A good landlord-renter relationship thrives on respect and understanding, but does it require complete transparency?

One apartment owner found many prospects balked at the idea of living with their landlord, so she decided to keep it a secret.

But after they moved out, her tenants made sure everyone else knew the truth —or at least their twisted version of it.

Read on for the full story.

AITA for not telling my roommates I am the landlord?

I (F28) got a job when I was 17 and lived at home saving as much as I could until I was 26, at which point I bought a small apartment for myself with a small mortgage.

It has two rooms, one is bigger with an ensuite and the other is a single.

I didn’t want to live alone for safety reasons, so I posted about getting a roommate (them having the ensuite).

However, due to the unorthodox living arrangements, she had trouble attracting tenants.

I got lots of messages, but when people found out I was the landlord, they usually left the conversations.

I was very upfront that I wanted clean/tidy/organised/quiet/non-drinking people and my sister said that was probably sending a “toxic message” since I was also the landlord.

So she decided to omit the information from the listing. Soon after, she got a bite.

So I stopped mentioning that and very shortly after I found people.

They’re a really nice engaged couple (F29 and M28) and though I wouldn’t say we are close best friends, but we are friendly, have dinner together sometimes and the living situation has been really nice.

She thought she was offering her tenants a pretty good deal, despite her high expectations for renters.

The rent was on the cheaper side of average in our area, we split bills, streaming and internet etc.

But they did not know I was the landlord.

I will fully admit, I can be a strict.

I hate things being messy/disorganised/loud, and especially since I am the owner, I want things sorted quickly to avoid damages.

So a few times I have scheduled “checks” to get things rolling if they’re being pushed aside and mentioned I might have to complain if things weren’t tidied up properly.

When the renters had trouble paying, she cut the rent, revealing her true position as the landlord.

Recently, the girl had some health issues and has been working less, which means they have been struggling on rent payments.

Again, I don’t need their money to pay off the mortgage, but have been using it to help give me some extra money.

I decided to come clean and mentioned I would cut the rent payments fully until she got better and found stable work again.

They decided to take the deal and things seemed fine.

They were nice about it and took the deal until she got better.

They then moved about last month and I went on the search for new roommates.

Until they suddenly weren’t.

They started trashing me to everyone they knew about how I lied about being the landlord, was a strict pain in the *** jerk, was trying to steal their money in a cost of living crisis to pay off my debts, etc.

Word has gotten around and I’ve actually stopped taking inquiries.

Now she’s wondering who’s to blame in all of this.

Some of my friends and family members are saying I was an AH and should have been honest about it from the get go, others are saying I didn’t owe them that information and ended up doing them a favour.

I don’t really know what to believe.

AITA?

With her reputation now on the line, she’s wondering if her secrecy was worth all the trouble it caused.

What did Reddit think?

Some people will take any opportunity to complain, even if it’s not warranted.

This commenter disagrees, stating her duplicity robbed her tenants of their privacy and potentially their rights too.

If someone’s walking away from a situation where they feel tricked, it seems anyone would be upset.

But the tenants certainly didn’t handle themselves perfectly either.

Whatever money she saved, she’s paying it back in trust and damaged reputations.

This landlord learned the hard way that some secrets can’t stay hidden forever.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.