'Don't mess with the wrong tenants': Landlord ignores maintenance requests for two months, tenant fires back with steep fines

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jan 29, 2024 2:00 PM EST

There's nothing like seeing the look on a landlord's face after they have been majorly called out for being entirely unresponsive. It's somehow a mix between a look of feeling betrayed and the look of a child who is having a really hard time pretending they didn't just break the rules. But all landlords who ignore tenants' maintenance requests to the point that the living conditions become, well, unlivable should know better. 

This thread was posted to Reddit's r/pettyrevenge subreddit by u/New-Morning-3184, who had contacted the broker and landlord with a list of areas in his newly rented apartment that needed to be checked and cleaned prior to his family's move-in. Well, as one might expect, none of those areas were looked at in advance and OP moved into a complete mess of a space. After numerous attempts to rectify the situation and to get maintenance people to come over and finish the job, OP was left no choice but to call the city and to force his landlord to do his job. Keep scrolling below to see how the revenge got even more petty when it came to the repair of OP's front door.

For more stories like this, check out this post about a coworker's petty revenge on a gossiping Karen.

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  • 01
    r/pettyrevenge. Posted by u/New-Morning-3184 2 days ago Don't mess with the wrong tenants I moved into my apartment about two months ago, and I noticed that many basic maintainence issues (e.g moldy/leaking ceilings, toiler not rooted to the ground/ broken windows/ pipes that leaked debris,
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 02
    unsafe wiring, heating did not turn on/ some outlets and smoke alarms didn't work etc...) that I had discussed with the broker prior to moving in had not been fixed, despite the broker's assurances that these would all be addressed before move in. Additionally, no one had bothered to clean anything, so when I should have been unpacking and setting up my new home with my wife, I was busy on my hands and knees all day scrubbing every dirt-caked surface.
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 03
    Fast forward a few days, we speak once again to the broker and to the building management about the conditions, which were not fixed. They send a superintendent who does not speak any English and who disappears before fixing the issues, but not before leaving a mess. This repeats for a week until I finally call the city, who sends an inspector. Turns out, the above listed conditions of the apartment are deemed illegal, and the landlord is given a certain window of time -- either 30 days, 60 days
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 04
    City inspectors keep coming to check on the repairs. Meanwhile, an manager from the building is emailing us saying that we never gave them proper notice of the issues and is saying that we are in the wrong for calling the city. The other representatives from the management agency back her up,
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 05
    totally ignoring all our prior conversations, many of which were in writing via email. Once I prove that we did indeed describe the issues to them, they blame me for not allowing them access to my apartment to do the repairs, which still had not been completed due to workers disappearing before the repairs were complete, as well them not showing up at agreed- upon times.
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 06
    Lots of angry emails go back and forth, which ultimately lead to nothing. Two months into our lease, which is about a week ago, most of the repairs had finally been completed. Turns out, however, that when city inspectors were here, they noticed that the front door does not automatically close, Apparently that is required for fire safety reasons. I honestly don't get it, but I don't particularly care, because at this point I am 1. Workers were here to fix the door, while a city inspector came,
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 07
    and told them that the door must close automatically from 30 degrees. Now the workers don't seem to be so skilled in math and they clearly were not able to estimate what a 30 degree angle looked like. They saw that the door closed automatically from a much larger angle than 30 degrees and assumed it was okay. Tired of dealing with unreliable workers and the mangement in denail, I kept my knowledge to myself
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 08
    After they left, I measured my door, which is 36 inches wide. If the door is opened to a 30 degree angle, the door can be viewed as a hypotenuse of a right angle triangle with degree measures of 30, 60, and 90. Taking the sine of 30 degrees and multiplying it by the hypotenuse length thus yields the length of the opposite leg of the triangle. In other words, the door would need to self- close when the edge of the door is 18 inches away from the door frame. Did the door actually do that? Of cours
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 09
    The next phase is creating leaflets about tenant rights, how to get the city to lower one's rent if living conditions are poor, and how to call the city inspectors to fine the lanbdlord for unadressed maintainence issues. I have patiently waited for two months for issues to be fixed that never should have existed in the first place in an apartment that is being newly rented out. Don't treat your tenant well, then be prepared for the full extent of the law to be applied and made fully known to al
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 10
    desertboots 2 days ago Glad you know your rights. 177 Reply Share
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 11
    . 3VikingBoys 1 day ago In the future I strongly suggest you take pictures of the empty dwelling for your protection. If this had gone to court, your pictures would do the talking for you. 103 Reply Share
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 12
    New-Morning-3184 OP. 1 day ago Looking back, there is a lot I would have done differently. I did not realize this would drag out for months and by the time I did realize that, it was too late to do a lot of things.
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 13
    Delicious-Choice5668. 1 day ago Info: If the door doesn't close the fire spreads quickly.
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 14
    101010-trees - 1 day ago Not once will I ever use this in the real world... Hold my beer.
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 15
    eighty_more_or_less. 1 day ago but also be prepared to not have your lease renewed....
    via u/New-Morning-3184
  • 16
    Dan-Fletcher 2 days ago yeah, with a load of applause for you!
    via u/New-Morning-3184

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landlord petty-revenge-reddit tenant petty revenge petty entitled people karma entitled reddit thread Reddit roommates entitled people apartment
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