'Landlord tries to keep [my] security deposit... um, no': Landlord tells tenants to 'park anywhere you want,' then fines them $1500

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Sep 18, 2023 3:00 PM EDT

At one cheap apartment, this couple found themselves faced with massive fines. 

When you're young, sometimes the only housing you can afford is a cheap and tiny little room. Lots of landlords charge outrageous amounts of money for these little tiny shoeboxes of apartments. They seem to know that if you don't have a lot of money, you may also be low on housing options. Then, you end up signing paperwork that gives the landlord an advantage over you. 

This person, u/Clintosaurus_Rex, and their girlfriend decided to move into an apartment that was in a "walled-off basement." They liked that the rent was low and the place was located near their work, so they could try and deal with the room for a while. At least until their landlord tried to turn the tables, and suddenly assigned the couple a hefty fine. 

Check out the whole story below. Some commenters even told their own landlord stories! Nothing brings people together like hating on a common enemy. 

If you're craving more neighborly nonsense, check out these hilarious lobby notes people left for each other, like one person who informed their neighbor, "Your couch caught on fire this morning."

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  • 01
    Plant - 'Everything was fine for a few months... Suddenly my car got a couple tickets'
    via Ilnur Kalimullin
  • 02
    Font - Landlord Tries to Keep Security Deposit... Ummm, No м ос About 10 years ago, my at-the-time girlfriend (now wife) and I moved from the area we went to college to an apartment near where we planned to start our careers. I say it was an apartment, but it was really the basement of a house that the landlord had walled off to create 2 "apartments" to rent. The place was kinda cby, but the rent was cheap for the area, and we were close to work.
    via u/Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 03
    Font - Everything was fine for a few months, but the only parking for us was on the street out front - the couple that rented the upstairs "apartment" had rights to the garage and driveway (they paid more than we did). Suddenly my car got a couple BS tickets for parking on the street - I'm
    via u/Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 04
    Font - guessing some a-clown cop needed to meet their quota - and my girlfriend's car got sideswiped in a hit & run. This c had to stop, so we emailed the landlord (her preferred form of communication) to ask if there's anywhere safe for us to park. She replies, "Park anywhere you want."
    via u/Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 05
    Font - We had noticed that our upstairs neighbors usually eschewed the driveway to park in the front yard (they were horribly lazy), so we figured that would be a good spot for us too. We parked in the front yard the rest of the year.
    via u/Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 06
    Font - We figured that would be the end of it. We finished our lease, left the place in better shape than we found it, and requested our $1500 security deposit back. After a couple weeks, we got a check for $700... WF!?!?!? Since there was no explanation, we asked the landlord for one, and she replied that the deducted amount was to "re-sod the lawn", claiming that parking on it had damaged it.
    via u/Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 07
    Font - Now, I was the one who cut the grass at this house while we stayed there, so I was well aware that the lawn was more weeds and bald spots than grass - picture the African savanna in mid-summer.
    via u/Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 08
    Font - No one had ever lifted a finger to landscape any part of the property, but the landlord wanted to sell the house once the leases were up, and she figured she could get the renters to pay for a nice, new lawn. I complained to the landlord: didn't care. I put in a complaint with the local housing department: didn't care. I threatened to take her to court: didn't care. So, that's what I did- took her to small claims court.
    via u/Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 09
    Font - I had never sued anyone before, so I was going in prepared! I took pictures of the entire front yard - the area that we "damaged" was actually one of the best patches of grass, though it did have a small rut that my tires made when the yard was muddy in the summer. I got testimonials from our upstairs and across-the-street neighbors. Most importantly, I printed out the email where the landlord told us to park anywhere.
    via u/Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 10
    Font - We were suing for $1800 to cover court costs and us both missing a day of work on top of the full security deposit. In mediation we said we would settle for $1400, but she must have thought she was in the right because she refused to offer a penny more than the original $700 check, which we never cashed. When we got in front of the judge, it was pretty clear that she had no evidence, hadn't prepared anything, and just assumed that us "kids" would fall on our faces. We did not.
    via u/Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 11
    Font - We put everything we had in front of the judge and made our claim (he was impressed). He stopped us when we showed him the email to ask the landlord, "Did you really tell them to park wherever they wanted?" When she said "yes", the judge replied "Then what are we even talking about?", and that was that. Judgement in full for us, and that b had to pay to re-sod her own d lawn.
    via u/Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 12
    Font - Next time you tell someone to "park wherever you want", you'd better mean it. Or at least don't try to f someone over when they comply with what you said! If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
    via u/Clintosaurus_Rex
  • 13
    Font - Disorderly_Chaos My landlord tried to keep half our $1500 deposit because of some burn marks, a broken door, and some shades missing - all of which I had taken pictures of when we moved in. All were pre-existing. I told her (company) that if I didn't see my entire deposit back by the 4th of the month I was legally entitled to double that amount and I had lawyers on standby if they wanted to go to court over it. They paid.
    via u/Disorderly_Chaos
  • 14
    Font - Then I printed out copies of "The Landlord Tenant Act" which she had violated on several occasions (including not giving my full deposit back) and distributed bound copies to every person living at every rental property I could find listings for. Scr cry landlords.
    via u/Disorderly_Chaos
  • 15
    Font - plz_understand I once had a landlord who tried to keep our ENTIRE £2500 deposit for flooding damage which she had refused to fix for months, and which SHE caused by deciding she could fix our broken washing machine herself by forcefully pulling it out without disconnecting it from the water or turning the water off first.
    via u/plz_understand
  • 16
    Font - If she'd been reasonable we probably would have agreed to let her keep some of it, because we did break the bathroom sink (and then lived for months with the only source of water being the bathtub, because she wouldn't replace the bathroom sink and also hadn't fixed the damage she'd somehow done to the kitchen pipes in the washing machine debacle, rendering the kitchen sink also unusable). But she wasn't reasonable, and two of my housemates were lawyers (which she knew) so they filed agai
    via u/plz_understand
  • 17
    Gesture - weezzi Her preferred means of communication ultimately became her downfall
    via u/weezzi
  • 18
    Font - JustHere2RuinUrDay. That's why, when I have to says that could be used against me, I always do it on the phone or in person. Never voluntary write down anything.
    via u/JustHere2RuinUrDay
  • 19
    Font - ThunderGunExpress- To landlords, it seems the deposit has just become a bonus check in their eyes. They can claim whatever they want and just keep it. And unless you took mad pictures before you moved in and when you left you have no evidence to disprove their claim. And even if you did they make you take them to court to get it back. A lot of people are too lazy and just say it.
    via u/ThunderGunExpress

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landlord housing road parking space car legal landlords yard cars driving driver no parking parking apartment malicious compliance malicious-compliance-reddit grass
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