Landlord Gets Outwitted By Crafty Tenant

Author image for mattstaff
mattstaff
Mar 13, 2021 1:00 PM EST

Man oh man, you just never really know if you're going to end up in a living situation that's hopelessly bogged down by a tyrannical landlord who misplaced their moral compass. Sometimes the relationship between a tenant and their landlord can end up falling apart when it's least expected. This scenario certainly fits that mold. Mary seemed like she was great at the start, but that welcoming facade quickly gave way to the real monster that was hiding out inside. We're just glad everything worked out for the tenant by the end. The look on Mary's face must've been priceless too. 

 

This thread was posted to Reddit's r/ProRevenge subreddit by u/cloudubious, and we have to say, it's nice to see one of these stories end up on the right side of things. Let this be justification that pursuing a case against your landlord if you have a valid one is 100% worth it. Knowing your tenant right and getting everything documented can go a long way. 

Advertisement
  • 01
    Font - r/ProRevenge u/cloudubious • 232d + Join I just wanted my deposit back. So about 10 years ago, my wife (then girlfriend) and I decided to move in together. She was sick of living in a dorm and my lease was up, and we had a family friend that was looking for someone to move into a little granny flat under their house. I say under because they lived on a steep hill where the flat was below the house with an entrance on the back side, so we had this incredible view out back, a pool (we'll ge
    via u/cloudubious
  • 02
    Font - Everything was great for a couple months. Then Mary and her wife started fighting. Screaming matches, stomping above us, throwing things, I didn't understand how people could be that mad at each other that often and still be together. I eventually sent them an email saying we were not comfortable with the fighting and we wanted to make sure they were ok, etc. They replied to that with, "you're lucky you have a place this nice." Mary began to scrutinize the yard and poolwork I was doing, t
    via u/cloudubious
  • 03
    Font - shot in a gang shooting across the street. We decided to cut our losses and get out of there. Found a new apt and a roommate (one of my wife's college friends) that was open a month later (perfect for us, we were on month to month on this place), emailed Mary that we were moving out in 30 days, etc. At that point, she went insane. Tried to do daily inspections of the granny flat, would call and email daily with chores around the property she'd insist we do, and would pound on her floor (o
    via u/cloudubious
  • 04
    Font - So I rush home after work, stop by upstairs and ask for a copy of the pest control receipt. T have massive allrrgirs to most pesticides, so I need to know what was used. She goes into her office and bring back a copy with every single chemical on the list checked off, every single one. I immediately take the copy, run down, grab the cat and a handlful of clothes, and drive to my parents' house. We stayed there 4 days, hoping everything would clear out in time for us to finish packing and
    via u/cloudubious
  • 05
    Font - do), and she did a short walkthrough efire stating it was fine but that her copier was broken and she'd have to email us the final copy. Two days later, we got that copy, with $1400 in damages claimed above our deposit, including a number of charges like, "my wife had to replace a screw in a cabinet, $1 for screw, $15 labor." I was livid. The place was spotless, my mother (a landlord who does all her own prep work in rentals) helped us, and we'd been very nonconfrontational except for fil
    via u/cloudubious
  • 06
    Organism - already be doing the same. Luckily, I knew my tenant rights and that she'd violated them a lot, including email chains where l'd point out 24 hour notice laws, etc., in emails and she'd reply to them. Finally, I called the exterminator. The conversation went like this: "Hi, you sprayed in my flat without my permission because my landlord ordered it with no notice to me, with my cat inside, and used every chemical on your receipt."
    via u/cloudubious
  • 07
    Font - "We most certainly did not. Here's a copy of the work order, we only put out ant traps on the outside." "Oh, I'm sorry, thank you for your clarification." Armed with that last little piece, I countersued, asking for a Bad Faith penalty as well as our deposit. Bad Faith was 3x deposit, so I was asking for a total of 4x what we'd given Mary on move in. The big day came in court, I showed up early, had everything in order and ready, and she swaggers in huffed up and clearly ready to put me i
    via u/cloudubious
  • 08
    Font - about 20 min, until a courtroom worker asks the waiting room if anyone would be willing to go to mediation instead since they were booked solid. We both say yes, and go into a mediation room with an arbitrator whose job was just to keep us civil and answer any legal queations they could while staying neutral. Mary lays out her case, it takes about 4 min. The arbitrator looked very neutral still. Then I present my case, bringing up each violation, each lie, and end it with the work order f
    via u/cloudubious
  • 09
    Font - arbitrator then explains the bad faith penalty, then looks at me, "would you be ok dropping the penalty for your deposit back?" "Sure." They looked over at Mary, "I can't tell you what to do. But what I can say is, if you decide to go back into that courtroom in front of a judge, it's not likely to go in your favor." (I swear they really said this, I know they're not supposed to but they did!) I got my deposit back. 8.0k 185 1 Share
    via u/cloudubious

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

landlord revenge smart tenant Reddit illegal
Scroll Down For The Next Article