'I wouldn't budge': Tenant finds a clever way to get even with landlord after finding landlord's family members in their swimming pool, reciting terms of lease right back to him

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    "I found five teenage boys hanging out by my swimming pool. To say I was surprised is an understatement..." Rental Agreement an agreement between who owns an
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    A loophole in the lease
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    Two months ago, due to a work promotion, I had to relocate to another city. All accommodations were paid for, housing included. The company rents a nice place for me in the vicinity of the branch office. It's a modern minimalist
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    two-storey house which I will be going to live in for the next ten months. It's privately- owned and comes with a spacious front-yard and a small oval-shaped swimming pool in the spacious side-yard adjacent
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    to a gazebo where I usually hang out on my days off. Sometimes my colleagues come over to use the swimming pool which I have encouraged them to because why not? The owner of the
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    house used to live in the newly- built house for a couple years before he and his family moved to another city to accommodate their kids' education since they would be going to a university there.
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    Everything was great and went smoothly until a few weeks ago. It was my day off. I was taking a nap when I woke up to loud splashing and people laughing and talking. Assuming it was probably just my friends
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    showing up unannounced and enjoying their Sunday afternoon, I went back to sleep. But when I woke up a few hours later, I was shocked to find empty cans of coke, cigarette butts, and food warps
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    strewn about on the ground near the gazebo. I rang my friends up to remind them to pick their s t up next time before leaving but they told me they had no idea what I was talking about since they
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    hadn't come over that day. I resorted to random guessing: The Neighbours had trespassed, thinking I was not home. But since I had no proof (no security camera around the sideyard), and had no idea who
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    the culprit was, I decided to wait and see. The following week, when I returned home after picking up lunch, I found five teenage boys hanging out by the swimming pool. To say I was
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    surprised is an understatement. I asked them who they were and what they were doing at my place and they told me they're the family of the owner of the house and he told them they could use the swimming pool whenever they
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    wanted. I was shocked beyond comprehension. I told them that this house is being rented to me and the rental cost has been paid fully and the lease agreement is not even nearing the end of its terms yet. I am
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    the rightful owner' of it at least for the next ten months and responsible for it and I really don't appreciate them just showing up unannounced like that when I am supposed to have the house for myself legally according to the lease agreement.
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    One of them told me "Ask my brother, then. He told me we can still come over and use the swimming pool. We won't go into the house or touch your stuff or anything like that. It's just the swimming pool."
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    Apparently they live in the same neighborhood and have access to the back-yard, through which they get to the swimming pool because the owner gave them the key to it. I insisted that the house come
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    with the swimming pool and they have no right to just barge in whenever they feel like it. And he insisted I call his brother. Which I did later that night after they left. Much to my annoyance, the owner told me that yes he has given
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    permission to his family to use the swimming pool. I have the house all to myself, yes. They won't get inside. But they're free to use the swimming pool. Nowhere does it say specifically on the contract that I have full
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    temporary ownership of the swimming pool or that he or any of his family members is not allowed to use it. Like his brother had said earlier. It's just the motherf king house.
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    I asked him why he didn't mention this to me or my manager before we signed the lease, because if he had, I would have made sure we wouldn't be renting his place. He calmly said he didn't think that would be a problem at all. I was fuming. I rang up my
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    manager and he agreed with me that there's a considerable amount of bulls t going on here, and he would get someone to contact the owner. All in all there isn't much we can do. So last week, again I went home to find empty
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    plastic cans, cigarette butts and other s t strewn about across the side yard. This time I didn't bother cleaning up the mess they had left behind. And the more they came over, the more food leftovers and others t
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    they left behind, some of which had 'accidentally' fallen into the pool, contaminating it with grease and dirt. One afternoon, the boys showed up again. But since the pool was too dirty to swim in,
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    they started knocking on my back and front door repeteadly but I ignored them. That night, the owner of the house rang me up to ask if I was home, and I said yes. He said great and told me his brother would be
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    coming over to drain and clean the pool. But he needed to connect a hose to the tap which is in the back bathroom, which you guess, is INSIDE the house. Here comes my second petty revenge. I said no. They can have all the pool to themselves since nowhere does
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    it say on the contract that I have full temporary ownership of the swimming pool or that he or any of his family members is not allowed to use it. He tried to reason with me saying it would take only a few hours for his brother to clean
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    and fill it and he'd be out of my face before I knew it was over. But I wouldn't budge. I recited to him the part of the lease agreement that says I have all the house to myself, which of course includes the downstairs
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    bathroom. I even went on to warn him that if his brother or any of the family members tried to break in, I would make sure the police got involved.
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    It's been more than a week now. They haven't shown up. The side yard and the pool are reeking of d th baking in the sun for days. I just close all the windows and turn on the AC.
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    SheWho LovesToDraw . 10 hr. ago The fact that he doesn't care that his own family is actively littering and destroying his property really shows that he has zero priorities in order. :/I'd consider potential
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    legal actions for his deceptive leasing, h ssment and all the littering done by his family.
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    not-rasta-8913 · 10 hr. ago Oh no, he was 100% counting on OP to clean the mess. Glad they didn't.
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    Lhasa ApsoSmile. I would remind the owner that if anything were to happen to the kids - who would be liable? I'd make the owner sign something that anyone coming 10 hr. ago
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    onto the property without your permission would be his liability. The owner needs to check his insurance.
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    Super_Selection1522. 10 hr. ago If your lease does state you are not responsible for upkeep, call code enforcement. A swamp pool is a hazard.
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    Unfocused_Brilliance. 10 hr. ago The only other thing to make sure of is that the lease does not say that you or your company are responsible for the maintenance of the grounds and pool. If it
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    does, you may still be on the hook. However, that also makes you legally liable for control of access to the yard and pool. Therefore, you dictate who gets to use
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    it and when. They can't have you liable for the maintenance and upkeep, but not give you control of access at the same time.
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    nmlasa · 10 hr. ago If you are doing any care to the yard or outside the house, you should stop that as well. Since the lease seems to only be for the house, you have no responsibility to take care of the landscaping.
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    kookyanspooky 11 hr. ago Well deserved and well executed! Perfectly petty, too. They baked in these expectations and doubled down and you did the same with their language.
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    IndependenceNo2060. 10 hr. ago This is infuriating, and your response is perfectly justified. I hope the owner realizes the mess he's created and finds a solution soon.
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    Picklesniffer-84 · 9 hr. ago Awesome, I would go as far as to say this isn't petty. You're just making sure you follow the lease agreement. It's your home for the life of the lease, you don't know that person who's trying to come into your home. Good on you

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