It’s stories like the one you’re about to read that scare me off from ever even considering being a landlord. While I’m sure a lot of people are able to own rental properties without renting to awful tenants, you truly never know what you’re going to get. You can think that a couple looks trustworthy and like they’ll do the right thing, but then they don’t.

In this story, a landlord dealt with a couple who refused to pay the rent. Months went by, and he eventually evicted them.

But the story doesn’t end there. When he saw the condition of the rental property, he took them to court.

Keep reading for all the details and to find out what the judge decides.

Live in a rental for over a year without paying rent? Good luck in jail.

Last summer I bought a house trailer and decided to rent it out.

It needed some work so I posted 2 months free rent for putting carpet down in the living room, hooking up the hot water heater and putting in a toilet.

Got a nice couple with a newborn willing to do it.

Great.

No problem yet.

No lease, month to month. No security deposit and the rent was $450 a month.

So they did the work so I didn’t ask for rent for 2 months.

Everything was fine.

Let’s review the state laws.

Side note: there are a few little state laws that come into play. If you don’t pay rent for 3 consecutive months You are considered a squatter, which means the landlord doesn’t have to fix the property and can actually padlock it and deny you entry.

If your on house arrest and get formally evicted, you could be violated for it. Also you can be formally evicted even if you have already moved out so the landlord can get rent due.

also even though there are eviction bans, if it happened before the ban then it can still go through. Plus a few other conditions that still allow someone to be evicted. It’s up to the judge really.

The months ticked by.

Fast forward 5 months and still no rent money.

Yes they had a newborn and they were young and didn’t have a lot of money, but the husband can spend $1,500 on a new engine for his project car. They can afford to go out to eat and spend money on electronics, but no rent.

So after that third month I did nothing.

The weather was turning cold. I didn’t put in the furnace like I promised and if they hadn’t had a newborn I would have padlocked the house.

The couple seems to think they have the upper hand.

They were bragging about their tax refund.

I gave them a shot to catch up and they basically said that they knew their rights and were in a rent strike (illegally I might add. You will see later)

covid happened, husband got laid off so I gave them a break.

When he went back to work I asked for back rent again and was told to back off.

He finally got them to move out.

I finally had enough. I told them they had 14 days to get out or I was doing a formal eviction and seeing he was on house arrest he knew what that meant.

i honestly was trying to keep him from having to go back to jail and keep an eviction off of their record. I was trying to be nice and civil

so they left and I cut my losses, until I checked the property.

Everything they put in the removed. Everything they got free rent for was gone.

Again, the couple thought the law was on their side.

I got mad and filed for a formal eviction.

it didn’t go as they hoped.

They said I didn’t provide heat so they went on a rent strike. Only they didn’t file that with the courts or hold the money aside. They just thought they could stop paying rent.

what they put into the trailer was less than the rent.

The judge seems to be on the landlord’s side.

The judge agreed with me that seeing they took everything I was due those 2 months rent. And the biggest.

he started slamming my character so I said “Well you didn’t tell me you were going to be going on house arrest when you rented the property”

Before then the judge looked bored, but he perked up. He asked them if that was true.

They responded that it was and he was ready to make his ruling.

The law was on the landlord’s side.

I received 15 months back rent at $450 a month and $2,000 in damages because the way they removed the stuff they damaged a lot of things.

As for him, the judge said he had no choice but to turn the eviction over to his parol officer.

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fast forward to this month.

His house arrest was violated and he was arrested.

It didn’t work out well for the couple.

They actually had the nerve to ask me to speak on his behalf.

I didn’t.

Ruling was his remaining 6 months are now being spent in jail, they have a bad eviction on their record and they owe me money.

know the law before you play the game.

As the saying goes, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

This person thinks the couple got bad advice.

Another person feels bad for the baby.

Exactly! Their excuse doesn’t hold up.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a home buyer who was surprised to learn his neighbors were upset about him removing a fence.

This really would’ve been even more extreme revenge!

Some people aren’t that bright. They’re so confident that the law is on their side that they don’t realize how very wrong they are.

In case it’s not clear, pay your rent. It’s that simple.

The landlord handled that well!