Most landlord stories I hear about paint the landlord as a villain who refuses to fix anything and refuses to give the security deposit back.

That makes this story a breath of fresh air! This story is not about an awful landlord. It’s about a landlord and tenant playing pranks on each other. They’re completely harmless, and they’re both able to laugh about it later.

Keep reading for all the details.

Landlord’s Revenge On Me

My family has been renting a house since July 2024. We rented it through a property management company.

About a year ago the only licensed broker, and the owner of the company, died, so the house owner took over everything.

We met, signed a new lease, and talked about what needed done.

We became friends and we’d work on some house projects together. In return, he’d discount rent for that month.

OP decided to try an April Fool’s prank, but it didn’t go well.

He’s an airline captain. He was out for work, due to awaiting medical reviews.

For April Fool’s, I thought it would be funny to tell him we were short on rent, totally forgetting that he was short on money, himself.

He texts me back, tells me he understands, and to get him the balance ASAP.

I remembered he was out of work so I quickly text him that it was an April Fool’s prank, and that we have all the money and I was sending it that day, and that I forgot about his financial situation.

The landlord warned OP.

He texted back saying he thought it was funny, after the fact, but payback would be coming.

Mid-April I tell him we are going on a cruise out of California in a few days.

He said he’d drive by the house when he has a chance, just to check on it.

On April 19th, we drive from Denver to Albuquerque, take Amtrak to LA. We are riding through San Bernardino, excited for our vacation, when I get a text from him.

This sounds bad!

He drove by the house. Someone had jacked up the garage door enough to crawl under, and thinks someone may still be inside. He was waiting for the police to show up.

I freak out, tell my wife, then I don’t hear from him for 30 minutes. All I could think about was the stolen electronics, my mountain bikes, my tools, keys for my truck that was parked there.

I open the Ring app and all I see is the neighbor kid that came over looking to play with my son. Weird. It would show activity by the garage door.

His wife knew what was happening before he did.

Then, my wife says, remember you pranked him about rent?

I didn’t want to believe it.

Then, a short while later he texts me saying, “payback is a b.”

I deserved it.

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That was a well deserved prank. It definitely sounds like he has a good relationship with his landlord where they can prank each other and nobody gets upset.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

This person likes the landlord’s prank.

Another person shares their thoughts on pranks.

This person is relieved.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a community who realizes their mistake after restricting parking to residents only gets guests and delivery drivers towed.

Another person thinks the landlord won.

It seems incredibly rare for a landlord and tenant to get along this well. I definitely think the landlord’s prank was more intense than the tenant’s. It’s great that they can both laugh about it. Hopefully, their prank war is over.