From our experience, becoming a landlord makes someone pick one of two paths. They either become the living embodiment of wholesomeness and are so welcoming they’re practically family to you. Or… they embrace the dark side and go full Darth Vader in their quest for power, domination, and easy victims to squeeze dry. An exaggeration? Perhaps a tad. But you never really hear about the landlords that are ‘just all right’; it’s the heroes and villains that capture the imagination.
And it’s the latter that we’ll be talking about today. We’ve collected a whole bunch of stories about tenants who got revenge on their landlords by doing exactly what was asked of them, as featured on the internet powerhouse that is the r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit. Be careful how you phrase things because someone following your instructions to the letter can one-up you so badly that you might consider being less of a jerk in the future.
Karma is real (it just needs a bit of help from our imagination, creativity, and courage), and the proof’s in this list. Scroll down for some of the best landlord revenge stories, and remember to upvote the ones that impressed you the most, Pandas. Oh, and do drop on by the comments to tell us about the relationship you have with your own landlord. Remember, though, good landlords do exist out there, too!
Bored Panda was interested to learn about how much we should all be ideally spending on rent, and how to get along with difficult landlords. We reached out to Sam Dogen, the author of ‘Buy This, Not That: How to Spend Your Way to Wealth and Freedom’ and the founder of Financial Samurai, as well as to personal finance expert, investor, and best-selling author Rick Orford, to get their opinions. (Spoiler warning: good communication is essential for a working relationship between tenants and landlords.) Check out what they told us below.
#1 He Wanted It Painted. They Painted It
My grandfather was born in 1943 and was sailor in the 60s. He subscribed to a very tight honour code when it came to taking care of one's friends and community.
So when a little old lady who had lived in her house as long as anyone could remember had her rental lease passed on to a new owner, no one was pleased when he evicted her, after higher rent.
My grandfather, however, offered to help with the exit maintenance, and the landlord requested a new paint job.
So paint it he did, in one day, with all his sailor mates. Every interior wall, floor and roof with black ship paint. You know, the stuff that's supposed to withstand being at sea.
My grandfather said he was irate, but couldn't do anything because all he had requested was a paint job with no other stipulations, and that's what they had done.
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323points
According to author and financial expert Sam, from Financial Samurai, we shouldn't be spending more than 30% of our gross income on rent each month. "Once you limit your rent to 20% of your monthly gross income, you'll free up a lot more disposable income to invest. If you want to achieve financial independence sooner, my housing expense guideline recommends keeping rent/mortgage to 10% of gross income each month," he told Bored Panda, adding that it's always worth negotiating with one's landlord to lower the rent. Of course, in a courteous way.
"After all, if you never ask, you never receive. You just have to negotiate in a courteous way, not in a demanding way. As a landlord since 2005, all I want is great tenants who will take care of the place, pay on time, and be respectful to the neighbors. Plenty of landlords are willing to charge a discount to market if prospective tenants come across as responsible," he explained that many landlords are perfectly reasonable.
"If your rental property has fewer people, that's another great reason to negotiate the rent lower. For example, my previous tenants were a family of four with a dog. However, my new tenants are a family of three with no pets. As a result, I was more than happy to charge them less due to less wear and tear. In a hot rental market, make sure to come prepared with all the relevant documents when applying. The more thorough, the better."
According to Sam, the author of 'Buy This, Not That,' the most powerful option that a tenant has is being willing to move elsewhere. "Landlords don't want turnover. If you move, even in a strong rental market, a landlord might lose a month's worth of rent or more trying to find new tenants. So it's best if there's continuity," he shared what landlords value.
#2 Landlord Tries To Keep Security Deposit... Ummm, No
About 10 years ago, my at-the-time girlfriend (now wife) and I moved from the area we went to college to an apartment near where we planned to start our careers. I say it was an apartment, but it was really the basement of a house that the landlord had walled off to create 2 "apartments" to rent. The place was kinda crappy, but the rent was cheap for the area, and we were close to work.
Everything was fine for a few months, but the only parking for us was on the street out front - the couple that rented the upstairs "apartment" had rights to the garage and driveway (they paid more than we did). Suddenly my car got a couple BS tickets for parking on the street - I'm guessing some ass-clown cop needed to meet their quota - and my girlfriend's car got sideswiped in a hit & run. This crap had to stop, so we emailed the landlord (her preferred form of communication) to ask if there's anywhere safe for us to park. She replies, "Park anywhere you want." We had noticed that our upstairs neighbors usually eschewed the driveway to park in the front yard (they were horribly lazy), so we figured that would be a good spot for us too. We parked in the front yard the rest of the year.
We figured that would be the end of it. We finished our lease, left the place in better shape than we found it, and requested our $1500 security deposit back. After a couple weeks, we got a check for $700... WTF!?!?!? Since there was no explanation, we asked the landlord for one, and she replied that the deducted amount was to "re-sod the lawn", claiming that parking on it had damaged it.
Now, I was the one who cut the grass at this house while we stayed there, so I was well aware that the lawn was more weeds and bald spots than grass - picture the African savanna in mid-summer. No one had ever lifted a finger to landscape any part of the property, but the landlord wanted to sell the house once the leases were up, and she figured she could get the renters to pay for a nice, new lawn. I complained to the landlord: didn't care. I put in a complaint with the local housing department: didn't care. I threatened to take her to court: didn't care. So, that's what I did - took her to small claims court.
I had never sued anyone before, so I was going in prepared! I took pictures of the entire front yard - the area that we "damaged" was actually one of the best patches of grass, though it did have a small rut that my tires made when the yard was muddy in the summer. I got testimonials from our upstairs and across-the-street neighbors. Most importantly, I printed out the email where the landlord told us to park anywhere.
We were suing for $1800 to cover court costs and us both missing a day of work on top of the full security deposit. In mediation we said we would settle for $1400, but she must have thought she was in the right because she refused to offer a penny more than the original $700 check, which we never cashed. When we got in front of the judge, it was pretty clear that she had no evidence, hadn't prepared anything, and just assumed that us "kids" would fall on our faces. We did not.
We put everything we had in front of the judge and made our claim (he was impressed). He stopped us when we showed him the email to ask the landlord, "Did you really tell them to park wherever they wanted?" When she said "yes", the judge replied "Then what are we even talking about?", and that was that. Judgement in full for us, and that b***h had to pay to re-sod her own damn lawn.
Next time you tell someone to "park wherever you want", you'd better mean it. Or at least don't try to f**k someone over when they comply with what you said! If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
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290points
#3 Our Landlord Told Me 'Go Ahead! Call The City Inspector' So I Did
This happened in 2018, I just moved to a new apartment. It was a three bedroom first floor apartment and it had a finished basement. It had two bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen on the first floor. It also had a bedroom (with a full bath) in the basement and a bar/gaming area. It was also in a very nice area of the city. The apartment was owned by a corporation.
Honestly, we loved that apartment, until it kept having recurring issues in the basement. The carpet was wet from time to time, at first the landlord would send a cleaner to come and handle it but it keeps happening. I asked them to check and fix the issue. They did not do it, I told him I'll call the city inspector to check the building, they laughed at me and told me 'go ahead, call the city inspector', so I did.
I called the city twice until I finally was connected to the right department and they sent an inspector a week later. The inspector found so many building violations. They told me they'd contact the building owner and would come again. The next day, the owner called and begged me to tell them what I know about the problem with the apartment. I told them that I sent complaints multiple times, they should check their record.
The city inspector, the owner and the property manager came two weeks after that, the city inspector was whooping their a***s. He laid it to them, it was bad. They have to deal with structural and foundational issues and some safety issues too. There were 4 tenants in that building including us, imagine it was a big colonial/multi family home divided into four apartments. They had to break the lease with all of us to fix the building. They couldn't fix it with us being there. We were ready and already consulted a lawyer, we told them that:
1. We want our deposit back before moving out
2. They paid for all of our moving expenses
3. They paid for our deposit at the next place
They could not kick us out, they could not rent the apartment after the inspections, there were four of us and we could all sue them for placing us in a dangerous building. In the end they spent so much money to relocate us and fix the apartment.
266points
"However, if tenants can't find a better deal elsewhere and don't want to move, then tenants should try and negotiate. Landlords want self-sufficient tenants who never bother them. Therefore, tenants can highlight their on-time payments and care for the property, Tenants can also volunteer to do some cosmetic upkeep in lieu of lower rent. For example, you might offer to paint some walls or change some fixtures that cost less than the rent increase. Tenants can also volunteer to be a project manager for any larger work the landlord wants done on the house at the landlord's expense."
Ideally, the goal is to have the most harmonious relationship possible between the tenant and landlord. The more friction and mistrust there is, the worse it is for everyone involved.
"Good landlords will want to take care of good tenants and vice versa. Landlords have been burned many times before with non-payment, damage to property, rent moratoriums, rising property taxes, noise disturbances, and so on. These past occurrences are one of the main reasons why there are bad landlords. Work together to make things work!" Sam told us. Meanwhile, you can find more of his advice for renters trying to keep things affordable in a strong rental market right here.
#4 Landlord Advertises All Of Our Company’s Equipment For Sale To Our Competitors. Best Follow Our Eviction To The Letter
Tl;dr (SPOILERS) landlord gives us 7 days to vacate our leisure business from the building, he thinks we cant empty the business during lockdown, and proceeds to advertise OUR equipment for sale to our competition. We sell everything in 7 days and destroy the rest. Enjoy no rent and the loss of your potential buyers.
I work for a leisure company, think soft play, indoor soccer, laser tag (can't be specific) Prior to lockdown, Managers and the big bosses were negotiating the renewal of the lease on one of our parks. Things were going mostly smoothly, however, the landlords were difficult to contact.
Then 2020’s shit hit the fan.
All of our sites were closed, and everything was thrown into a mess. Negotiations began to slip down the priority list; nobody thought the landlord would push an eviction for an expired lease during this period. Especially with it still getting rent, despite the sites closure, and the closure of every business and restaurant in the immediate area. We were wrong.
A few days ago we received a letter saying we had 7 days to leave the premises and take everything with us. We are reminded that anything left in the building after 7 days will become the landlord's property! (that line is very important).
Now a lot of construction goes into installing our equipment into a new building, which makes emptying one even harder. Add a lockdown, with no staff and most businesses shut, it meant that saving much of our assets would prove to be extremely difficult.
To lose a profitable site and all of its assets is definitely a blow to our company. But here is where it gets worse;
A few days into our 7-day eviction, we find out that the landlord has been advertising our park to our competitors. But he isn’t offering just the building, he is offering ALL OF OUR STUFF PRE INSTALLED. “Ready to go, just needs re-branding.” The landlord has evicted us from the property in an attempt to increase rent and make a solid profit from our equipment installed because he thinks we won't be able to empty the park.
We were furious.
And here is where the malicious compliance came in, we were told we had 7 days to move everything we owned out of the property. so that's what we did. Local businesses from all around offered up free space to store our things, a few people came back out of lockdown and they all spent the rest of the week removing, selling or destroying everything that was related to us. We didn't even leave light fittings.
In every other sight vacation we have seen, we always end up leaving thousands of $$ worth of disco lights in the ceilings because they’re too hard to get. We leave most the construction in, as well as things like the bars and kitchens that all stay intact (recognisable as what they once were) but not this building.
We ripped up the flooring we installed, tore down the walls that were not part of the original structure (Wooden walls to divide up the space) ripped apart our manager's offices and removed all artwork, and locke
The landlord now has every new deal he has been making dead in the water, a large renovation bill to install new flooring etc. (or a company willing to do it themselves like we were).
Lockdown has been extended another 4 weeks, so he has at least another 4 weeks without rent (we were paying) and won't have any potential buyers.
Silver lining: The assets we got out of the site (fridges, tv’s, equipment, food, tables) have all been sold, and the lack of rent and additional income has helped the business and paid staff wages.
UPDATE
Here is what happened next:
We handed in the keys and it was probably the quickest handover we’ve ever had. The landlord Cleary didn’t want to make any kind of conversation and there was definitely an elephant in the room, but he definitely said NOTHING about the lack of our equipment.
Complications did arise when we went to get back various deposits, But he had no case to withhold the deposits from us as the building was in excellent shape. (we had conducted much of the maintenance work ourselves, so the building was in a significantly better condition than we found it, (we also cleaned up 99% of the rubbish and dirt from our demolition crusade so he couldn't bill us for cleaning) )
A very minor bit of pressing from our legal team meant that we received everything owed back in full!
The building is still Vacant and as of yet we don't know of any potential buyers.
I work for a leisure company, think soft play, indoor soccer, laser tag (can't be specific) Prior to lockdown, Managers and the big bosses were negotiating the renewal of the lease on one of our parks. Things were going mostly smoothly, however, the landlords were difficult to contact.
Then 2020’s shit hit the fan.
All of our sites were closed, and everything was thrown into a mess. Negotiations began to slip down the priority list; nobody thought the landlord would push an eviction for an expired lease during this period. Especially with it still getting rent, despite the sites closure, and the closure of every business and restaurant in the immediate area. We were wrong.
A few days ago we received a letter saying we had 7 days to leave the premises and take everything with us. We are reminded that anything left in the building after 7 days will become the landlord's property! (that line is very important).
Now a lot of construction goes into installing our equipment into a new building, which makes emptying one even harder. Add a lockdown, with no staff and most businesses shut, it meant that saving much of our assets would prove to be extremely difficult.
To lose a profitable site and all of its assets is definitely a blow to our company. But here is where it gets worse;
A few days into our 7-day eviction, we find out that the landlord has been advertising our park to our competitors. But he isn’t offering just the building, he is offering ALL OF OUR STUFF PRE INSTALLED. “Ready to go, just needs re-branding.” The landlord has evicted us from the property in an attempt to increase rent and make a solid profit from our equipment installed because he thinks we won't be able to empty the park.
We were furious.
And here is where the malicious compliance came in, we were told we had 7 days to move everything we owned out of the property. so that's what we did. Local businesses from all around offered up free space to store our things, a few people came back out of lockdown and they all spent the rest of the week removing, selling or destroying everything that was related to us. We didn't even leave light fittings.
In every other sight vacation we have seen, we always end up leaving thousands of $$ worth of disco lights in the ceilings because they’re too hard to get. We leave most the construction in, as well as things like the bars and kitchens that all stay intact (recognisable as what they once were) but not this building.
We ripped up the flooring we installed, tore down the walls that were not part of the original structure (Wooden walls to divide up the space) ripped apart our manager's offices and removed all artwork, and locke
The landlord now has every new deal he has been making dead in the water, a large renovation bill to install new flooring etc. (or a company willing to do it themselves like we were).
Lockdown has been extended another 4 weeks, so he has at least another 4 weeks without rent (we were paying) and won't have any potential buyers.
Silver lining: The assets we got out of the site (fridges, tv’s, equipment, food, tables) have all been sold, and the lack of rent and additional income has helped the business and paid staff wages.
UPDATE
Here is what happened next:
We handed in the keys and it was probably the quickest handover we’ve ever had. The landlord Cleary didn’t want to make any kind of conversation and there was definitely an elephant in the room, but he definitely said NOTHING about the lack of our equipment.
Complications did arise when we went to get back various deposits, But he had no case to withhold the deposits from us as the building was in excellent shape. (we had conducted much of the maintenance work ourselves, so the building was in a significantly better condition than we found it, (we also cleaned up 99% of the rubbish and dirt from our demolition crusade so he couldn't bill us for cleaning) )
A very minor bit of pressing from our legal team meant that we received everything owed back in full!
The building is still Vacant and as of yet we don't know of any potential buyers.
Report
230points
#5 I Made A Point To Print Out A Dozen Copies Of The “Landlord Tenant Act” Of My City, Highlight All The Areas She Had Tried Scam Us Over
As I was moving out of my duplex, my landlord looked in the window - saw a mess of boxes, bags, papers and shipping supplies and told us we were “messy” and she was raising our rent $200-300 more a month. She said we could pay that or leave.
I told her we would be out by the end of the month.
Come the end of the month, we are out and even shampoo’d the carpets (didn’t have to).
The landlord dragged her feet and said she was keeping our deposit because of a laundry list of damage to the duplex.
I emailed her back with a slew of photos of said damage on the day we moved in and told her that if I didn’t see my security deposit, in full, I was taking her to court.
Got it 2 days later.
I made a point to print out a dozen copies of the “Landlord Tenant Act” of my city, highlight all the areas she had tried to screw us over (the last few years) - then I took those booklets, looked up her properties online - and gave a copy to each of her tenants.
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179points
#6 You Would Like Me To Adhere To The Contract? In That Case I Require A Hotel Until You Resolve All Of These Issues
A few years ago, I moved back to the city in which I was a university student. As I was now 'a young professional', and had experienced significant issues with housemates in the past (non-payment of bills, having to do all the cleaning) I decided that I would rent a small flat from a reputable agency which specifically catered for 'young professionals' such as myself.
I went and viewed the property, which was quite messy, and needed to have a few things addressed (ie the vinyl flooring in the kitchen was ripped, one of the drawers in the freezer was broken). But seeing as tenants were still living in the property, and the agency assured me that between tenants the landlord would clean the property, and resolve any small issues prior to moving in, I happily signed a contract, and wrote a cheques for the deposit, and first month of rent.
Two months later, I moved into the property, and was welcomed with the following issues (note, I just happened to stumble upon the list I made at the time when clearing out an old hard drive a few days ago):
General:
The entire property had not been cleaned
Fire door wouldn't close (breach of fire regulations)
The previous tenants had left much of their belongings behind, namely clothes and bedding
General waste was present in all rooms (bins had not been emptied)
Batteries had been removed from all of the fire/smoke alarms (by law, they were meant to be hard wired in rented property)
Half of a lightbulbs had been removed from the property
The entire property had not been cleaned
Fire door wouldn't close (breach of fire regulations)
The previous tenants had left much of their belongings behind, namely clothes and bedding
General waste was present in all rooms (bins had not been emptied)
Batteries had been removed from all of the fire/smoke alarms (by law, they were meant to be hard wired in rented property)
Half of a lightbulbs had been removed from the property
Hallway:
Mains supply & circuit breaker ripped from wall (incredibly dangerous)
Carpet soiled
Mains supply & circuit breaker ripped from wall (incredibly dangerous)
Carpet soiled
Bedroom:
Slats on bed broken (so would not have been able to sleep on it)
Mattress torn and ripped
Vinyl floor ripped up
Window jammed closed
Slats on bed broken (so would not have been able to sleep on it)
Mattress torn and ripped
Vinyl floor ripped up
Window jammed closed
Bathroom:
Faecal matter on light switch
Mirror broken
Toilet had not been cleaned (still had faecal stains in
Shower door broken off hinges
Vinyl floor torn up
Kitchen/Living Room:
Washing machine broken
All draws in fridge freezer absent or broken beyond repair
Gas cooker, missing burner caps and pan rail (therefore unusable)
Two cupboard doors hanging off
Vinyl floor ripped up
Curtain pole ripped down
Faecal matter on light switch
Mirror broken
Toilet had not been cleaned (still had faecal stains in
Shower door broken off hinges
Vinyl floor torn up
Kitchen/Living Room:
Washing machine broken
All draws in fridge freezer absent or broken beyond repair
Gas cooker, missing burner caps and pan rail (therefore unusable)
Two cupboard doors hanging off
Vinyl floor ripped up
Curtain pole ripped down
It was very clear that two things had occurred here. The first being that the previous tenants had done a bit of a number on the property. That they had not respected the property, and had left quite a lot of damage in their wake. They did not even have the decency to empty the place of their contents, and at bare minimum, take the rubbish out before leaving. The second issue however, is that the landlord had evidently not made any significant attempt to bring the property back into a habitable state prior to me moving in.
Being the reasonable guy that I was, I called the landlord and asked if he could resolve these issues immediately. Primarily as the property was genuinely in a dangerous, and non-inhabitable state. I did not want to be a dick about it, however, at the bare minimum, the flat should be safe to inhabit.
The landlord dismissed all of my complaints, and stated that his wife (he was on a business trip to Dubai) had inspected and cleaned the property a few days before, and all was fine (a blatant lie). I told him that I was extremely unhappy with the situation, and he told me to 'adhere to the contract which I had signed'. He subsequently put the phone down. Any sympathy I had for the landlord evaporated at this moment. He was happy for me to live in a dangerous property.
So I went through my contract line by line, and found two key pieces of information:
If a property is deemed to be in breach of fire regulations and/or is deemed uninhabitable by a suitable representative, it is the responsibility of the landlord to resolve such issues immediately
If the landlord cannot resolve such issues immediately, it is the responsibility of the landlord to provide alternative accommodation to the tenant until the property is returned to a habitable state.
Fortunately, a close member of my family at the time was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Within the hour I had a formal letter stating that the property was uninhabitable, and dangerous. I had this emailed to the landlord (address helpfully listed on the contract). Within 10 minutes, I had a call from him arranging emergency accommodation at a local hotel until he returned from his business trip, 3 days later.
On his return, he drove directly to the property from the airport, and returned the cheques for my deposit and first months rent to me, and asked me to move out. Which I gladly did. Unbeknownst to him, a copy of the letter had been sent by my family member to the Housing Ombudsman, and the local authority. The last thing I heard is that this bloke ended up being investigated, heavily fined, and had to sell the house.
TLDR: Landlord rents me dangerous property, and tells me to adhere to the contract. I adhere to the contract, and get a weekend in a hotel, all of my money back, and he is heavily fined and sells the property.
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166points
"No doubt, inflation is taking its toll on American renters. Practically everything is going up in price. Unfortunately, in most states and jurisdictions, the renter is at the mercy of the landlord when it comes to rental increases," finance expert and author Rick told Bored Panda. But things are far from grim everywhere.
"There are some notable examples where the government stepped in. For example, in St. Paul, Minnesota, its citizens voted for a rent stabilization that allows for a maximum 3% increase in rents, year over year. While this benefits the renter, it also stifles the economy. In this case, new building permits fell 80% in St. Paul, following the vote," he shared.
Rick gave us some great insights into how we should look at budgeting. He advises following a 50/30/20 split between needs, wants, and savings.
"When it comes to one's budget, we have wants and needs. Wants are the things we'd like to have. Needs are the necessities we need to survive. When looking at how much Americans should be spending on rent, we'd start by considering the 50/30/20 rule. 50% of the income goes towards needs—and this includes rent, healthcare, food, and whatever else you need to earn an income. 20% should go towards savings, and the final 30% goes toward wants—because, we all need to have a little fun, right?" he stressed that it's essential to enjoy the good things in life as well.
#7 You Want To Follow The Lease To The Letter Of The Law? Let’s Dance
So, about 10 years ago my husband and I were renting a house while we tried to buy a place. The landlord seemed so nice, and it was a great situation. When we found a place to buy, we gave him our forwarding information along with the keys. It took about two months to get our deposit back, and we were shocked to say the least. He had taken $400 out.
He had an enclosed porch that had screens with no glass. It had outdoor carpeting that was gross, and we bought a remnant to cover the carpet since we had little kids and it was questionable (no doubt due to the year round screens - including rain storms, etc). It wasn’t ideal, but it was a rental. When we left, we rolled up the carpet and threw it out. Anyway, the landlord stated in his letter that he was taking out the $400 because we had broken the lease by having a dog - and his proof was the condition of that carpet. We did not have a dog, and that carpet was gross when we got there. We tried to explain that, but he was having none of it and would ignore our attempts to reach out (plus, how do you prove the absence of something?).
Cue malicious compliance: you want to follow the lease so carefully as to make up animals? Well, perhaps you should read the laws a little better. According to our state, landlords have exactly one month to send the deposit back. He took two. According to the law, you can be held liable for three times the amount (1800, in our case). So we sued. We no longer wanted the $400 back; we wanted $5400.
While it was somewhat painful (he dodged attempts to serve him, he had out of state attorney friends try to intimidate us) he eventually had to hire an attorney, and we settled on $2000 (in addition to the $1400 we got back). We filed with the help of a friend so we didn't owe an attorney - just filing fees. He ended up paying $2000 plus attorney fees instead of our $400 for a phantom dog.
Know your rights as tenants!
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140points
#8 "As Per The Lease" We Owe You Late Fees?! Let's Check That Lease Again...
So this happened in college to me and my friends.
We moved into a house from some small rental company based in the area after signing a year long lease. House is great, no problems, but we were told a week or so after moving in we would have to send our rent checks each month by the 5th by mail to their new office in the town 120 miles over. Whatever, barely a problem so we just go with it. So for the next 6 months or so we both mail our rent checks at the same time by the 1st of each month, and never had any problems.
Then one day my friend receives a call from the landlord saying we owe 100+ dollars each in late fees becuase 2 months our rent checks came in the mail a day after they were due. They were DEFINITELY postmarked AT LEAST 3 days before that, but thats not the point. So he says, "per the lease you each owe 50 dollars for each month it is late and so that is 200 dollars total" and we said well it was definitely postmarked multiple days in advance and its not our fault the USPS didn't deliver it on time, and that we had no way to know that it wasn't delivered on time, so how could we be accountable for these fees? He responded with, "Go read the document, per the lease your late fees are stated clearly, you have until next month to pay" then he hung up.
We pulled up our lease, and just as he asked us to do, we read it. He was right - based on all we knew we each owed them 100 bucks - damn. But, in a section regarding payment, CLEARLY stated, we were to HAND DELIVER our rent checks to their office which was still addressed to their OLD office in town, and the address we were supposed to deliver them to WAS NOT the one they had us sending our checks to. So we called them back, "we looked at the lease, and per the lease, we are not required to send checks to that office but to this office insert old office address so we will be bringing our checks there from now on and will not be paying any late fees because we technically never even agreed in the lease to mail our checks. The landlord flipped saying we were being children, that this was unfair, and he was going to get our parents on the phone (he literally said that, despite the fact both our parents were obviously on our side and we were 20ish year old people). We just said "well if you want your rent money we will bring it to the location described in our signed lease, since as per the lease you need it delivered there and we don't feel comfortable mailing them to unknown locations".
Inevitably he buckled, he knew he was at fault, and dropped the late fees and said we wouldn't owe any more late fees ever so long as the envelope was post marked on the right day. Every month after that we waited until the day before to mail them out, ensuring they wouldn't receive their money until at least a couple days after it was due. We stayed in the house the next year (aside from this instance, they weren't too bad compared to some other college town landlords) and they changed the lease so it couldn't happen again.
Felt good.
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136points
#9 Tell Me I'm Not Allowed To Make Any Unauthorized Repairs On My Residence? Fine By Me, It's Your Problem Now
It's about seven years ago. I'm living in a trailer (like, legit trailer, not a double wide) in a trailer park because it was my own place and it got me the hell away from my parents and didn't cost me an arm and a leg for rent. Cramped? You bet. But living on my own was a freedom I can't understate.
That price came with its own price, though: The landlord was...kinda lazy. Hell, I didn't even get a tank of propane when I signed the lease, I had to pay for it myself! But rolled into the rent was all utilities besides electricity, which, oddly enough, the landlord was responsible for adding that to our rent every month. (This led to some interesting issues that eventually got resolved but that's not within the scope of this sub.)
Other than that, landlord paid everything.
My trailer already had issues, mostly parts of it breaking from just old age. But one of the bigger things was the outdoor lighting. You see, there was this very small step that went up to the concrete platform my trailer sat on, and it was small enough that I have no idea why it was put there but big enough that you'll easily trip over it. The landlord had put down those cheapo solar lights to keep it lit, but those had since died.
I brought it to the landlord's attention. Promises it'd get fixed. This went on for weeks.
Finally after a particularly bad day at work, I decided I had enough once I tripped over it for the umpteenth time. Went to the Homeless Despot and picked up some better solar lights and stuck them where the old ones were. Finally, bliss and not having visitors and myself trip up on their way to my front door.
...or so I thought. Couple days later I come home from work, my solar lights are (crudely) ripped out of the ground and tossed aside, and there's a notice taped to my door that essentially said RESIDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE THEIR OWN REPAIRS OR MODIFICATIONS TO ANYTHING ON THEIR PROPERTY, IF YOU NEED ANYTHING PLEASE CONTACT $LAZYLANDLORD
(For those curious, for the entire year and a half I lived there, no, they never replaced the lights. I did, however, stick a directional light on the one outdoor light I was allowed to replace, and aimed it right at the offending step.)
This becomes relevant later. I just sighed angrily, and went about the rest of my day.
Now, remember when I said things were breaking on my trailer from old age?
A few months later, I come home from work to hear running water near my trailer. I round the corner, and notice that the big water hose feeding my trailer water had basically disintegrated from being old and worn, and was spewing water everywhere. I also remembered that 1. The landlord pays the water bill, and 2. They were lazy and never did anything, and 3. When I did try to correct for their laziness they went HAM on me for daring to make my life somewhat better.
So I turned around, went back to my car, called my mom, and asked if I could stay the night at her house, to which she agreed.
Sure, I knew exactly where the shutoff valve was for the water line going to my trailer. Could I have engaged it? Sure. But seeing as the last time I did something good I was screamed at for making "my own repairs", nope. Landlord was going to pay for ALL that water. And her laziness too. (Seriously, that hose should have been swapped LONG ago, and wasn't.)
The landlord did try to hassle me over it (the irony is she lived directly adjacent to my trailer, so her not noticing the GUSHING WATER is next-level laziness), but I pointed out that she specifically told me I'd get a paddlin' if I tried to do anything on my own again, and figured I'd leave water issues to the "professionals". And maintenance of the water system was never spelled out in my responsibilities to the property.
She eventually got relieved of her job a couple months after that whole thing went down. Her replacement was much better about things.
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121points
Maintaining open lines of honest communication can help avoid a lot of issues with landlords. And while many tenants believe that their landlords might be worse than the devil, the fact of the matter is that they're usually Pandas like you or us: they have their own goals, dreams, worries, and expenses to deal with as well.
"When it comes to difficult landlords, renters have to remember that landlords have expenses too. Their mortgages have to get paid. So does all the maintenance and upkeep. So, if you feel you have a difficult situation, try and speak with the landlord in a calm and understanding manner," investing specialist Rick explained.
"Explain why you believe the increase is excessive. And, if you can't come to an understanding, consider alternatives to renting, or, barring any local regulation, you'll have few choices other than moving."
To say that some people are freaked out by the current economic climate is an understatement. It feels like the situation is getting worse for tenants across the board. Even people living in rent-stabilized apartments are feeling the squeeze.
The New York City Rent Guidelines Board has opened the floodgates and allowed landlords to increase the rents on over a million rent-stabilized apartments. Rates for one-year leases will rise by 3.25% and by 5% for two-year leases, according to CNN.
#10 Sure, I’ll Reimburse You For What The Carpet Is Worth!
This is a story that I was told conversationally at a camp.
Guy telling me the story: N His brother: B Landlord: L
Guy telling me the story: N His brother: B Landlord: L
So this guy (N) had a brother (B) who was renting a home. He was one of those long-term renters who stayed at the same location for 10+ years. B was moving out, and the landlord (L) was trying his best to get every penny out of B that he could. L looked around the house and tried to charge him for every little thing: stains on the wall, the cupboard that was broken before he moved in, etc. The biggest, most expensive offense was the carpet.
The carpet was not pretty. Stains everywhere, a big hole where a cigarette was dropped, threads showing, etc. The carpet was clearly old when he moved in, but B wasn’t very prepared and didn’t think to take pictures before he moved in. N devised a plan to help his brother out. He knew the law pretty well, and went with B to sign the final paperwork.
I don’t know why the landlord thought he could charge the renter beyond his deposit. Maybe they had an agreement that he left out of the story, or the laws were different when this happened? Regardless, he was going to have to pay for all of the brand-new carpet because of the one hole he caused.
So the landlord smugly pulled out the paperwork to have B sign. N took one look at it, smirked, and told B to sign it. They got done with all of it, shook hands, and the landlord started bragging about how much he was going to make off of B.
Then N dropped the bomb. The paper said that he had to reimburse the carpet “for what it was worth.” According to the law that he had a copy of in his pocket, carpets are worthless after 10 years of use, which his brother alone fit as a qualification. The landlord was flabbergasted. Apparently he ended up just using some leftover carpet that he had in storage to replace the square where the cigarette burn was located, instead of replacing the whole carpet.
TL;DR - Landlord wanted tenant to replace the carpet for what it was worth. He did just that, because the carpet was worthless.
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116points
#11 When Trying To Get Your Deposit Back From Your Landlord
Landlord makes living conditions s****y so he offers me an opportunity to move out. I convince two others to move out as well. He ghosts me when I ask for my deposit so I take him to court. I win $650 so he appeals the court's decision. In the appeal, my award is tripled to $1800. He refuses to pay up so I get the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department to go to his bank, freeze his account, and seize his money.
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114points
#12 'give Us More Money Or We'll Evict You' Go Ahead
A few years ago my best friend and I rented a tiny 2 bedroom flat together. This place was kind of terrible; my friend's room had a hole cut into the wall so the last foot of the bed would fit (this became a 'mantlepiece' in the next room), the kitchen was the size of a child's playhouse kitchen and the upstairs neighbours spent all ours of the day and night screaming at each other or having loud sex. BUT, we were mostly happy because we were over living with 6+ other people. We paid £75 a week each + bills for this place, which was pretty standard for a 2 bed flat in our area.
Then 6 months into our 1yr contract the landlord sold the terraced house our flat (and 5 others) was a part of to a middle aged married couple who were first time landlords. They were the kind of people who thought they were smarter than everybody else and I got the impression they thought property management was going to be the easiest thing ever.
We had no problem throughout the sale process, we were assured nothing would change, we didn't interact much with the landlord before anyway. Then 2 weeks after the sale we got an email from the couple saying that we owed them £20 each more a week. Basically, in our contract it stated our rent was £75 each a week about 10 times, but there was one typo where it said our rent was £95 each, so they said they could legally charge us £95. We laughed at this, but when it became clear they were serious we reached out to the letting agent and got them to put in writing that it was a typo, our rent was always £75, and they even gave us the original advert for the flat with the correct rent on it. We thought this would be the end of it. We were wrong.
The couple insisted on coming to our flat for an in person meeting. When they got there they said that they asked the old landlord about it and he was shocked that we'd not been paying enough for 6 months now and the rent was always £95. I didn't buy this because they had nothing in writing, but I made the argument that OF COURSE he would say that because he wouldn't want it to seem like he sold under false pretences, and if we'd been underpaying by a total of like £160 a month why had he never spoken to us about it?? They said that he was a busy guy with too many properties, then the husband spent ages condescendingly explaining mortgages to us. Then they declared that if we did not start paying them the higher rent, they would evict us and we had 24hrs to pay or 30days to get out and they left.
Honestly I think they saw two 22yr old girls and thought they could scare us into paying more money. What they didn't know is that my friend and I are very pleasant until you piss us off and we become vindictive motherf*****s. We decided that night that if they wanted to evict us from this shit hole we were gonna make them do it properly and if they were so pedantic about contracts and rules we were going to stop letting ANYTHING slide.
The couple woke up the next morning with an email from our lawyer (my flatmates brother, a bored lawyer with time on his hands) requesting a formal eviction notice in writing and laying out a record of last night's conversation. Thing was they didn't actually have legal grounds to evict us because even if we went to court and a judge favoured their interpretation of the contract (we were advised this was unlikely) we still didn't owe them more than a month's rent, which would have been their only legal way of evicting us because we were otherwise great tenants. By 9:15am they were ringing us, but we ignored them and emailed that our lawyer had advised us to only communicate in writing.
We then sent an email informing them that the fancy new front door they just installed could not be unlocked from the inside without a key, which violated fire safety laws and unfortunately if this wasn't rectified ASAP we would have to report it. We then sent texts that showed them repeatedly entering our flat with less than 24hrs notice, and did they know that this was illegal? Maybe we should talk to the other tenants because if they're doing this to everyone then this could be quite a problem...
After about 3 days of this we received a very nice email saying that they don't agree our rent was supposed to be £75 each a week, but they would graciously allow us to finish out our contract at that rate. By this point we'd found a flat triple the size for £80 each a week and wanted out of that hamster cage, so we offered to move if they signed mutual surrender forms. They eagarly agreed.
The best part was that they stubbornly tried to rent that flat at the higher rate, despite us telling them it was a terrible idea, and the flat was empty for over a year. And because they had agreed to end our contract early they got stuck paying the council tax, not me!
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112points
Probably nobody has any illusions that living in NYC is expensive. However, rents in The Big Apple have been rising for four consecutive months. “Median rent for an apartment in Manhattan climbed to $4,000 a month in May, surging 25% from a year ago,” CNN reports, referring to a report compiled by brokerage firm Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers and Consultants.
The Legal Aid Society, the nonprofit legal aid provider, condemned the NYC Rent Guidelines Board’s vote (5:4 in favor of hiking rates) as “shameful” and “one which was likely predetermined, to increase rents on our most vulnerable neighbors.” This change will likely impact communities that were already barely scraping by due to the pandemic and inflation the most.
You can never really tell for sure if someone’s going to be a good or bad landlord, however, it’s important to trust your gut. If you feel like something’s way too good to be true, it probably is. Have a chat with the property’s current or former tenants and see what the issues with the home and the landlords might be. You can also do some snooping online and check out some reviews.
And above everything, make sure to have a proper contract: read it thoroughly, know what you’re agreeing to, and see if there are any major things missing from the document. Make sure that there’s nothing ambiguous there. For instance, if something breaks or needs fixing, you have to know who’s responsible and who’ll cover the costs.
Also, don’t be afraid to speak up if the property you’re visiting looks nothing like the pictures in the ad. There might be some repairs that need doing. See how the landlord reacts to this sort of discussion. Oh, and if they pressure you to pay your rent only in cash, this might be a red flag that they might be avoiding taxes or trying to scam you.
#13 You Illegally Remove A Bike Rack In Front Of My Home/Business, Just Wait
I live in the same building that I work in. I manage a sandwich shop in a heavily urban area. The landlord of the building is an angry old man, who we all love, but can be crotchety at times. He took upon himself to remove the bike rack in front of my building, illegally. His thinking was it would cut down on people leaning on it to smoke cigarettes. So I emailed the department of transportation, stating that if they continue to be removed, we'll potentially miss out on business from cyclist, on the theory that if they have no place to securely lock up their bikes. My landlord is on vacation, when he comes back on Wednesday, there will be a brand new 20 foot bike rack installed directly in front of the building, courtesy of the city.
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107points
#14 I Should've Read The Lease? Well You Should've Read The Law!
It was coming up on renewal time, and my landlord had just sent renewal paperwork with a big rent increase. Knowing I could find a cheaper place nearby, I sent in my written notice to vacate, which was required 60 days before my move out date. The landlord rejected my notice, and told me that if I read the lease I would know that notice to vacate was required 60 days before the first day of the month that I wanted to move out, not 60 days before the move out day itself. As a result, they were going to force me to submit a new notice the following month and pay an extra months rent (at the new higher rate).
I was offended by their attitude, but accepted that they had won - at least until I checked the lease against local rental law. While they were right about the required date of my notice to vacate, they had failed to send me notice of rent increase on time, because I was supposed to have a minimum of 2 weeks AFTER receiving their notice of rent increase to put in my notice to leave at the end of my original lease term!
I wrote back to them with a screenshot of the relevant city law and said "while you are correct about the due date of my notice to vacate, you also failed to send me timely notice of rent increase. You can't require me to send you notice to vacate at the end of my lease term before knowing how much you will be raising rent! So how do you plan to remedy your breach of the lease?"
After what must have been a tense call with their lawyer, my landlord agreed to accept my original notice and let me move out on the day I planned. Since I had already paid my last months rent, they never got another cent from me!
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102points
#15 You Like Building Codes? I Love Building Codes!
My lease is ending soon and my landlord has been showing my apartment to anyone with a pulse, non-stop, for months. During a couple of these showings, my bedroom door was locked. The landlord got mad about this and told me he was coming to remove my bedroom door handle and replace it with a handle with no lock. He said city fire codes do not allow locks on interior doors and he wanted everything up to code for the new tenants.
I responded that getting everything up to code was a great idea! I offered to schedule an inspection from the city so they could get all their maintenance done at once and really be sure things were ready for the new tenants. Best to do the whole building, I think I saw signs of rodents in the basement...
Suddenly building codes weren't so important. My bedroom door is now locked during all showings.
edit: Guys look, we're famous!
https://www.newsweek.com/tenants-response-landlords-code-threat-delights-internet-1711025
A huge thank you to Newsweek for giving me something perfect to tape to the apartment door before showings!
Thanks to everyone here for all your ideas and words of support!
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93points
The way to a landlord’s heart (if they have one and it isn’t ice-cold, of course) is by maintaining regular communication, taking good care of the property, and making sure that you pay your rent and utilities on time.
Not all tenants are the angels that might like to be seen as. For instance, Bored Panda showed a landlord’s perspective a while back by featuring just how little regard for any cleanliness some tenants have. The pics are nightmarish, and these types of people probably come from the same demonic realm as those landlords who refuse to fix the hot water for months and months.
Recently, Bored Panda spoke about landlords with redditor u/movingtocincinnati, who’d got in touch with the city inspector after they couldn’t get some major structural and foundational issues resolved. The inspector really let the property owner and manager have it. The internet user told us that it feels good to fight back and win without just gritting your teeth and dealing with the unfairness.
Some landlords see that their tenants are desperate and act accordingly. “This is so true in so many cases. Some tenants may be far away from home, have no support system, in a tight budget, need to stay in a certain school district, etc.,” the redditor said.
Right after talking to the city inspector, the redditor spoke to their lawyer. “At first, they were just telling us to move out. I asked a lawyer what we were entitled to and he explained it to us. I would say cover your bases and know where to complain,” they told Bored Panda. It just goes to show that justice really can win out in the end. Especially if the law, not just morality and common sense, is on your side.
#16 Reason Required To Move Out
This happened a long time ago. I was young and had just come back from traveling in Europe. I wound up renting an apartment that I was not happy with, but it was in my home town, and was affordable. I was hoping to move out, and was able to do so once a better opportunity came along. The apartment was generally depressing, so I was looking forward to moving out.
I talked to the landlord and building manager about moving out, and to see if I could move out mid-month to save on some rent. They said that was not possible, and I would have to wait until the end of the month to move out. Fine not a big problem.
The building manager says I need to fill out some forms before I can move out, so I go to his office and do so. He was not a very friendly guy, but honestly I had not had any interactions with him prior to this, and had no hard feelings about him. One of the questions on the form was "Why are you moving out". I left it blank. What business is it of anyone's why I am moving out. The building manager handed me back the form and said "You have to fill this in". I told him that I didn't feel like giving a reason that I am moving out, and didn't understand why it was mandatory. He insisted that I "HAD" to fill it in or he would not process my move out paperwork to end the month to month lease. I said OK fine, and filled in "I do not like the building manager". He was shocked when he read it. I told him I didn't want to put anything down, but rules are rules.
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88points
#17 “Guests Cannot Spend The Night At My Property.”
Back when I was in college, I lived in a 2-bedroom apartment with a nice German student.
He was a nice guy, and he would often have his friends over. I didn’t mind it at all because I just moved to the are and needed new friends anyways.
Our landlady though, she was a nightmare. She was this small grumpy lady who would complain over the smallest things. She doesn’t live with us, but tries to control everything - the color of our sheets, the scent of candles that we light, where we put our stuffs, etc. Needless to say, we hated her.
We pay for our electricity and water, so it doesn’t matter if we have our friends / family stay over once in a while because whatever they consumer more of we will foot the bill ourselves anyways.
My sister visits me once a month for one night, just whenever she’s in town. One day, my landlord found out and got so mad she wanted to call the cops on us for not respecting the rule of “guests cannot spend the night” at her property.
The only reason she does this is because she feels if a guest would stay a night they would have to pay her the full rent for the month. THE MONTH.
But que malicious compliance...
When one of my German roommate’s friends was laid off from his main job, he was left homeless with only a grave shift part-time job. He asked if he could stay with us for about a week or two. I told him I didn’t mind but my landlady might mind. They told me not to worry.
And she was fuming when she found out (easily, the day after he decided to stay with us because she checks on us unannounced every other day, and has security cameras outside our door). She threatened to call the cops on us again, and all my roommate said was:
“But you told us explicitly no one can spend the NIGHT at your property. He is never here at night because he’s working, so there’s no rule broken here.”
She had nothing to say and left. We could hear her screaming from inside her car that was parked right outside.
Edit: I had to pull my copy of the contract out, and we didn’t have a specific clause on overnight guests, nor do we have a clause on visits. It did say at the end though that whatever isn’t explicitly stated, when questioned, will pivot on California state laws. So this was totally illegal. My roommate and I were just young, stupid international students who let her get away with it. But it definitely makes for a fun story though.
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87points
#18 Landlord Wants A Professional To Install My Smoke Detectors? Ok
Whenever I move into a rental, I replace the smoke detector with a brand spanking new one, and usually add a second battery operated one as well. I leave them in the units after I leave, but for my piece of mind, and because I have grown up with fire safety drilled into my brain, I want to be sure they will work properly, and that they will not fail.
One landlord I had told me a certified fire protection company had to install the battery operated smoke detector I bought (wtf, it is 2 screws) AND that an electrician had to replace the other hardwired one. (I tried getting the maintenance guy to do it, but he wouldn't.)
Finally my dad (who owned a fire protection company at the time) came and installed it, not before asking if that was the detector installed in all units. When they said yes, he brought down the wrath of the fire inspector. (The smoke detectors were over 40 years old and beyond life expectancy). After that, they never asked me to get a professional to do anything. (I wonder why...)
ETA: for clarification, an electrician is not required for an install since no new lines were being run, so no permits needed to be pulled. Also, a professional did not need to install it, since it was being installed in a residence. They are only required if it is in a commercial area.
I tried to explain, and show them the codes, but they would not listen. So my dad the professional installed it for me free of charge, and then reported them.
What happened was they got fined, and had to replace every smoke detector. Funny how when head office got the report and stuff, they bought all new detectors and had the maintenance guy install them since no permits are needed.
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80points
#19 Tenant Asking Landlord (Me) To "Be More Professional"
I am a small-time Landlord, with just 4 tenants. Earlier this year, I had two sisters that didn't respond to my requests to add of the gal's husband to the lease, though he was living with them. Not a BIG deal... but did I mention the pit bull they also brought home, without permission? I DO allow pets, and had previously approved their other dog. I asked nicely in person and by email in the months leading up to the malicious compliance...
They also did not respond when I asked if they were happy there, and wanted to renew their lease for the following year. I asked again... Then I emailed them notice that I would start showing the unit 2 days later.
I try to be a nice Landlord... I do. They had a newborn, as well, so I scheduled all of the showings within a 2 hour window on the same night so I could be in their space as little as possible. Also, because they had not responded, and it was now serious "crunch time" for getting another tenant and my spouse worked all the following two weeks during evening showing hours, I had the delightful inconvenience of bringing my 2 and 6 year old children with me to the showings. Because I'm not a corporation - I'm a small-time family Landlord with kids.
Try to imagine how difficult it is to conduct business meetings with 2 kids, right? Then imagine staggering showings every fifteen minutes, with prospective tenants who are also bringing their own kids. Just to further clutter your imagination, this is an 800 square foot 2 bedroom apartment with a cozy entryway. So I arrive with my two kids, to find that my tenants are still at home, along with the husband, the newborn and the other sister's boyfriend. So that's 7 people in a small kitchen already. Then the first prospective tenants start arriving. Husbands, wives, with kids, and some showing up early so there's two sets of them. That's 14 people in a small kitchen...
And I'm a mom. I have magical powers. So I'm holding my toddler, my daughter is safely under the dining table coloring, and I'm chatting with the prospective tenants and directing traffic while my actual tenants prepare to depart. If you didn't know this already, it's common practice in the US to leave the premises during real estate or apartment showings. This was their first apartment, so I actually emailed them ahead of time to let them know what is generally expected at showings (e.g. a relatively tidy apartment, and that they can leave, for their own convenience).
They do eventually leave, after the boyfriend tells a prospective tenant that he, in fact, ALSO lives there. And I carry on with an exhausting scheduling of showings. And have my new tenants all picked out and lease signed by the next day. Awesome, right?
The next night, I get a voicemail from the husband (who is NOT my tenant). I saved it, and just listed to it again, because it still gives me that same delightful shiver of malicious compliance.. In his voicemail, he told me how awful it was that MY children touched HIS infant's things (they didn't, because I keep my kids entertained with magical mommy toys, but prospective tenants also brought children), and how they had to sterilize everything to keep their infant from being sick, and how inconvenient it was to have showings with only 2 days notice, and how very unprofessional I was to bring my children, and asked if I could just be more professional in the future.
You can hear it, can't you? The deep shiver of malicious compliance vibrating through my offended being.
The next morning, I started issuing professional Lease Violation Notices. One for the extra residents of the unit (hubby and boyfriend). One for the extra dog. And a few additional ones for building concerns I noted during the showings.
They ignored the violation notice, which I sent by certified mail and, thoughtfully, also by email. I decided to be even more professional 30 days later, and issue a 5-day notice to vacate. And I called their mom, who is their emergency
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76points
#20 Dealt With A Lying Landlord By Threatening To Run Up Their Bills
I had a landlord in the past who slipped a 90 day notice requirement into the rental contract after I had signed it. I was house hunting, so at the end of my lease I asked to go to a month to month lease to make it easier to leave when the time came. Landlord and I agreed on a higher monthly price to compensate them for the lack of security, and I signed the contract at the office of a business they also owned downstairs. Landlord wasn't actually present, but one of their employees handled it. So, contract is signed and they go to make me a copy for my records, but are "having an issue with the copier". After a few minutes they ask if they can text me when they get it to work. I naively agree, and head upstairs. 30 minutes or so later, they text me saying they got the copier to work, and I come pick up my "copy". I didn't think to double check everything at the time.
So, for the next few months I just pay my monthly rent while I look for a home. Finally found the right place, and the closing date was about 4 weeks out, so I immediately notified my landlord that I would be leaving on said date. Landlord responds that it's nice I found a home, but I would be responsible for the next 2 months rent after that as well due to the 90 day notification requirement in the contract. I'm totally confused, so I go check my copy of the contract, and sure enough, there is a stipulation in there about that. I also notice that my initials from the top and bottom of each page, verifying that I have read that page, have somehow mysteriously shifted to being doubled up at the top of the page after this stipulation, with none on the bottom of that actual page. This was because they had inserted 2 lines of text detailing the 90 day reporting requirement, after I had already signed the paperwork. They didn't notice the formatting error it created, which was a dead giveaway of what was going on.
I inform the landlord of this, and notify him that this is not a legally binding contract due to this issue, and state that I will not be paying any further rent beyond this month, and expect my deposit back without penalty. Unfortunately he persists with stating that this is a legally binding contract, and he will pursue it in court in addition to withholding my deposit if I fail to pay, blah blah blah... I know I am legally in the right, but I don't want to have to deal with courts to settle it as that takes forever, so I come up with an alternative plan.
The one thing he hadn't thought about was the fact that the contract included all utilities, as the unit didn't have separate meters, and did not have any language forbidding excessive use of them. It just so happened to be a particularly cold winter, so I informed my landlord that if he wanted to persist with his demands, I would be inclined to leave all of the windows open, crank the heat as high as it would go, open the refrigerator door, run the water 24/7, etc, and if he entered the apartment without my permission to turn any of these items off, I would report him to the police.
I got confirmation that he would not pursue the extra month's rent or security deposit within 20 minutes. :)
Edit: Just so everyone knows how the story ended, this happened around December of 2016 if I remember correctly, and I did get my security deposit back, etc. Didn't pursue legal option because I didn't think it would end up being worth the time and trouble, though I understand the sentiment.
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75points