Imagine moving into your first apartment. If your dad gave you some advice, would you take it even if you didn’t think it could possibly be that important, or would you blow it off?

In this story, one young adult is in this situation and takes their dad’s advice seriously, but it isn’t until it’s time to move out that they realize just how helpful this advice really was.

Let’s read all about it.

My landlord tried to blame me for damage that was there when I moved in. I had 94 photos and a timestamped video walkthrough taken on day one.

When I moved into my current apartment three years ago my dad — who has been burned by this exact situation before — told me to document absolutely everything before I unpacked a single box.

I thought he was being overly cautious but I did it anyway.

Spent about 45 minutes walking through every room on video, narrating out loud what I was seeing, and then went back through and photographed every scratch, scuff, stain, and imperfection individually with the date visible in frame.

Uploaded everything to Google Drive that same evening and emailed the folder link to myself so there was a clear timestamp.

Here’s what happened when it was time to move out.

Fast forward to last month when I gave notice.

My landlord did a pre-move inspection and came back with a list of damages he was planning to deduct from my deposit. The list included a deep scratch on the hardwood floor in the hallway, a stain on the bathroom ceiling, and what he called “significant scuffing” along the baseboards in the bedroom.

I pulled up my move-in video on my phone right there and showed him the hallway scratch visible and already present on day one, the ceiling stain clearly there in my narration where I specifically said “there’s a stain here, noting this,” and the bedroom baseboards looking identicle to how they look now.

Dad’s idea worked.

He got very quiet.

He said he’d “review his records.”

I got my full deposit back eleven days later with no itemized deductions and no explanation.

Thanks dad.

I’m glad OP took her dad’s advice even though she didn’t actually realize how important it would be.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person has a theory.

This is probably true.

Here’s a suggestion to pay it forward.

One person thinks OP was lucky it worked out.

The landlord couldn’t argue with evidence!

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a tenant who called the landlord after he hadn’t seen or heard from his neighbor in days.