Jealous Of This Guy’s Income, Landlord Raises The Rent By $500, Regrets It A Few Years Later
Renting a property can be stressful for everyone involved. Both landlords and tenants have plenty of terrible stories about one another. But the one we chose to show to you today is personal. It cuts straight to the core of this complex relationship. Greed.
Reddit user RockyMoose made a post on r/ProRevenge about the way he got back at the man who raised his rent by 50% just because he learned that RockyMoose was earning a decent living. However, given the name of the subreddit it appeared on, you can probably guess that it’s not the end of it. Years later, due to a random encounter, the two met yet again. Only this time, it was the landlord who paid the price. And quite a big one.
This landlord probably never expected that his greed would come back to bite him in the crotch
Image credits: RODNAE Productions (not the actual photo)
But years later, he paid a huge price for treating his tenants like trash
At first glance, a landlord’s decisions affect only their tenants, so why should we care? But in reality, their actions are also influencing the housing stability of the broader community. And this has become really evident in the face of Covid.
The pandemic has resulted in profound economic hardship for US renters; a Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey found that nearly 8 million renters were behind on rent. Luckily, not all property owners have lost their humanity. In fact, only 23 percent of landlords reported pursuing eviction of delinquent tenants in 2020. However, shares were higher in lower-income neighborhoods and areas where the majority of residents were people of color—where landlords were also less likely to offer tenants concessions—signaling the disparate impact of the pandemic on these tenants and communities.
Most of the people in the comment section called it justice
What often makes fighting terrible landlords so hard is the lease. In a paper published last year, the professors David A. Hoffman and Anton Strezhnev illuminate the conflict between landlords and tenants by analyzing 171,306 leases from almost two decades of eviction filings in Philadelphia.
They found that most of them were not good for tenants, and the situation is getting worse. Hoffman, who teaches contracts at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, said Philly’s bad leases are part of a larger trend. “All we do is talk about how contracts have been transformed by technology,” he told Slate. “More contracts, over more terms, in more fields. Go shopping, get in a cab, make a reservation at a restaurant, go to a hotel—there are contracts everywhere and they all contain worse terms for you than if you didn’t have a contract at all. The contracts we sign are just bonkers.”
In the case of Philadelphia, Hoffman and Strezhnev discovered that what they call “unenforceable and oppressive terms” are actually very common. Those include sections that let the landlord off the hook for negligence, that waive existing rules about housing conditions, or that allow evictions to begin faster than state law dictates.
Many of the leases that Hoffman and Strezhnev analyzed are the so-called shared leases, cookie-cutter forms that are spreading as landlords increasingly use free PDFs they find online.
So if you want to protect yourself from predatory landlords, start from the contract!
But some thought the guy was way out of line
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I hope people don't actually believe this long-winded bullshit revenge story. It has all of the classic details of internet fiction. It's not even worth the trouble of picking it apart piece by piece, but suffice it to say there are many other fictional revenge stories that follow this same pattern. It makes me wonder if the same guy writes them all.
the amount he say's he was paying in the early 90's gave me pause it seemed awful high and the fact that he actually gave the guy the extra 500 is another could have stayed in a decent hotel/motel for less but he stayed and paid it made me laugh and wonder if this was true
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What an overly dramatic re-telling of a normal home rental situation! Hope he didn't strain his wrist too much when he patted himself on the back.
I feel like if the increase was because of the month-by-month change, the landlord would have mentioned it. Getting hung up on how much money OP made, claiming it was the new rental price etc, then asking whether OP had anything to do with Phil's change of heart... landlord knew exactly what he was doing and he knew it was wrong.
In a lot of places, what the landlord did would have been illegal. There is a cap on how much rent can be increased at the very least.
@Cassie: And in just as many places, there aren't. When I first moved to the Bay Area 30 years ago, the economy was rolling, and renting was expensive. Rent control at that time only applied to buildings that were built before 1979. There were no regulations on any rentals built after that. Landlords played a lovely little game where they had an employee call other apartment complexes, pretending to be prospective renters, so they knew what the "going rate" was. If they found out that they were renting at a level lower than other landlords, they'd up the price, no explanation. There were people in this area that had their rent raised by about $300.00 twice in the space of year. Now that's changed: but only because greedy landlords caused a homeless/poverty crisis by knowing how manipulate the system. Even with those changes, some renters pay more monthly than many homeowners put on a mortgage. While the revenge part of this story is overblown, the antics of the landlord aren't.
Load More Replies...
It constantly blows my mind that in America, landlords are so close to the rental process. There should be a third party, like the rental bond board in Australia, so that the person with the vested interest doesn't get to just arbitrarily "keep some of the deposit" and things of that nature. Plus most sane countries have caps on rent increases, both in $ amount and frequency. The lack of protections for renters in the States is obscene. Americans - know that it's not like that everywhere and better rules are possible.
it's the usa you are on your own i had one landlord who kept two grand of my deposit first last and security deposit because i gave him 29 days notice i was moving i was one day short of the thirty day notice i told him the reason why i was leaving i had told him for two months that the people under me were blasting country music at three am very night and it was right under my bedroom turns out they were not paying there rent and he was in the middle of eviction on them i guess he kept my money to pay the rent he was not getting from them the apartment was spotless no damage what so ever he kept my money anyway and if i would have taken this to court i would have had to hire a lawyer take time off from work in the end it would have cost me more than what he kept yeap the great old usa no protection from scum bags
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"I now have special feelings for Phil" best line in the whole story. Phil's the hero for me in this.
Where I live, once the one-year lease expires, it automatically flips to a month-to-month arrangement and the statutory increase is MAXIMUM 2% per year. I can't believe that it's acceptable where y'all live for landlords to jack up the rent THAT much. I'm glad I live where I live
A couple in their low 20's are not dinking. That's reserved for a different demographic. What an idiot. Sorry not sorry.
Surely if they're both working with no kids, they're dinking?
Load More Replies...
I understand why a landlord would charge more if they started out with month-by-month instead of a longer lease. But once they've been there a year, how does it cost the landlord anything to go month-by-month for a couple of extra months? It's no different than having a 14mo lease rather than a 12mo lease, so long as the landlord knows they are moving out in time to get a new tenant in. Someone mentioned seasons, but unlike with house sales, people will start renting at any time of the year, at least where I live.
So, your co-worker rethinks his entire home selling strategy and fires his realtor on the spot because he raised your rent too high for your likes years prior? And he asked you to write him a script for firing the realtor so you could really stick it to him? That’s a great fantasy. Obviously the “you don’t have to like it…” line just burned OP up and he’s been dwelling on it for years. It’s also worth noting that a much larger rent increase is common for month-to-month terms, as opposed to a 12 month lease. The terms for my rental is $900 extra per month for month-to-month. I am 100% pro-tenant rights and I love it when greedy landlords get their comeuppance. But, unfortunately, this story is just not that.
"Landlord" is not a job. And cheating your tenants, when you're already a worthless parasite, is what karma is For. Oh, and if he did this in our state, he would be in Jail.
Month-to-month rent always has a significant increase... Like everywhere... And he wanted to stay on month-to-month rent... For how much it increases, I guess it depends on where you live... I think my rent would go up by 300-400 in the same situation, so I don't see what to pitty about...
As a note, everyone saying "Month-to-month leases are always more" are full of s**t. In plenty of places (the entire City of LA, for instance) leases go to month-to-month after their initial terms are out - it's standard. And if the place is rent controlled (i.e., if it was built prior to 1978 in eithe Los Angeles or Santa Monica - i.e., most buildings) it's 100% illegal to raise rent beyond the inflation-indexed raises allowed by city ordinance. The idea that Landlords are taking some major risk on month-to-month is absolute nonsense when it's an existing tenant (if it's someone moving in for just a month or two, sure, but someone who's been their a year+? Absolutely not).
Being a landlord....wait,what a strange medieval word...is the most passive form of oppression. invisible, protected by so many laws,...bleeding so many people of what they need to live. Heinous
I'm still planning my revenge, it's a company I'd like to take down but they specialize in low income and the only one who does. Funny how I never heard from them unless my rent was late but when my fridge needed repairs or my stove died it took weeks. My best one though came from my endless messages about a leaking ceiling. When it did the inevitable and caved in, they tried to blame me, despite my phone and email records. They tried to lock me out of the building. I may have broken the law one night to get my stuff but it's amazing what you can accomplish at 2am and your neighbors simply don't care. I no longer live in this city.
950 a month for rent in the early 90's seems really high it doesn't say what state but in 2006 i got divorced and found a place to rent it was three bedrooms cable trash snow removal electric heat all included and it was water front five hundred a month as im reading this i guess i got lucky and another plus was it was the only apartment in the building landlord never bugged me i had to track her down to pay my rent she owned a couple stores so i guess my little 500 dollars wasn't really on her mind and the fact i always paid my rent when it was due might have helped
It looks like one of these stories from The Reader's Digest. Long explanation for short situations... I think it's all invented.
I have hope that my landlords agent will get his just desserts one day
I hope people don't actually believe this long-winded bullshit revenge story. It has all of the classic details of internet fiction. It's not even worth the trouble of picking it apart piece by piece, but suffice it to say there are many other fictional revenge stories that follow this same pattern. It makes me wonder if the same guy writes them all.
the amount he say's he was paying in the early 90's gave me pause it seemed awful high and the fact that he actually gave the guy the extra 500 is another could have stayed in a decent hotel/motel for less but he stayed and paid it made me laugh and wonder if this was true
Load More Replies... What an overly dramatic re-telling of a normal home rental situation! Hope he didn't strain his wrist too much when he patted himself on the back.
I feel like if the increase was because of the month-by-month change, the landlord would have mentioned it. Getting hung up on how much money OP made, claiming it was the new rental price etc, then asking whether OP had anything to do with Phil's change of heart... landlord knew exactly what he was doing and he knew it was wrong.
In a lot of places, what the landlord did would have been illegal. There is a cap on how much rent can be increased at the very least.
@Cassie: And in just as many places, there aren't. When I first moved to the Bay Area 30 years ago, the economy was rolling, and renting was expensive. Rent control at that time only applied to buildings that were built before 1979. There were no regulations on any rentals built after that. Landlords played a lovely little game where they had an employee call other apartment complexes, pretending to be prospective renters, so they knew what the "going rate" was. If they found out that they were renting at a level lower than other landlords, they'd up the price, no explanation. There were people in this area that had their rent raised by about $300.00 twice in the space of year. Now that's changed: but only because greedy landlords caused a homeless/poverty crisis by knowing how manipulate the system. Even with those changes, some renters pay more monthly than many homeowners put on a mortgage. While the revenge part of this story is overblown, the antics of the landlord aren't.
Load More Replies... It constantly blows my mind that in America, landlords are so close to the rental process. There should be a third party, like the rental bond board in Australia, so that the person with the vested interest doesn't get to just arbitrarily "keep some of the deposit" and things of that nature. Plus most sane countries have caps on rent increases, both in $ amount and frequency. The lack of protections for renters in the States is obscene. Americans - know that it's not like that everywhere and better rules are possible.
it's the usa you are on your own i had one landlord who kept two grand of my deposit first last and security deposit because i gave him 29 days notice i was moving i was one day short of the thirty day notice i told him the reason why i was leaving i had told him for two months that the people under me were blasting country music at three am very night and it was right under my bedroom turns out they were not paying there rent and he was in the middle of eviction on them i guess he kept my money to pay the rent he was not getting from them the apartment was spotless no damage what so ever he kept my money anyway and if i would have taken this to court i would have had to hire a lawyer take time off from work in the end it would have cost me more than what he kept yeap the great old usa no protection from scum bags
Load More Replies... "I now have special feelings for Phil" best line in the whole story. Phil's the hero for me in this.
Where I live, once the one-year lease expires, it automatically flips to a month-to-month arrangement and the statutory increase is MAXIMUM 2% per year. I can't believe that it's acceptable where y'all live for landlords to jack up the rent THAT much. I'm glad I live where I live
A couple in their low 20's are not dinking. That's reserved for a different demographic. What an idiot. Sorry not sorry.
Surely if they're both working with no kids, they're dinking?
Load More Replies... I understand why a landlord would charge more if they started out with month-by-month instead of a longer lease. But once they've been there a year, how does it cost the landlord anything to go month-by-month for a couple of extra months? It's no different than having a 14mo lease rather than a 12mo lease, so long as the landlord knows they are moving out in time to get a new tenant in. Someone mentioned seasons, but unlike with house sales, people will start renting at any time of the year, at least where I live.
So, your co-worker rethinks his entire home selling strategy and fires his realtor on the spot because he raised your rent too high for your likes years prior? And he asked you to write him a script for firing the realtor so you could really stick it to him? That’s a great fantasy. Obviously the “you don’t have to like it…” line just burned OP up and he’s been dwelling on it for years. It’s also worth noting that a much larger rent increase is common for month-to-month terms, as opposed to a 12 month lease. The terms for my rental is $900 extra per month for month-to-month. I am 100% pro-tenant rights and I love it when greedy landlords get their comeuppance. But, unfortunately, this story is just not that.
"Landlord" is not a job. And cheating your tenants, when you're already a worthless parasite, is what karma is For. Oh, and if he did this in our state, he would be in Jail.
Month-to-month rent always has a significant increase... Like everywhere... And he wanted to stay on month-to-month rent... For how much it increases, I guess it depends on where you live... I think my rent would go up by 300-400 in the same situation, so I don't see what to pitty about...
As a note, everyone saying "Month-to-month leases are always more" are full of s**t. In plenty of places (the entire City of LA, for instance) leases go to month-to-month after their initial terms are out - it's standard. And if the place is rent controlled (i.e., if it was built prior to 1978 in eithe Los Angeles or Santa Monica - i.e., most buildings) it's 100% illegal to raise rent beyond the inflation-indexed raises allowed by city ordinance. The idea that Landlords are taking some major risk on month-to-month is absolute nonsense when it's an existing tenant (if it's someone moving in for just a month or two, sure, but someone who's been their a year+? Absolutely not).
Being a landlord....wait,what a strange medieval word...is the most passive form of oppression. invisible, protected by so many laws,...bleeding so many people of what they need to live. Heinous
I'm still planning my revenge, it's a company I'd like to take down but they specialize in low income and the only one who does. Funny how I never heard from them unless my rent was late but when my fridge needed repairs or my stove died it took weeks. My best one though came from my endless messages about a leaking ceiling. When it did the inevitable and caved in, they tried to blame me, despite my phone and email records. They tried to lock me out of the building. I may have broken the law one night to get my stuff but it's amazing what you can accomplish at 2am and your neighbors simply don't care. I no longer live in this city.
950 a month for rent in the early 90's seems really high it doesn't say what state but in 2006 i got divorced and found a place to rent it was three bedrooms cable trash snow removal electric heat all included and it was water front five hundred a month as im reading this i guess i got lucky and another plus was it was the only apartment in the building landlord never bugged me i had to track her down to pay my rent she owned a couple stores so i guess my little 500 dollars wasn't really on her mind and the fact i always paid my rent when it was due might have helped
It looks like one of these stories from The Reader's Digest. Long explanation for short situations... I think it's all invented.
I have hope that my landlords agent will get his just desserts one day
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