages and dug my gift out of the garbage in front of me, LL himself refused to call a plumber UNTIL he was worried about the foundation and then forced me to come home from school because I didn't want him in the house alone with a random plumber, they yell at my mom on the phone but not me because I'm making most of the legal decisions here and was paying the rent, etc, etc... We barely make noise, and one slightly loud movie night my LL came down in the middle of the night and banged on my window to tell me to turn it off, completely skipping the options of calling me or even trying the door. I didn't have pants on. LL's wife curses at us over the phone while we have no idea what she even has to do with this. They told me to drop college and get a job the second time I ever missed rent, when I already had a job. I've had enough of their hostility.
We have court tomorrow and they said they were taking us for non-payment of rent, which is true because the inspector himself said to stop paying. However, he does not want us to mention that it is illegal because he's going to face A LOT in fines, likely 6 digits. I'm sick of being considerate when they think it's okay to have a family of four living in THEIR sewage and harassing them in the meantime. The housing program is going through, and we are in no danger of being homeless anymore, which was 99% of our concerns.
WIBTA if I tell the court about my LL evicting us because he's getting fined and the place is illegal?
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127points
If you’re a tenant living in a rented property, know that you’re far from the only one. In fact, this study from UNCLE found that 21% of renters in the UK don’t plan on ever buying a house. That means that a whopping 1 in 5 residents are always planning to rent.
The UK has the 10th most renters around the world, with 34% of residents living in rented accommodation. Meanwhile, almost a third (30%) typically plan to rent for a very short period of time, which is 1-2 years.
#4
Bit of a backstory. My wife and I live with her bestie. Bestie bought the house we were renting together, and everything changed. While rent was split equally, now we pay about 2/3 of her mortgage. Shared areas were no longer shared, they are now all hers and if she isn't mad over something, we get to use them as long as we follow her rules.
A while back, we got into an argument because she threw out some of my personal belongings because they were in her way. The argument was basically, her house, her rules, I have no say, so suck it.
We got past it, BUT this morning our pump for our septic blew. We need a plumber to come out and drain it, and we have to replace the pump. It was assumed my wife and I would pay half. I said no. She's the landlord, it's her house, her responsibility for maintenance.
My landlord is mad because now she's out over $1000, and my wife thinks I'm TA because I refuse to help pay.
Note, there is nothing in writing saying we share maintenance responsibilities one way or the other, AND there is another tenant whose rent supposedly goes into a savings account specifically for maintenance.
So AITA for basically using her own argument against her that she's the landlord, her house her problem?
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91points
#5
I [27F] and my husband [28M] moved into our own apartment back in July 2021. When we moved in we didn’t have any problems except seeing a roach or two that we thought was normal, but over the next couple months that quickly turned into seeing them daily, all sorts of sizes.
It got so bad to the point my asthma started acting up because I am allergic to roaches, and the anxiety of having an infestation in my clean apartment landed me in the hospital. I had no idea where they were coming from. I pleaded with my management to do something and they refused. I hired my own exterminators that stated that unless they treated every single unit in my building, the roaches would keep coming in.
The law in my city says that landlords are responsible for pest control and if they don’t do anything about it within a certain time frame, I can take them to court. So I hired a lawyer that sent them a demand letter, along with my exterminator bills and hospital bills and it must’ve scared management because they put a letter on everybody’s door stating tomorrow they will be doing a mandatory inspection of all apartments to see where the infestation could be coming from.
I was talking to my next door neighbor as I got home from work and he was upset because he apparently has been subletting which is against the rules and has animals that the landlord doesn’t know about. When I told him that it was probably because of me he called me an AH for making such a big deal about “a few little bugs.”
I don’t think I’m an *sshole, but I didn’t know they were going to force inspections. I just want my apartment to be roach free :( So, AITA?
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87points
#6
My landlord has this rule that if you are moving out he will start showing the apartment in the 3 months before move out. The lease didn't say anything about whether I had to leave during showings, just that he needed to give 24 hours notice and I couldn't decline a showing.
He keeps showing the apartment and it seems like nobody wants it because it's expensive (he is trying to raise the rent a lot which is why I am leaving) and sh*tty. It's a studio apartment, it is dark and gross, and the pipes burst a few years before I moved in and there are still water stains everywhere and nasty bent ceiling tiles. He is using very old photos on the listings so people see something that looks nice and then show up and see it is nasty.
At first, I was trying to be considerate and leave or step out during showings but after so many I got sick of being interrupted and having to move plans around with only a day notice because my landlord can't be honest with his listings and use a reasonable price. I told him how annoyed I was and how he should just put up honest photos and honest rent and he got p*ssy with me and told me "don't tell me how to run my business"
So last Friday when I had off work and was hoping to sleep in, he said he'd be coming by "in the morning" and I went to sleep with those foam safety earplugs in, with a pair of noise cancelling headphones over top, and a pillow over my head. I slept without being woken and then saw some texts from my landlord asking if I remembered he had a showing. I texted back like "yeah, when are you coming by?" And he said they'd come by and it was uncomfortable for them to be touring the apartment next to me sleeping. I said "Oh wow I must of been out cold, work has been crazy"
Then on Sunday, I had plans to have friends over. I told them my landlord might come by but just ignore him. We were hanging out drinking and he came by with a family. It was awkward since the studio apartment was pretty full already and he asked me if I had gotten his text about a showing. I said I hadn't seen it, I'd had a double shift at work and must have missed it, work has been crazy. He asked us to step outside and wait in the hall and I said I didn't wanna disturb the neighbors who work nights. So he showed the apartment with us in it.
Anyway, I've decided to not schedule around him anymore unless he stops trying to bait and switch people. Because it's a pain in the *ss to be woken early, to have plans on my days off interrupted, all with just a day notice. And if he wants to be showing the apartment with someone still living there, people are gonna see that.
I also decided to not be direct with what I'm doing, he got mad when I tried to be direct. I'll just be saying sh*t like "Nah, I must have missed that, my job doesn't let me have my phone out on shift" or whatever.
AITA for not leaving my apartment when my landlord shows it?
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74points
If you’re wondering why more and more young people are opting for rented properties, Ruth Barrett, spokesperson at UNCLE, told us that the primary reason is financial. “There’s lots of emphasis on buying your own home, especially to the younger generations, but saving up large chunks of money may not be possible nor something everyone wants to do, especially when the average property deposit is a staggering £57,000 for first-time buyers.”
#7
For context, even when I (44M) was a child I was incredibly into owning property and designing houses. I work as an architect and am doing quite well for myself. Bought my first duplex here in Germany along time ago where I rent out both part. Then I own two houses in Italy and one in Spain. Two of them are get rented out as Holiday homes while the last one I use for vacations and rent out a room to a friend of mine. So I have a lot of passive income at the moment, but only after a lot of time and money investments and refurbishing of these houses. (I rent in NYC at the moment as my job has moved made me move here temporarily).
My brother (48M) does an apartment. He has a family with two kids while my wife and I are childless. They are currently looking to purchase a house that fits all of them nicely. While they have found their dream house, its out of budget for them. Meanwhile, my wife and I are about to buy our 5th house, this time in France. It's going to be one of our largest purchases yet, significantly larger than anything else we have done. Its a great deal on the property however, and ideally what my wife and I want to retire in.
When having a family facetime with my siblings and parents, I brought it up. Initially very happy for me, my brother mentioned how he needs a larger home for his family and how I should give up on this opportunity to give him money for his house and spend the rest on refurbishing their new home. I just laughed and said flat out no. (Edit: Thought this was a joke)
This was apparently the wrong move, my entire family turns against me and starts berating me. After 10 minutes of them taking turns telling me to buy my brother a house, I said I'd think about it and left.
I am a bit of a pushover so after talking to my wife we agreed we could wait and buy their house and rent it out to them at no profit. Apparently this was insulting to him, having his younger brother be his landlord and my parents said I should just outright give him the money we have been saving.
I told em to piss off, and started moving forward with the paperwork on our house in France. After talking to my friends, they said I should put family first and its not like we are struggling for money.
Now I am confused, AITA?
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73points
#8
I (34M) and my boyfriend (30M) currently live in a century old apartment building. I've lived in the building since 2010 and my boyfriend moved in before Covid hit my area. Last year I reported cracks appearing on my bathroom floor to my landlord. The landlord came over, patched the cracks and for a short while all seemed fine. Then around early December 2021, we noticed that the cracks had come back. I reported it to my landlord who said he'd come by when he had the chance to take a look.well the cracks quickly turned into crevices and when the landlord finally came by he figured something was wrong with the subfloor and he'd have to completely rip out the bathroom floor. We were told we'd have to move out for a couple of days while repairs were being done, ok not a problem. Well the day he was supposed to start repairs came and went and by March I emailed the landlord again to find out when he was finally going to fix the floor, he apologized saying that he had been waiting for the on site maintenance guy to get back to him. Well he finally got back to me yesterday and told me they would begin the work in two weeks and during that time, my boyfriend, my two cats and myself would have to move out for TWO WEEKS on our dime.
When I asked what happened to the couple of days he previously said, he replies "Well the damage is much worse than we originally thought and we have Covid requirements we need to accommodate for as well." Two Weeks in a hotel is simply out of the question for us and isn't something we can financially afford, so I told him in a nice and polite way that we simply cannot afford to move out for two weeks. Well we've since had some back and forth email conversations with our last conversation ending in, "You're gonna wind up falling through the floor if I don't get that floor fixed and you'll be on the hook to pay for it." I know the landlord needs to get in and do this fix but from my end and I know the problem will only get worse but it's not something I can accommodate. Am I being the idiot here?
Edit: Putting this in at the last second but for those of you wondering why we don't stay with relatives, My boyfriend's family doesn't live close enough to allow us to commute back and fourth to work and my family doesn't have the room to house us. For the record I did the math and just to stay in the cheapest hotel I'm my area, a motel with an attached greasy spoon diner, it would cost $1.442 for the two weeks. This does not include other expenses such as food, and the cost of boarding our cats.
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63points
#9
My brother (43) and parents (old af) have a joint llc for some rental properties. I (40f) am not included in that llc. After my divorce in April '21 I asked if they had a property I could rent. I'm paying $150/mo more than the previous tenants but did get a pass on typical deposits and first/last months' rents. I keep the yard mowed, take the trash and recycling to the curb and back, and have not had any big issues with the maintenance or care of the house.
However, my mom is angry that I won't give her the front door lock code. I've changed it twice since moving in because they entered the house without warning more than a few times and have asked my children (6 and 10) to give them the code when I won't. My mom came over today and, while I was sitting outside on my front porch, asked for the code. I told her she didn't need it, that I was honestly uncomfortable with them walking in at any old time, and that, as my landlords, they don't actually have a right to enter my rented property without my permission.
She turned heel and told me I was ungrateful and that this was "THEIR HOUSE!" and how would I like to knock on their front door before ever coming over again!? I feel like I tried to set a boundary, she ignored it, and is now trying to create a false equivalency with accessing their house - which, tbf, I have no problem knocking and waiting, they are the ones with the open door policy/expectation.
They would also always enter through my garage at my previous house I shared with my ex, something I repeatedly asked them not to do, so this isn't NEW or anything.
So, AITA for not giving my landlord parents my door lock code??
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59points
Moreover, Ryan Prince, the founder at UNCLE, similarly argues that home prices have just hit an all-time high, so there’s not many options for young generations to choose from. “The average property costing £249,000 requires a deposit of £57,000. There are many people who aren’t able to afford to save up a large chunk of money or choose not to own for a range of reasons related to flexibility and the benefits of ‘living as a service,’” he commented.
#10
I live in my landlords home, renting part of it.
Anyways, the suite came with one parking spot. The parking spot that he advertised? This tiny tiny squeeze right next to two of his cars parked in front of his two car garage. I live in Vancouver so landlords can get away with offering the minimum and expect the maximum in rent.
But okay. I could carefully fit my tiny coupe in. And I had, for 3 months without incident.
Well as I was trying to leave the house yesterday morning, I witness my landlord trying to back his F350 into its usual spot next to my car... except he missed and rammed my car instead.
He climbs out of his truck, looks at me, and cusses me out. Telling me that because I had my car there, I was at fault. That my car being there "made for reckless parking and he had no option but to hit me".
Mind you... this was the spot HE advertised, and I had been parking, like he directed me to. I was in the very same spot earlier that morning that he was able to get out of, so it clearly wasn't impossible.
I told him no. That he hit my car. And that he was the one who sanctioned a parking spot there. And that I would be happy to settle this without involving insurance, if he'd like to pay out of pocket to sort out my car.
He of course chuckled at me, called me an idiot, and told me to expect a bill in the mail tomorrow.
It should be important to note than I am a tiny, quiet and shy woman and I assumed he thought I'd back down. Yea, no.
I said "Nope, you give me no option except to call the police". So I quickly took photos, all while this man was suddenly very angry and cussing me out. I quickly went into my suite, locked the doors. Called the police. Remembered I still had screenshots of the advertised rental suite and photos of the landlord sanctioned parking space, gave it all to the police. It was a lot, I have never spoken to the police before.
This morning he sent me a ton of texts calling me a b*tch, that I was costing him a ton of money etc etc. I know I am in the right legally, but AITA for how I went about it?
Edit: His wife got in on the action this evening, telling me the costs of repair will severely affect their ability to raise their baby due in 2 months. I realize noe thats not my problem. Thank you for all the comments and advice. ICBC will be contacted, as well as the RTB to protect myself.
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54points
#11
I (M24) work for about $48,000 a year, 60 hours a week. My rent is $1,500 a month. I am due for a promotion soon and can start saving but as of now this is my situation. Most my peers have a significant other who splits the rent with them but I do not.
Anyways, I got into this lease starting Dec 2020 (i.e. today). I met the landlord (F26) two weeks ago when looking for a place to live and she seemed really nice. She was quite happy to brag about how she was able to afford an investment property at my age with "her parents covering only 1/2 the cost". She told me about how she got a full scholarship in undergrad and made good money in tips as a bartender. She now works as an engineer and, according to her, makes good money on OnlyFans.
Anyway, I paid first and last months rent a week ago, as well my security deposit, and things were fine.
As I was settling in to my apartment today, my landlord stopped by earlier and gave me a hug, saying that she is excited to do business with me. She then said that it is her usual practice to come by on the first of the month to collect the rent, and that since the rent has been paid for the month, she is simply here to collect a tip.
I was confused so she said that her situation was akin to being an Uber Driver or a Waitress and that she kinda expected a tip, that her prior tenant tipped her, and that her older sister gets tips from tenants as well. She further stated that since she knows I am still in the early stage of my career, a 5% monthly tip would be sufficient and that she'll throw in discounted access to her OnlyFans for good measure. She further stated that due to "male privilege" and the "wage gap", it is only fair that I pay her a "little extra" in rent
I refused, stating that tipping landlords is illogical and that I have no interest in OnlyFans. She got annoyed at me and called me a "f**king looser" and said that a real Man would have tipped his landlord.
AITA?
52points
What's more, “over the last year, the one lasting legacy of the pandemic is the abolition of the negative stereotypes around ‘working from home,’” Prince argues. According to him, with this newly emerged flexibility and fluidity of the mode of working, renting allows people to move freely and not be tied down to one area. “It makes remote working and renting a perfect pair,” he concluded.
#12
Hi y'all. I (25M) live in a duplex (for those who don't know what that is, it is basically two houses built into one) and my neighbor has recently been making adjustments to her side of the yard (which is technically the backyard of the duplex has a whole. My side is the front yard that goes to the street) to start a garden and make an area for parties and stuff. I'm not one for conflict, I've had enough drama over the past few years, so I just let her do her thing. However, when I went outside to take my dog to the restroom tonight, I discovered she had made a bonfire in the yard. I'd usually be fine with it but she had left it unattended to burn by itself. You'd think maybe she had just gone to the restroom or something and would be back soon, right? Wrong. Her window overlooks the yard and I could see she was just watching TV, blissfully ignorant to the fire in the pit. I ended up having to extinguish it for her. I'm kind of furious at how irresponsible she was by doing this and I have half a mind to call my landlord first thing in the morning to tell him about this incident. If I had never gone outside and noticed the fire and just left it going all night, it could have burned down the duplex and killed us both. But I don't know. Would I be the *sshole for doing this? Am I making too big a deal of the situation? What do you all think?
Tldr; neighbor makes a bonfire in the yard and leaves it unattended and I end up having to put it out to avoid any damages.
45points
#13
I am renting a place and have paid through Sept 15th. I was planning on moving at the end of August but couldn't find a moving truck or company. I spoke with over 40 moving companies and everyone was booked. I had a mover lined up for today but we are experiencing severe weather and the streets are flooding. I am still packing but wanted to move all my big stuff today so I would have space to work (500 SQ ft studio). The movers had to cancel because most of the streets to my new place were/are flooding. I was busy packing while keeping my 18 month old occupied. There is a knock on the door (it's raining cats and dogs and some other animals). I figure it's my neighbor (there's two houses on the same property). It's the landlord, he tells me that he has someone coming over in less than 5 minutes (my lease says he is supposed to give me 24 hrs notice). I told him that I am still packing and have boxes everywhere. He says they would understand. The lady comes and I tell her that I am still packing and I wasn't aware anyone was coming. She said she would be happy to come back whenever I was done moving. I told her I would be out by the 15th. The landlord tells her to peek inside so she can get an idea of the layout. She pops her head in for about 30 seconds and then leaves. The landlord comes back in and tells me I embarrassed him and he probably lost the new lease. I told him that he should have told me yesterday that he was bringing someone. He told me that he doesn't have too since my lease is almost up. Then the landlord told me I have to be out by Monday night
45points
#14
I’ll try to be brief, I live in a townhome, every townhome in this community has a small fenced in backyard that goes up to a sidewalk and then has 2 parking spaces against the sidewalk. In my lease it is clearly stated that there is no playing or riding bikes, scooters, etc in the parking lot ever and no bikes/scooters etc on the sidewalks. These are not public sidewalks but are walkways along the back of the units.
one of my neighbors(I’ll call her Angela) is a single mom with 3 kids, guessing the ages I’d say 7,6, and 4(or at least too young for kindergarten). I live in between her and another mom who Angela is friends with. I’ve overheard enough from them talking to know that Angela lost custody of her kids last fall and just got them back a few weeks ago. This is why I kinda feel like TA.
On Saturday Angela sent her kids outside to play, she was not out there with them but i think she has the bigger 2 kids watch the youngest, they were all racing bikes around the parking lot which is against the rules but I have never reported it in the past because it didn’t effect me and I don’t like to snitch. The older 2 kids must’ve ditched the 4 year old because she was just biking by herself on one of those push bikes with no pedals, Im backing up into my parking spot so I can unload groceries and my neighbor(not the mom) is in her car next to mine and honks and yells at the little girl because she wasn’t looking and was about to ride off the sidewalk into my parking spot while I’m backing up into it. She yells at the little to stay away from cars.
15 minutes later I go back out to put new registration stickers on my car and the little girl is still out there alone. She then rides right up beside my car, loses her balance, and hits my car with her front tire. There’s no damage but I’m pissed, but don’t yell or swear, I tell the girl she needs to stay away from my cars and there’s no playing in the parking lot.
The little girls mom walks by a few seconds after the impact and asks what happened, I tell her that her kid hit my car, she tells her kid the same, stay away from cars.
Sunday her kids are back in the parking lot, moms not around, and they’re riding by cars and between them again.
I take my dogs out to sh*t and the little girl runs over to the edge of my yard, stares at me and starts barking at my dogs, I just stood there looking at her like wtf but she kept it up until I went back inside. I wasn’t going to escalate the issue until that happened.
I report the bike incidents to the landlord, I name her and her address and provide my security video of the 2 incidents by my car and am very strongly worded about it. The landlord sends notice to everyone that there is absolutely no playing or biking in the parking lots for anyone and then tells me they’re writing up Angela for lease violations.
I just wanted her kids to stay away from my cars and dogs. AITA?
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37points
But it seems like not just the experts are aware of the appeal (or sometimes the lack of alternative option) that rented property offers. The rental housing market is now experiencing an unprecedented resurgence in demand after the pandemic ended, with vacancy rate dropping to the lowest it’s been since the mid '80s, which is 5.8 percent.
To keep up with this demand for rental apartments, the rental prices are currently increasing at an alarming pace. With cost of living crisis hitting the world with full power, more and more tenants find themselves at a crossroads of no longer being able to afford their rented properties.
#15
I live in a flat that comes with a parking spot that's included in my rent, as specified on my rental contract. Right before I moved in a year ago, the landlord told me I had to pay extra (about 800 dollars) for the parking spot. Since it was last minute and had already given my notice for my previous apartment, I didn't have a choice but to fork up. I read the contract again later on and realized that the parking sport was included in the monthly rent and felt cheated. He came back this year, asking me to pay another 800 euros (in cash) for the parking spot for a year. I refused, stating it was included in my monthly rent (which I've always paid on time). He explained that as the apartment is rent controlled, he wasn't making enough off if his property and I was scamming him since I knew from the beginning that I would have to pay extra for the parking spot each year. Am I the a**hole for refusing to give him more than what's stated in our contract?
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34points
#16
I moved into a new apartment, owned by a guy instead of a leasing company. I thought maybe a privately owned place would be better than renting from a big company when it came to getting repairs done.
When I moved in, there were a few issues. The central heat wouldn't keep the apartment warm enough; it was dropping down to 64. The habitability requirements for my state are that the apartment has to be 68 or higher.
The sink drain was clogged.
The carpets were stained even though there was supposed to be a professional carpet cleaning done before I moved in.
The oven only worked on 2 of 4 burners.
I told my landlord about those issues and he said I should...
Wear warmer clothes, it's an old drafty building and they're difficult to heat in winter.
Give the sink more time to drain.
Just live with the carpet stains, it was sanitary because there had been a deep cleaning.
The oven would be expensive to replace, could I live with using the 2 burners?
I said no, I expected an apartment with working heat and appliances and expected it to have been cleaned as agreed on in the lease. I wanted the heat repaired and the oven repaired and the carpet properly cleaned or replaced.
He said that I was asking for thousands to tens of thousands of dollars of work, and he couldn't afford it, the rental house was just his retirement income instead of a 401k, he wasn't running it like a business.
And that my unit was only $600 a month, I wasn't getting "luxury" for that price and it was ridiculous to expect it.
I felt frustrated because when he wrote up a lease agreement it was a business. And the cost of rent has nothing to do with the other lease terms such as functional appliances. Also has nothing to do with the habitability laws; there's no law saying only expensive apartments have to be habitable! It applies to all!
I got so frustrated I asked him to prove he did not have the money.
If he wanted to beg brokeness, he could show me his wife and children wearing coats in his own house because he can't afford to heat his family home. He could show me his family struggling to cook dinner because their stove was half broken. He could show me random brown stains all over the ground.
And if he wasn't living like that, he had no right to claim he couldn't afford to make the apartment livable.
He got frustrated with me and said I had no right to demand to see into his private house.
I said he had an obligation to his tenants first, as soon as he decided to write up leases and rent to people. If he couldn't fulfill that obligation he needed to cut costs at home, not cut costs on contractually agreed upon terms with me.
And that I'd be withholding my rent unless he could either bring the apartment to a livable standard or prove financial difficulties to a reasonable level.
He said I was being unreasonable, and I said I was being very reasonable and I was holding him to the terms of the lease he wrote, and the laws of our state.
And if those terms couldn't be fulfilled I would be withholding rent. I was being more than fair by offering leniency if he truly was suffering financially and could show me.
AITA for what I said to my landlord?,,,
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33points
#17
So I m25 live in a house that I rent from my grandparents. When I was 21 I was working on purchasing my first home when all of a sudden my grandparents purchased this one. They have other rental properties but they are all at least an hour and a half away from them and me. The other day they showed up as I was doing yard work demanding to see the inside of the house. I asked them politely to not go in because it was a mess and I had not had much chance to clean after working 60+ hour work weeks. The polite request to not go in the house turned into a demand for them to not to enter the house because I know all they will do is complain about the mess. All of this happened because I did not show up that morning to do yard work on their farm so that I could do it at the house that I live in. They continuously throw it in my face that they invested their money into this house although I did not ask them for help finding a place to live when I was looking. I pay the rent on time every month and do almost all the maintenance and upkeep on the property because I don’t want to worry them when they have other houses that need work. I also have a lease that was signed by both myself and them that they are supposed to give me a 24 hour notice before they come over for an inspection. I love my grandparents to death but at the same time they don’t know how to separate the aspect of landlord from being grandparents. Am I the *sshole for the way that I acted?
TLDR: I told my grandparents/landlords not to go into my house after they showed up without h telling me they were coming
31points
#18
Hi, so I work as a lettings agent and process applications for properties on behalf of landlords. One of my client's tenants is a transgender person, but because he applied for his current property with his old ID, the name we have on our records is his old one.
It's now a year later and he is moving on to another rental, and I will say he looks like a man 100%, you would never know otherwise. I received a phone call from another estate agent for a landlord reference for his property he has applied for and as it turns out he did not mention anything about him being transgender to this new potential landlord because when they asked for him by his chosen name and I told them I don't have anyone with that first name on my files but I do have someone with a girls name and the same last name.
The guy on the phone was confused so I told him that tenant is transgender, and this has got back to the tenant somehow and he has complained on social media and we are getting slated. He said that he was living "stealth" and was moving to a new place because he didn't want anyone to know he was born a girl. I don't see the big problem? It would be deceptive for him not to tell anyone, especially the people giving him a place to live. I specifically am being berated over this for what I said, but I don't think I did anything wrong! AITA?
23points
#19
I (24F) have recently moved into a new town to complete my postgraduate. It was pretty daunting, but after 6 months, I am starting to settle in. My landlord (40sM) was a bit weird when I first signed for the lease. He kept making offhand comments about me bringing home different guys each week. Of course he didn’t say this explicitly but heavily implied it. I just brushed it off and kept moving because whether I use my home for pulling all nighters like I intend to, or use it for one night stands is up to me.
To make matters even weirder, my neighbour (60sF) is very good friends with my landlord and doesn’t approve of me moving into the area (for info it is a rather mature area so I’m really bringing the average age down).
The problem came 4 days ago, when my landlord requested a formal inspection with rather short notice (he wanted to inspect the very next day). I obviously rejected this because it was too short notice, and suggested a date a week later. The request included something about me having a dog. The lease didn’t allow dogs, but I got my West Highland Terrier only a month after signing (low shedding and small so shouldn’t cause too much trouble). I don’t know how he found out, but I soon realised how.
Turns out, my neighbour has been complaining to my landlord about my dog, about how he is very loud and she can see him ruining the property. This is obviously exaggerations and borderline lies because he is very quiet and obedient.
It all came to a climax when I saw my landlord and neighbour peeking over the fence yesterday. Turns out, my neighbour invited my landlord over to peek into my house after I denied the initial request. When I spotted him recording, I started yelling at him and calling him a creep. He sped off quickly after that, but my neighbour started screaming back and called me a belligerent AH and that when I get evicted it will serve me right for bringing home guys every week (I haven’t had a single guy over in 3 months, dunno what she is on about) and getting that annoying dog.
AITA?
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19points
#20
So me (24M) and my roommates (23Ms) have been living together all throughout college. I’ve been in the workforce and paying for my own expenses for about a year now and my roommates both just recently started doing the same. For all of our years in college their parents took care of paying things like rent and utilities and stuff like that. So they’ve been coming to me for help and advice on what and where to pay these bills for our apartment.
When they first approached me a couple months ago for what to pay I told them all the standard stuff and how I do it. But I thought it would be funny also telling them they need to tip our landlord through venmo.
Yesterday they brought it up again when mentioning bills and I was thrown off because I didn’t know they would actually do it. Now I’m not actually sure how much they’re tipping but I think when I initially made the joke I said “it was just like tipping your waiter 15-20% at a restaurant.”
I’ve been feeling kinda bad about it and I’m wondering if I should come clean and tell them you don’t actually have to tip the landlord.
Edit: I should add the landlord is a family friend of mine and I really wouldn’t like to ask him to give the money back
Edit 2: To the people saying I should pay them back in my own money, I really wouldn’t be able to afford to pay the amount that’s accumulated for the last couple months for about a year.
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14points