Greedy Landlord Attempts To Exploit Tenant for Free Labor, Gets Owned

Slumlords are exploitative by nature, and in this lucky redditor's case, not very smart. After u/nopanicprepper experienced a series of plumbing issues in their home, they notified their absentee landlord, who refused to pay for any repairs. Instead, the landlord "allowed" OP to do the repairs since OP was an engineer. (How generous.) OP maliciously complied, and to the landlord's horror, sent over a hefty invoice for parts and labor. Keep scrolling for the whole story.

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  • “Landlord tried to exploit me for free labor.” —u/nopanicprepper

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  • Font - I am renting a little house out past the suburbs of the city I am currently working in. It is a little old and the appliances are a bit dated, but it was much cheaper than a two bedroom apartment downtown and I move around every couple of years for work. My landlord lives out of state and doesn't have anyone local, so for the past year and a half I haven't talked to anyone. Just pay my rent on time and keep doing my thing. About 4 months ago plumbing issues started popping up and two majo
    Via u/nopanicprepper
  • Font - After receiving the quote for parts plus labor the landlord told me flat out that they will not be paying for the repairs. They said that since I am an engineer, they would allow me to purchase parts, install them and then deduct the cost of the repairs from my rent payment. They said it was either this or "learn to make do". I was not super thrilled at this response. I replied back to them saying if they were willing to deduct my time and cost of the parts from my rent that I would get s
    Via u/nopanicprepper
  • Font - The first step was to file for an LLC with my current state. Next, I set up some cameras and borrowed a GoPro from one of my hiking mates. I was able to document all the repair process, from me watching YouTube videos of how to do things to me making multiple runs to the part store to get that piece I didn't know I needed. Here is the kicker. At my day job I make over $50 dollars an hour, that is what my time is valued at. The final bill for everything has worked out to be a about 12% hig
    Via u/nopanicprepper
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  • The comment section

    While most redditors in the comments simply offered kudos to OP, some shared their own similar experiences with landlords from hell.

  • Font - LonePaladin • 2d I was leasing a house through the HUD/Section 8 program. In the middle of January we had a heavy snow that completely covered the outside lot with ice. When it thawed a few days later, the runoff water worked its way through the outside wall and completely flooded the ground floor. We discovered this when we got up in the morning and had the carpet squish under our feet. The landlord was slow to respond, and by the time he started doing anything about it, everything downs
    Via u/nopanicprepper
  • Font - On the 1st of February, he turned up at the door, ready to collect the rent. I was ready. I showed him my copy of the letter that explained he couldn't collect rent any more, then followed that with an itemized list of every single day's schedule -- starting from the time he said to be ready to work, ending at the time he finally left. Accounting for overtime after 8 hours each day, and after the 40- hour mark overall, and at minimum wage, he owed me money. He threw the list back in my fa

    "Well? What happened next?" u/laurel_laureate asked, "Were you fast-tracked to live elsewhere? Did your (former) landlord end up having to pay you for your time?"

    "We ended up getting a new place, yeah. But I never got compensated for all the time I put in. That landlord was crazy, it was just preferable to cut all ties and get the hell away." replied u/LonePaladin.

    Via u/nopanicprepper
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  • Font - Mad RocketScientist74 2d Always confirm the tenants hourly rate, some of us get paid very well. ... Reply 4.8k

    "Even worse, you shouldn't rate at you job hourly rate when you do contract work. I charge more than twice, considering that not all hours are chargeable and all out of contract expenses like administrative work, taxes, insurances etc." said u/SteinsGah.

    Via u/nopanicprepper
  • Font - CoderJoe1. 2d Legally engineered. Nice. + Reply 9k ↓

    "'He's smart, he'll handle it and save me money' later 'OH NO HE'S TOO SMART'" said u/the-poopiest-diaper.

    "This guy learned what every PM learns when they let an engineer do whatever they want" said u/sinus86.

    Via u/nopanicprepper
  • Font - erichwanh 2d They said that since I am an engineer Oh dear, hahaha. They must not have truly been familiar with how engineers handle things. Reply 1.8k

    "The job would definitely get done, likely over-engineered by at least 200% capacity, and be well-documented. Cheap, it would not be." said u/UncleDonut_TX.

    Via u/nopanicprepper
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  • Rectangle - dsdvbguutres . 2d I know some landlords do not rent to lawyers, now this guy won't ever rent to engineers either! Reply ... 659

    "Never rent FROM a lawyer either," warned u/RowsbyWeft "I've rented from two and never again. Shady fuckers."

    "99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name." said u/WayneH_nz.

    Via u/nopanicprepper

  • Visit r/MaliciousCompliance for the original thread.

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owned landlord malicious compliance labor exploitation work engineering tenant anti work greedy reddit thread Reddit slumlord funny
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