Landlord demands tenant's keys to his car because he 'owns the asphalt': 'I am still trying to process the level of entitlement'

Does your landlord deserve the keys to your car?

The answer is pretty much a resounding "no." But that doesn't stop landlords from doing what they do best: overreaching in their tenants' lives. Just because you own the parking space doesn't mean you own the car. This is a pretty basic understanding of ownership and object permanence. Your landlord might own your apartment, but that doesn't mean he can come into your house and eat your leftover Thai food. That's your food. The landlord in this story, though, didn't quite understand that. He wanted the keys to his tenant's car and wouldn't let up, no matter how much the tenant objected.

It's hard to feel like you have any power in the tenant-landlord dynamic as the tenant. You feel like you have everything to lose, because you often do. It's your home that they're in charge of, not some incidental part of your life. If you suddenly had to move or lost your lease, you would end up in an exceptionally difficult situation.

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Landlord wants a spare key to my car because he "owns the asphalt"

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Commenters gave their idea about how to handle this.

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This is why misuses of landlord power happen so often, because they have an outsized amount of power. But that doesn't mean that you can't stand up for yourself. In fact, it means you have to. And depending on where you live, there might be tenant laws on your side. It's also important to talk about this stuff, online and in your communities, so we can all be aware of what each other are dealing with. It makes us all stronger when we're informed. That's why this story caused so much chatter in the comments. It was an egregious example of something that, unfortunately, many of us face. Who doesn't have a story about a bad landlord? Of course, though, these are better as stories than they are as realities. It can be hard to live with the reality of a bad landlord, but there is power in community. Keep scrolling to read the full story here and get a sense of just how hard it is out there as a tenant. And then scroll through the comments to keep the fun going.
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