Landlord demands renter share every meal they make with his family, renter decides to move out as soon as possible: ‘They aren’t entitled to my food’

• A landlord decided to turn the ‘sharing is caring’ idea into a rule in his household, mainly as an excuse to get his new renter to cook food for him and his family. Even though the lease stated that any food purchased by the landlord and his family was not to be used by the renter, in reality, the food situation was quite different.

  It all started when the renter offered some of her leftover cooked pasta to the family, and they happily accepted. However, as soon as this one kind offer was made, the landlord decided that it must become a regular occurrence. Suddenly, it was frowned upon for the renter to cook food that wasn't shared with the family…

• My landlord is demanding I feed them, what can I do?

• 
  Share

  via Oksana Fedorchuk

  Woman Cooking in Kitchen at Home.

  _{Model representation.} 

• I 31F recently moved into a renovated basement unit owned by a small family. My landlord M47, his pregnant wife 44, and their 7yo daughter. 

• My unit has its own bathroom, bedroom, and living area but there is a shared kitchen upstairs that we both use. In my lease, it states that any food or drinks purchased by my landlords family is off limits to me, and I am responsible for feeding myself as well as cleaning up any messes made while preparing meals.

• That’s all pretty standard, and was fine with me. I have a mini fridge that I keep downstairs and a small wardrobe I’m using as a pantry. I also have my own pots, pans, utensils, spices, etc.

• I love to cook. So I will often cook myself a nice meal to enjoy after work. I work in food service, so cooking is a pretty big part of my life. My landlords don’t cook at all. They mostly eat frozen food, pre packaged noodles, tv dinners etc. 

• When they gave me the tour, they made sure to emphasize several times that their food is off limits and I’m not to touch any of it. I don’t.

• On my first evening there, I decided to make myself some shrimp alfredo from scratch, really simple dish, basically just shrimp, noodles, cheese, cream, salt, and spices. I had some extra, and since the family was home, I offered them some. 

• My landlord and his wife enthusiastically accepted and helped themselves. Their daughter is picky so she didn’t have any. They let me know it was very good, and I didn’t think much of it; I don’t mind sharing and I like feeding people. I only shared the Alfredo because I got the shrimp free from work.

• 
  Share

  via francescoridolfi.com

  People eating dinner together.

  _{Representative only.}

• This afternoon, I made myself some oven baked salmon and cilantro lime rice for dinner, again, another simple meal. I finished cooking, cleaned up the kitchen, and took my meal downstairs to enjoy and I thought everything was fine, until halfway through my meal, I got a snarky text from my landlord basically telling me that if I’m going to play in their faces, they would have reconsidered the lease.

• 
  Share

  via nadianb

  Grilled Salmon Fillet with Vegetables on a Plate.

  _{Stock photo unrelated.}

• Basically, he said that because his wife is pregnant and really likes salmon, I should have shared it with her. He said he had seen what I had made, and because I had made 2 pieces of fish, I could have at least given her one. Basically his wife had smelled me cooking and had assumed I was making her some too and when I didn’t she got mad. He said that they opened their home to me, and that next time I should be more considerate.

• I haven’t spoken to them directly yet; the first text was about 20 minutes ago. My lease explicitly states that food is to be kept separate and I’m responsible for feeding myself which I’m pretty sure means they aren’t entitled to my food either.

• The second piece of salmon I intend to have for lunch tomorrow. I know that pregnant cravings can be pretty intense, but I spend a decent amount of money on high quality fresh foods to prepare for myself since I’m usually cooking for just me. I don’t have the budget to make extra food for them every time.

• 
  Share

  via Dimensions

  Hungry pregnant woman in the kitchen.

  _{Actor performance of story events.}

• Should I just give in and share with them? I know it sounds like a terrible idea but I think they might just make life terrible for me if I don’t. My lease is only 60 days and then month to month and I moved in on Sep 1 so it’s not gonna last very long either way.

• But I moved here so I could save money for a nicer place and that will be more difficult if I have to budget to give them food when I cook. What should I do?

• ETA: I’m already looking for a new place. I actually had my eye on a place already which is why my lease is so short. I had planned for at least 4 months to save before moving but I think I can do it in 2 if I really scrimp and save.

• I am currently drafting a proposal to cook for them in exchange for a discount on rent, providing they purchase any food they want me to prepare. I’m not sure how they’ll take it but if they won’t work out a meal exchange for me for the next 4 months, then I’m leaving as soon as this contract ends.

Tags