The relationship between a landlord and tenant can be very delicate at times. There needs to be trust and mutual respect, which are often built up slowly over time, thanks to transparency and good communication. Unfortunately, some landlords think they’re always in the right, no matter what. But if a tenant knows their rights and the law well enough, they can teach them a lesson they’ll never forget.
Case in point, redditor u/TheVaneja went viral with a story about how she got ‘pro revenge’ against a landlord who was very inflexible and ignored his maintenance duties. Her knowledge of how the adjudication process works gave her a huge advantage in the dispute. Read on for the full story, in the OP’s own words.
Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the viral story, u/TheVaneja, and she was kind enough to go into more detail about what happened and shared her thoughts about tenant-landlord relationships. You'll find our full interview with her as you scroll down.
Some landlords refuse to do their duties which leaves their properties unmaintained and makes their tenants' lives more difficult
Image credits: Tiger Lily / pexels (not the actual photo)
One tenant shared a story about how she got revenge against a bad landlord. She started her tale by providing some context about her background
Image credits: Kelly / pexels (not the actual photo)
She then shared how she and her roommates got along with the original landlord
However, with the arrival of a new landlord, everything changed for the worse
Image credits: RDNE Stock project / pexels (not the actual photo)
The tenant decided to teach the landlord a harsh lesson after he stopped maintaining the property
Image credits: Vanessa Garcia / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Ketut Subiyanto / pexels (not the actual photo)
She later clarified a few details for her readers
Image credits: TheVaneja
Tenants ought to evaluate their landlords and the property as best as they can before signing any documents
According to 'Rental Choice,' some of the most common landlord-tenant issues include late payments, noise complaints, maintenance issues, as well as broken appliances. Some other problems include intentional property damage, high tenant turnover rates, as well as pest infestations.
When it comes to maintenance issues, landlords ought to provide proper communication regarding the issue. They should let their tenants know that they've heard the complaint and then give them an estimate of when the problem can realistically be fixed. Naturally, tenants are going to value landlords who do the maintenance ASAP.
It can be hard to tell whether you’ll get along with your landlord based on first impressions alone. Someone who seems friendly and kind during your first meet-and-greet might micromanage you or try to lock you into an unfavorable contract.
So it’s always best to err on the side of caution. Take the time to check out the property you’re hoping to rent. Look and see whether it’s been maintained professionally, or if there’s evidence of a lot of haphazard DIY everywhere.
For instance, if you notice electric sockets and light switches that are painted over, it probably means that your landlord has been cutting costs and doing the maintenance themselves. Other signs to look out for include DIY electrical or plumbing work.
However, if the property is in poor condition and not maintained at all, it’s an even bigger red flag. During your research, check to see if your landlord or their property has a digital footprint. There might be some reviews from previous tenants floating around on the internet. You can use them to gauge whether or not the landlord is the kind of person you want to do business with.
Good tenants are going to look after the home as if it were their own, and they’ll do their best to pay their rent on time.
What’s more, they’ll try to keep their communication with the landlord to a minimum, so they’re not bothering them too much. After all, your landlord has a life and probably a job: you don’t want to bother them over every tiny little problem. That being said, if something breaks or the property needs maintenance, contact them ASAP.
Meanwhile, good landlords are going to quickly respond to maintenance requests, respect their tenants’ privacy, and not come up with unfair, arbitrary rules that limit their freedom.
Image credits: cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)
The author found clever workarounds for the broken appliances at home
The author of the post told Bored Panda that, in her opinion, her new landlord was trying to get her and her roommates to leave while thinking he could get away with it.
"He did make us leave so there's that, he just didn't get away with it. I don't think he changed at all since, except perhaps to be more careful who he screws around with. He genuinely thought he was in the right, I don't believe he could have been so angry at the results otherwise," u/TheVaneja shared her perspective.
We asked the OP how she got around the two massive problems at home, namely, the broken fridge and water heater. "Well, the fridge was useless, but the freezer worked just fine, so I mostly just altered my diet to be focused on foods that could be frozen and/or didn't require refrigeration," she opened up to Bored Panda.
"Occasionally, I'd get something that did require refrigeration but it was only things I was going to use right away. It's also helpful that a lot of that time was winter in Canada. It doesn't get as cold as it did when I was a kid but it was cold enough to keep the odd thing in the snow in the backyard. We had a fence and were in a decent-sized town, so I didn't have to worry much about pets or wildlife spending hours trying to steal anything I put there, but I still took precautions of wrapping and burying anything outside in the snow."
Meanwhile, she said that the broken water heater was "very annoying" to work around, but easy to do so, overall. "When needing to do dishes or something, we'd just use the stove to boil water, I had a few good-sized pots so it'd only take 10-15 minutes or so to have a lot of hot water to use on whatever," she said. "For showers, we used showers at work. It was a workplace where we could do that on days off as well, so even on weekends it was available."
In u/TheVaneja's opinion, recognizing red flags in landlords is similar to those in other people in your life, with the drawback that you probably won't get to know your landlord ahead of time. "The only landlords I've had any ideas about before I moved in were my parents," she said.
"I'd say it's better to assume they'll be looking out for themselves and not you from the start and take steps to protect yourself. Looking for flags can be tricky and you might miss something if they're good at faking who they are. The best thing you can do is learn your rights and their rights, and always operate under the assumption you aren't friends even if you're friendly with each other and you like them. Not while they're your landlord at least."
She urged tenants to take notes of any interaction they have and to record everything they do for or to you. The better your paper trail, the more prepared you are in case there's a dispute. "Record every servicing visit, how old the carpets are, how old the paint is, and everything you do, good or bad. If you do end up in court or a tribunal, the last thing you need is to be surprised by something they bring up. Being prepared is key."
Image credits: Ketut Subiyanto / pexels (not the actual photo)
If you know your rights as a tenant, you have a big advantage
Bad landlords are often very inflexible when it comes to rent payments. If a tenant reliably pays rent, but e.g. the 1st of the month doesn’t work for them due to factors outside their control, the landlord should do their best to be accommodating.
There’s really no better alternative here than to communicate clearly about this. It’s usually best to clear up these details before signing the contract, so you have everything in writing. Something that you should definitely clear up before you finalize the documents is who’s going to be responsible for all the maintenance.
The author of the story pointed out that, thanks to her professional experience, she knows for a fact that there are definitely some good landlords out there. Not everyone is greedy or incompetent. However, some landlords do take things too far, and their priority isn’t taking care of their tenants.
Furthermore, not all tenants are blameless either. Reality isn’t black-or-white, it’s nuanced. We often hear about awful landlords on social media, but many people renting out their property also have nightmare stories to tell, too.
“For every bad landlord, there are 10 bad tenants easily. There's a massive debate of debates to have over the whole thing, I'll only say that I do sympathize with the good landlords out there. I'm not trying to paint all landlords as terrible. This is the only landlord I've ever had that was so useless,” u/TheVaneja shared in her story.
Not only was the tenant’s new landlord inflexible when it came to paying the rent a couple of days later, he also refused to do mandatory maintenance. That means that the OP was stuck without a working water heater for 6 months. She also gave evidence to the Rental Housing Tribunal that she didn’t have a working fridge for a year.
Her experience with how the legal system works meant that she won her case quite easily, netting a $13,000 judgment in her favor.
The story got a lot of attention online. Here's how some internet users reacted to it
