This story is from a while back, when I was in college, which was situated in a rather large city, so rent was not very cheap, and landlords thought they could cut corners.

Unlike many of the buildings in the area, the room I rented was within a wooden house. When I toured the house, nothing stood out as unusual; the room was small but cosy, there were rather large common rooms, and the roommates seemed nice (one of whom was the landlord’s daughter). Another plus was that they were okay with me bringing my cat and not putting down an obnoxious deposit.

Cut to two weeks later, I’ve moved into the room, and everything seems fine, except my allergies begin to act up. I figured this was just due to allergy season being in full swing, despite not usually having allergies act up.

One month in, and my allergies are worse, and I start to notice small things around the house that seem to just be MacGyvered; for example, sink piping is duct taped, and the bathtub had a crack, which seemed to be glued(?) together.

At one and a half months, allergies are again worse, and my cat begins acting really weird; she starts running into things, acting confused, and having what looks like muscle twitching. I took her to the vet and was told that they believe she’s ingested a large amount of mold. Dr. Google confirmed that this is a possibility given her symptoms and fully explained how I’ve been feeling. I end up asking my friend to watch my cat for a couple of days while I look for the source of mold in the house.

Remembering the weird handy jobs performed in the bathroom, I removed the little piece of wood that covered the area between the bathtub and ground (it was elevated on some plastic feet), only to find it covered in fuzzy black growth! I immediately replaced the wood (which had growth on the back side of it, too) and checked under the sink. It looked like there was old water damage on the bottom of the cabinet, but no mold; that is, until I shone a light into a small hole cut out in the back of the cabinet. Again, the entire area that I could see in that whole was covered in black fuzz. I don’t know if it was psychological, but I ended up getting watery eyes and sneezing a bunch while on the hunt for mold.

I immediately showed my roommate, who then called her dad about the mold. The dad essentially said it’s nothing serious and he’ll get to it when he has time.

One week later, and he’s done nothing about it. Wanting to bring my cat back, I called to ask him for an update, and he said that he consulted with a professional who said it didn’t sound like mold and that I should just keep it covered. I was p***ed, but this being my first rental, I had no idea how to handle it, and as nice as the landlord’s kid was, she really didn’t try to help persuade him.

After some research, I found that in my area, mold is a hazard that landlords are required to take care of it. While this wasn’t stated in my contract, it was a contractual obligation he had. I called the landlord with this information and told him that I’ll be withholding my rent until he sends someone to look at the issue. He flat-out laughed and said I can’t do that, and that he wouldn’t allow me to break my lease early. I was p***ed, and too nervous to bring my cat back into the house.

After reviewing some more local codes, I decided that instead of withholding rent, I would report the issue to the municipality in hopes of their taking action. Within seventy-two hours, they sent an inspector out to not only check the areas I mentioned finding mold in, but also to do a full inspection of the home. They spent at least two hours walking around the interior and exterior, looking under every appliance and into any accessible space.

After the review was done, they told me that the mold damage was far more extensive than I thought. Essentially, the entire house had become infested due to moist conditions and poor ventilation. He said that this would require extensive work and that I would not be able to stay in my room during this time. But that’s not all, the inspector also found over a dozen code and permit violations, each of which would have to be remedied, or else a huge fine would be levied.

The inspector sent a letter detailing his findings to the landlord, and I got an angry call with him screaming about how I shouldn’t have gotten them involved and how he was actually planning on coming out that weekend.

I was too timid to boast about this win, but I did state that, per the inspector’s findings, I will be moving out, as I am legally allowed to break the lease if conditions are unlivable; he said I’m not allowed to, and I told him to take me to court in that case.

I moved all my stuff out that day with some help from friends and crashed with the friend watching my cat during this ordeal. I was able to get a room in a much nicer house rather quickly and kept in contact with one of the other roommates from the previous home.

Apparently, the landlord tried to rent out my room again and didn’t take the inspector’s letter seriously, even the part that stated that they have, I believe, one month to take care of all code/permit violations before they would be fined daily per violation, some amounting to over $1000 per day.

Things got real for him after about five weeks, when he got multiple letters from the municipality detailing all of his fines and how the rates would go up if he continued to ignore them.

Last I heard, he scrambled to respond to correct all of the violations, but not before his fines amounted to $50k and he was forced to have all tenants move out. I noticed the house for sale a few months later.

I rented a home through a popular rental app. There was a $2000 deposit that I would get back at the end of the rental period as long as everything went well and I followed the checkout instructions provided when I was ready to leave.

A few days before I left, I sent a message to the owner:

Me: “Good morning, could you send the checkout instructions?”

Owner: “Yes”

Nothing is sent for a full day.

Me: “Hi, I didn’t receive the instructions. Can you double-check that it was sent?”

Owner: “Yes”

Another day, no instructions.

Me: “Hello again, I still don’t see the instructions.”

Owner: “K”

The day of checkout came, and I had no instructions. I really wanted that $2000 back, so I cleaned every inch of the house, mopping, vacuuming, doing all the dishes, and laundry. Honestly, I think it was cleaner when I left than when I arrived.

I took time-stamped photos, told the owner I was leaving, and left. There was no communication for a full week, nor did I get my deposit back. I reached out again.

Me: “Hello, just checking on the status of my deposit.”

Owner: “0”

Me: “I’m sorry?”

Owner: “house is disgusting reporting you”

Me: “I’m going to need an itemized list of what was wrong because I left it cleaner than it was when I got there.”

Owner: “K”

The owner sent a series of photos of the rental. It did look disgusting. The itemized list included things like “piles of trash, bedding destroyed, furniture stained, and did not follow checkout instructions.” I disputed this list with my own photos, thinking, “Surely the timestamp and the record of asking for the instructions will help me.”

Nope.

The app sided with the owner, stating that they had provided photographic evidence of the condition of the house. I reported the owner to the service team, along with screenshots of our conversation and all my photos. I also added that if it came to it, I would seek legal action. It took two more weeks before my full deposit was returned.

I left the owner a one-star review with the same photos I submitted. He turned around and left me a one-star review, saying I was difficult to communicate with and lied about the state of the home.

This happened a year ago, so the story is paraphrased. I live in a small student apartment which has very little storage space. I usually store my belongings on the floor or on my desk, since they can’t all fit in my tiny closet. 

When the maintenance man comes, which is often, I clear all my belongings off my floor and put them on my desk or under my bed. The one time I didn’t, I got a scolding letter in the mail about how dirty my apartment was, so I always make sure to tidy extra thoroughly. This is usually more than clean enough for him to access everywhere in the apartment.

One day, I get notified that the maintenance man will be coming to redo the plaster (even though my room was remodelled only a year before). I clear all my belongings off the floor as usual, and I leave the apartment before he arrives, so he can work uninterrupted. While I am out, I receive a phone call:

Me: “Hello?”

Caller: “Hello, this is the building manager for your apartment complex. I am calling to let you know the maintenance man could not access your apartment because it was not tidy at all. He will be coming back tomorrow, and you need to tidy up so he can access it. We let you know yesterday that he would come, so you really should have tidied up first.”

Me: “Okay, I will do that, but I’m pretty sure I did tidy up already?”

Caller: *Affronted.* “You certainly did not! I saw your room myself, and it was a mess! You need to actually tidy it, because today it was a complete mess!”

Me: “Okay, thank you, I will do that. Goodbye.”

Baffled, I return home. My floor is completely bare, and I have no clue what I could tidy any further. I decided to wait until the maintenance man arrives tomorrow and ask him directly.

The next day, the maintenance man comes, and I let him in. He looks around for a moment and then says:

Maintenance Man: “Oh, sorry, you need to clear off your desk, because we have to stand on it to repair that crack in the ceiling.”

I quickly clear a large space on my desk, and the maintenance man gets to work. I spent the rest of the day wishing the building manager had told me what actually needed to be done, rather than just saying my apartment was a mess!

Also, the reason they needed to stand on my desk rather than use a ladder was that my desk was fixed to the wall, and the crack was immediately above it.

My aunt and uncle manage a rental property with several different lots and houses on them. They report to the actual owners, but most of the tenants go to them with any problems they have. My aunt also suffers from anxiety that’s ramping up, so I tend to hang out when her husband isn’t home under the guise of babysitting my cousins. Her anxiety knows they’re safe under my watch while she works, and I get paid and fed. It’s a pretty sweet gig.

One day, one of the tenants calls, upset. Someone has broken into the shed in her backyard and emptied it. My uncle goes to investigate, and my aunt calls the owners, as well as security. By the time my uncle gets back, the owners and the cops have arrived at the tenant’s house.

Uncle: “Yeah, it’s cleaned out. There was a lock on the front of it, but they used bolt cutters. We found the lock tossed aside.”

Aunt: “What? Why?”

Uncle: “She had some tools and stuff in there. There have been other break-ins in the area, but this is the first on our property. She was giving a statement to the cops when I left. Security left to get the tapes from last night.”

Me: “What did they take?”

Uncle: “She didn’t go in too far, but from what she could tell, she’s definitely missing some tools, her mower, and a bunch of supplies from her woodworking.”

Me: “That’s awful.”

Aunt: “But I don’t understand. Why would they do that?”

Uncle: “Who knows? But she was definitely robbed.”

Aunt: “But… why?“

Me: “Tools can be pretty valuable, and she’s kind of the handyman for her neighbors. I bet she had some high-end ones that will fetch a good price when sold. That sucks.”

Aunt: “But… I just don’t understand! Why? Why would someone do that?”

Uncle: “For money. For the thrill. Who knows? Remember when we had taggers? It was a bunch of kids doing it for laughs.”

Aunt: *Frustrated, nearly yelling* “But why would they do that? I don’t understand!“

Me: “They probably took them to sell them. Maybe they’ll be caught and we can ask them. Were the tools insured?”

Uncle: “She said some were, but some belonged to her late husband and were more sentimental than anything. She’s really upset about those.”

Me: “That’s awful.”

Aunt: *Yelling* “BUT WHY WOULD SOMEONE DO THAT?”

Uncle: “We don’t know yet, hon—”

Aunt: *Still yelling* “IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!”

Uncle: “Honey, breathe. Here, drink some water. The cops and security are there with her, and no one was hurt.”

Aunt: *Angrily crying* “BUT WHY? WHY WOULD SOMEONE DO THAT?”

Me: “For money, probably. Here, let’s sit down—”

She swats at me and screams.

Aunt: “I don’t UNDERSTAND!”

Me: *Yells* “YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO!”

My aunt falls silent.

Me: “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. Here, drink this water, and take some deep breaths.”

Aunt: *Drinks* “I just don’t understand. I don’t understand. Why would someone do that? It doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone do that? Why?!“

Me: *Calmly* “Are you a thief?”

Aunt: “What? No! What?!”

Me: “Do you break into people’s homes to steal things?”

Aunt: “No!”

Me: “Then you wouldn’t understand why someone would break into a place to steal things, would you?”

Aunt: *Long pause* “Oh. I guess not.”

And she went back to work, much more calm and collected. I apologized again for yelling at her, but she waved me off and said her anxiety clearly needed to hear that.

Later, she told me she was embarrassed by her reaction; they’ve been managing that property for over fifteen years, and that wasn’t the first time they’d had to deal with a break-in, but it was the first time she’d reacted like that. The tenant, unfortunately, never got her items back, but my aunt swapped to a higher dose of anti-anxiety medication and is doing much better.

CONTENT WARNING: Stalking, Robbery, Violence

I’m a (female) landlord responsible for an apartment complex. The father of one of our tenants called to inform me that his son would not be able to continue his lease due to being jailed past the end of said lease.

I admit, I’m a bit nosy.

Me: “I… see. May I ask why he was jailed?”

The father went on to tell this story — not verbatim, but pretty close.

Father: “My son has been stalking and robbing women to support himself financially. He was arrested for pulling a knife on three ladies walking to a football game. It turned out that there was also a women’s boxing tournament that weekend. The ladies he attempted to rob were competing. They beat the stuffing out of him and detained him until the police arrived. He’s doing a lot of rethinking.” 

I don’t like violence, but Karma was on tap with this one, especially since I could have potentially been one of his victims.