Disgruntled Renter Took Photos Of His Landlord’s Violations And Turned Them Into City Officials. Soon Enough It Cost The Landlord Thousands In Fines.
by Heather Hall
Nothing beats renting your first apartment – that is, unless you have a bad landlord.
What if your landlord was so terrible that they forced you to move from a nice unit to a rundown one and then started entering your place while you weren’t home?
Would you confront the landlord? Or would you move out and stick it to them?
In the following story, a young renter found themselves in this very situation.
Let’s see what they did.
Cause me hassle on moving out? I’ll cause you 50 grand in home prepares.
So, this story happened a few years ago when I was still new and ignorant to renting apartments.
My landlord was a right piece of work, and violated SO many laws; but again I was new to the whole thing, he knew that, and took advantage of my ignorance.
I had lived in one place which I really enjoyed, and signed a renters agreement with the landlord.
Then, after two months, he said I had to leave because I made too much money.
Sometimes, it’s best not to complain.
I loved this place I had (and was paying a very decent rent!). But he said not to worry, that he owned another building that had an available apartment in it I could move into.
Begrudgingly, I made the move over there.
It wasn’t as nice of a place by far, though still had the same amount of rooms; a bedroom, and smaller ‘office’, so I figured I couldn’t complain, and he charged me the same rent (though I never signed anything for this place– he just literally switched keys with me).
This new place was kind of gross though– cracks in the wall, black mould growing in certain corners, the bathroom door literally didn’t close, the radiator leaked water, and the toilet… well let’s just say it wasn’t the same colour on the inside as it was on the outside.
At this point, they couldn’t take it anymore.
As the months went on, I began to notice things were ‘different’ when I’d come back from work.
Sometimes it would just be ‘Did I leave those papers like that?’ to ‘There’s muddy footprints here!’.
I figured out he’d been coming in my place when I wasn’t around.
That was the last straw, and with the support of my boss (who was also my really good friend), I began looking for a new place with a *different* landlord.
I finally did, and told my boss I was unsure if I should put in notice or what. He asked if I had signed a lease or papers or anything for that place. I said no.
In his words he said ‘Forget about it, pack up your stuff and move.’
Here’s where the problem really begins.
Therein lies the most stressful move I have ever experienced. I didn’t own a lot of things, but what I had meant a lot to me; I’d earned it.
I had my best friend there helping me pack up my stuff (my best friend was also my boss’ wife), and two of their children. We got through a small amount of loading things up when Mr. Landlord got tipped off.
He then kicked my friend off his property, and told me that if I left the apartment, he would change the locks, and not let me back in (keep in mind, this is not before the end of the month, and I had already paid for the entire month).
Upset, they enlisted some help.
So I sat in my apartment, crying, trying to figure out what to do.
I called my Boss (who was coming quickly because his wife and kids were there), and one of my brothers, and was scared to leave my apartment as I didn’t want to lose any of my things.
After my reinforcements came, the landlord backed off, and I quickly got all of my important things out of there (though I made sure someone was always inside the apartment at all times).
Before leaving, however, I took some quick pictures of the mould, and cracks, and other disgusting things around my place.
There’s nothing like sticking it to the man.
A few days after settling into my new place, I went to the city hall and the health and safety board and showed them the pictures; turns out they were just as interested in them as I was.
Nearly a year later I ran across one of my old neighbours from inside the building; an older lady that had lived just below me.
We made quick pleasantries, and then she asked me if I’d heard what happened after I left.
I said no, as my new place was in the next town over so I didn’t even frequent the neighbourhood anymore.
Apparently, thanks to the lovely pictures I sent in, my landlord was investigated, and was forced to pay just over 50 thousand dollars worth of repairs on the building.
Yikes! That landlord is a real piece of work!
Let’s see how the readers over at Reddit responded to this situation.
This person thinks they should make it worse for the landlord.
Here’s a great point!
A lot of readers are confused about the “too much money” quote.
This person offers some great insight.
It’s always satisfying to see someone get revenge the legal way.
The landlord really got what was coming to him.
If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.
Categories: STORIES
Tags: · bad landlord, first apartment, illegal, landlord, move out, picture, pro revenge, reddit, renter, rundown apartment, top
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