Landlords: Your Revenge

easy - first one, a landlady used to walk into the furnished flat and rearrange and tidy up. Going, of course, through all of my drawers, etc, VERY CREEPY. Though it was very small, I gave notice and held an impromptu drum'n'bass drugs party before I left.

my favourite revenge is the 'feeding the mice' before you go.

in the end of course, we did none of these things. it was quite difficult to think of things that wouldnt impact on future tenants, or the neighbours, plus none of us had the bottle.

all the things we'd done to cover up the horribleness we took away though, so that future prospective tenants wouldnt be deceived by the state of the house - we knew the landlord wouldnt think to cover things back up again, he was the sort that just didnt see what was wrong, lived in squalor himself i should imagine.

it took him nearly 3 months to fill the house, so i know that he lost £4000 in rent money, and that was down to his crapness and nothing we did. c'est la vie dude

and i'm.........not!

I wish every day that (a) her head will explode and that (b) I will be there to see it, and yet (c) will be in no way involved, thereby ensuring maximum pleasure and no accountability whatsoever.

so my landlord phoned me today and said he wants to meet the three of us on Saturday to discuss the lease, which is up for renewal in March.

He mentioned that he had some concerns when he visited the flat in early December that it wasn't clean enough, he said the bathroom and the kitchen in particular, and he sort of hinted around the idea that he was worried we might do damage to it or devalue it.

He also had some issue with one of my flatmates who asked about painting the kitchen, but actually painted her room, badly, according to him. (He might be justified here, I don't know)

Anyway I'm curious as to other peoples experiences here. I fail to see how a few dirty dishes or something could actually damage the property. The other issue is that we moved in in March, and despite saying he'd do a housecall every month or so, he only called in once, in December.

I feel it's a bit rich to call in with 3 months of the lease left and act as if we've been persistently breaking fairly vague "rules" for 9 months. He never said anything about the condition of the place on the day he visited, over a month ago.

My gut feeling is he's using this to angle for keeping the rent the same price or to get himself into a good bargaining position for the discussions of renewing the lease. Only a fool would sell in the current climate and if he got new tenants in I reckon they'd be paying less than we are.

Am I right? How much say does a landlord have on the cleanliness of the place, keeping in mind it wasn't like in any kind of disarray when he called, just a bit rough and ready.

Just take a copy of your local rent/property paper and flick through it during the meeting.

Good timing. I've just got a message from my agency saying the landlord's happy to extend the tenancy for another year, but wants another £5 a week. I've been living here for 4 years now, and it's gone up by £5 or £10 a week each year. I want to stay here as it's a huge flat for what we're paying and where it is, and I really can't be arsed moving, but I thought we were in a tenants market at the moment. Should I just call them out on it?

Is he threatening to retain your deposit? I thought that was much harder for landlords to get away with these days?

I don't understand why he'd try and force you guys out and then rent it to other people for less, unless you were actually trashing the place (which from what I've seen you aren't). Just invite him round and make sure the place is immaculate when he gets there.

(sorry for chipping in without any advice of my own).

Yeah, Matt DC otm. Have a bit of a cleanup before he comes around again.

Yeah that's what I figure. He's coming around on Saturday. I think we should be paying less if we can so I guess if we clean the place it'll be fine. He's not a bad guy by any means, I do trust him but obv everyone wants the ££££

Clean the place, put some classical music on in the background and make sure there's a vicar sitting at the table drinking tea when he turns up.

How much are you paying, if you don't mind me asking? I'd have thought there were more renters knocking about London these days, pushing the price up if anything. Although that doesn't take into account people leaving because of the economy.

538 a month, obv before bills/council tax etc etc

My neighbour got his reduced by 30 quid a few weeks ago, tho he is in a different block of flats.

what the hell are you talking about

my landlord posted a sign in the hallway asking all tennants to keep their temp at 74º "or the pipes will freeze." this can't possibly be true, can it? also, fuck if i'm gonna keep my heat at 74º unless they start paying for it!!!!

Landlords can and do have the right to request that you keep the temperature so that the pipes don't freeze - however, it's a lot lower than 74, FFS. My mum lives in Vermont and she has a clause in the lease that her tenant can't let it go below 50, I think. However, the stupid cow upstairs leaves the heating on way up, then goes out for days at a time, leaving it on, and the oil runs out and the heating goes out.

It's easy to curse landlords out, until you have some experience at the other end and realise what freaking idiots there are in the world.

Not to imply that anyone on this thread is that bad, clearly, but my mum has had so many people take the piss* that I have come to feel more sympathy.

*people who blatantly break stuff - windows, etc. One guy couldn't be bothered to change the battery in the smoke detector when it beeped so he ripped it out the wall. The people who swear they don't smoke and sign a non-smokers lease and then puff away till the walls turn yellow and the carpet has to be changed.

...not to even mention the people that think that actually paying the rent is, like, you know - optional, and only for when they feel like not bouncing cheques...

Once upon a time, a friend of mine got in a fight with his landlord, and decided to move out precipitously (that is, in the manner of rain). The night before his last day, as he packed his shambles into a few boxes, we drove golf balls down the hall from his bedroom into the living rooms walls. After that, we went out to the parking lot and, with an atlatl, threw arrows back into the apt. through said walls. Or mostly just into the wall but anyway. I expect he ended up owing like ten thousand dollars or something, but it was kinda regrettable/fun.

Funny how landlords are a-ok for 60 degrees when it's a heat-included apartment.

^^^no shit!

A cheaper way to keep pipes from freezing -- if this is a true risk -- is to allow them to drip continuously. I'll bet that yr landlord pays the water, tho.

A cheaper way to keep pipes from freezing -- if this is a true risk -- is to allow them to drip continuously.

Yeah, this is what the TV weather guys -- and my landlord, who pays the water bill -- all tell me to do when it gets cold around here. Then again, 22 degrees is "insanely cold" in these parts.

Our pipes froze when we had a cold snap a month ago. We took a hair dryer to the pipes and unfroze them before they burst and our landlady knocked $100 off the rent for December! Out of town neighbor was less lucky...

https://t.co/p495aBB6Ws pic.twitter.com/d3iziawy3U

— pez (@periuspb) May 19, 2023

sadlol I knew her follow up would be her clarifying where she lives

Someone of the QTs

Are you being stupid on purpose https://t.co/dBr7DM3fzP

— Mathew (@mathewclarke) May 19, 2023

Those kinds of tweets are gold mines for blocking incredulous blue check fucks

UK people: Is there some kind of tax benefit to owning, like the mortgage interest deduction in the US? Is property owning seen as a way to create generational wealth like in the US?

Yes. Property taxes are extremely low so it’s been a pretty good investment if you can swing it

In one of her follow-up tweets she mentions how it's united everyone on her street in rage at the landlord. Which, yes, good, but part of me suspects that at least some of those must be NIMBY people more mad about "renters" and "property values" than pissed at the landlord for the right reasons.

https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/november-2023/renters-relief/

If the General Assembly allows municipalities to opt in, would Chicago pass a referendum? Garvey is “horrified” at the prospect. She argues that a local vote would be stacked against landlords, since many reside outside the city. “The proportion of owners to renters is lopsided in Chicago, so if you allow the community to make up its own mind, it’s a real problem.”

so if you allow the community to make up its own mind, it’s a real problem

ha, love this nakedly anti-democratic stance