'I went into the office and broke my lease': Greedy real estate agent gets his comeuppance, tenant costs him six weeks of rent money

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Apr 20, 2024 4:00 PM EDT

If there is anyone in this world who deserves to be called out for their nonsense, it's a greedy real estate agent. This is not to say that all real estate agents are greedy. We are sure there are two or three decent ones out there. All jokes aside though, we can all agree that this particular one had it coming.

This thread was shared to Reddit's r/pettyrevenge subreddit by u/Otherwise_Gift_4123, who recently bought a home and tried to negotiate with their landlord and real estate agent to get out paying the last six weeks of rent if they gave three months' notice. Well, that attempt at negotiation didn't seem to get anywhere, but the real estate agent immediately took the opportunity to start scheduling open houses against the tenant's will. That's when the tenant decided to stop playing nice with this guy. 

Keep scrolling below to see how he played better at the real estate agent's own game. For more stories like this, check out this tale of petty revenge in which some slackers on a group project got the grade they deserved.

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  • 01
    "Cost my real estate agent $$$"
    via Zac Gudakov
  • 02
    Cost my Real estate agent $$$ I was renting a house with pool ( Australia) In Oz RA have a reputation for being w s. (well deserved tbh) They inspect every 3 months and even for them they were picky. It turns out a neighbour told us a relative of the RA owned it.
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 03
    Finally we bought our own place. The lease was 12 months and said we had to pay a break fee of 6 weeks if the landlord wouldn't agree to waive it. I approached the RA and asked if I gave them three months notice and they rented it would they forego the 6 weeks as they would not be losing any rent. "No" was the instant answer. Hmm ok I thought not a lot I can do.
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 04
    A couple of days later I look out my window and see a big To Let sign in the lawn. I'm like ! I went out pulled the sign up and dumped it out the front. Called the RA. "yes you're leaving in 3 months so I'm entitled to do that" But of course as they wouldn't play nice I replied "No I'm not leaving we changed our minds" I hadn't given notice etc. A few days later an unhappy chap in a truck collected his sign.
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 05
    That's the end of that I thought, but no. Several days later I got a mail telling me that there's an open house Saturday.
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 06
    For the non Australians, when you give notice they have the right to show tenants round the house whilst you're still living there. I called again" Yes we're having one, it's in the contract. "Yes but I have 3 months left on my lease and I'm not leaving.
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 07
    So no there will be no open house until then." Two days later I receive a bill for $250 for cancelled advertising. This time my sunny disposition is wearing thin. I mail the office back saying that they are now harassing a tenant with a lawful lease. If they didn't stop I would be reporting them to every agency I can think of. I get a mail back saying "This invoice has been cancelled."
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 08
    Imagine my utter pleasure when on the day that I had originally told them we were leaving I went into the office and broke my lease. I thought her head might explode. The further kicker that house was empty (pre Covid) for a good 3 months after we left. So because they were greedy and wanted my 6 weeks they lost 6 weeks rent.
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 09
    Redmudgirl 4 hr. ago Chefs kiss
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 10
    pratofu 3 hr. ago Wish I could upvote more. REA's. They're scum
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 11
    SignatureElegant162 . 3 hr. ago Love it
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 12
    Wild_Replacement8213. 1 hr. ago That was beautiful
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 13
    TheFilthyDIL 1 hr. ago Thanks for adding your location. It's rather confusing for us Americans, because our real estate agents sell us houses. SFAIK, they don't manage apartments.
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 14
    beetans 34 min. ago Real estate agents rent apartments and charge brokers fees in OR and MA for sure from personal experience
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 15
    TheFilthyDIL 17 min. ago You can tell it's been a long time since I had to deal with renting an apartment!
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123
  • 16
    WKU-Alum 56 min. ago . Kinda blurred lines. Leasing doesn't require a license like a buy/sell agent needs. However, a lot of REAs own a lot of rental inventory. They see new properties as soon as they hit the MLS, get a 3-6% discount on the price (they get paid the commission on the deal), etc. so a lot of advantages for them. Every land lord I ever had was a real estate agent, though I'd call them my LL, not my agent.
    via u/Otherwise_Gift_4123

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real estate agent landlord petty-revenge-reddit house petty revenge petty real estate property reddit thread Reddit apartment
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