The great philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau once put forward the idea of the so-called "social contract". This means that the state, money, the economy and all human relations are simply the product of an agreement between people. For example, the main value of money is that people have agreed among themselves that money, in principle, has value and purchasing power.
According to Rousseau, if people begin to disagree with the social contract, to violate it, this will sooner or later lead to the destruction of everything on which our world and society stands. That is why it is so important to always keep one's word and not violate the principles of agreements already concluded between people.
Alas, this rule is often violated by various dishonorable people. For example, like a landlord in this post in the Mildly Infuriating Reddit community, which in just a few days has gained more than 17.5K upvotes and around 1.1K different comments.
More info: Reddit
The Original Poster lives in Singapore and they rented a room around a month ago
Image credits: potatosalad-_-
So, the Original Poster is a student living in Singapore, and about a month ago, they entered into a contract to rent a room for a whole year. If they had known how this whole story would continue, they would probably have changed their mind and found another apartment, but this is how things happened...
Image credits: potatosalad-_-
The landlord pestered the OP by regularly "inspecting" their room, even behind their back
Firstly, according to local laws, landlords have the right to, so to say, "inspect the rooms" of tenants without any warning, and it turned out that the owner of the house in which the OP settled was abusing her right too much.
As the OP admits, the woman could enter their room several times a day, demanding to see what they brought or bought, where they go and for how much time. It was completely humiliating and outrageous, but the landlord, alas, was within her right, and the OP had to accept it. But a month has passed, and new circumstances have opened up...
The landlord ended up making a demand that the tenant pay an extra $30 a month for staying on the weekends
The owner of the house stated that the OP should pay her the equivalent of $30 per month if they stay at home on Saturdays and Sundays. Allegedly, the tenants spend too much electricity, gas and water on the weekend, so the landlord did not want to waste money on "additional expenses."
It was absolutely outrageous - especially since there was not a single clause in the lease agreement regulating such weird requirements. Moreover, as the OP themselves admit, there is only one outlet in their room and no AC at all. The girl in the next room faced similar demands and although the OP advised her not to give up, she had to agree.
The OP added that they have no money for a lawyer so they might, alas, agree to the landlord's demand
The OP briefly analyzed the legislation and found out that the landlord really does not have the slightest right to demand extra money for a weekend stay. However, they sadly conclude that if they have to sue, the lawyer will probably demand too much money, so it will unfortunately be cheaper to surrender to the landlord's demands, no matter how arrogant they might be.
Image credits: Mitchell Laurren-Ring (not the actual photo)
Most people in the comments stated that these demands were really weird and outrageous
To say that the commenters were surprised and amazed by this story is nothing. People were literally shocked, even experienced tenants who have had to face a lot of problems from landlords. Of course, the commenters advised the OP to go to court - but, as we can see, the OP is not doing well enough with money to spend it on a lawyer.
Some commenters sadly joked that the landlord was probably going to rent out the OP's room on AirBNB while they were away at the weekend. In any case, people in the comments ask the OP not to forget that they always have rights, in accordance with the contract, and that these rights must be defended anyway.
Unfortunately, there are many sad stories about schyster landlords - for example, this one about a tenant who was afraid of losing their deposit, or this post of ours about a woman who desperately tried to get rid of the smelly carpet in her apartment. And, as always, we'd love to read your comments about this particular tale.