January 31, 2026 at 2:55 pm

A Landlord Only Painted One Half Of A Stairway When A Tenant Moved Out Of A Building. – ‘I wish I was joking, but it’s been a week.’

by Matthew Gilligan

paint on a set of stairs

TikTok/@laurenfromiowa

Landlords have their own way of doing things…and this one seems to be picky about maintenance.

A woman named Lauren posted a video on TikTok and showed viewers the unexpected paint that her landlord applied to the stairs in her building after another tenant moved out.

sign for wet paint

TikTok/@laurenfromiowa

The video shows a set of stairs in an apartment building…and only one side of the steps has a fresh coat of white paint.

stairs with paint on them

TikTok/@laurenfromiowa

The text overlay on the video reads, “POV: Your neighbor moves out and your landlord only paints her side of the stairs for the new tenants.”

In the text overlay, Lauren wrote, “I wish I was joking, but it’s been a week.”

stairs with paint on them

TikTok/@laurenfromiowa

Here’s the video.

@laurenfromiowa

I wish I was joking but it’s been a week #landlords #whyme #sodumb

♬ origineel geluid – Tik Toker

TikTokkers shared their thoughts.

This person spoke up.

Screenshot 2026 01 14 at 5.26.37 PM A Landlord Only Painted One Half Of A Stairway When A Tenant Moved Out Of A Building.   I wish I was joking, but its been a week.

Another TikTokker has a theory…

Screenshot 2026 01 14 at 5.26.57 PM A Landlord Only Painted One Half Of A Stairway When A Tenant Moved Out Of A Building.   I wish I was joking, but its been a week.

And this viewer chimed in.

Screenshot 2026 01 14 at 5.27.28 PM A Landlord Only Painted One Half Of A Stairway When A Tenant Moved Out Of A Building.   I wish I was joking, but its been a week.

This landlord isn’t exactly going above and beyond…

If you liked that story, check out this one about a 72-year-old woman was told by her life insurance company that her policy was worthless because she’d paid for 40 years. 🙁