Having an amicable relationship with your landlord can be vital to feeling comfortable and at home in a space. So you pay your rent on time, you avoid making too much noise, and you are careful to respect the space. You never cause disputes, and you go out of your way to be kind whenever you encounter your landlord and their family. Yet for some reason, no matter how hard we try to be the perfect tenant, sometimes landlords go out of their way to create problems…
One tenant, LeatherSeveral7614 on Reddit, recently reached out to others online asking for some advice on a heated situation they found themselves in with their landlord. Below, you can read the frustrated renter’s full story and decide what you think their best course of action would be, and then let us know in the comments how you would respond to a landlord who tried to squeeze money out of you in this way. We hope you don’t have any similar personal experiences with landlords, but if you do, feel free to share them with your fellow pandas down below. And then if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article featuring landlord and tenant disputes, check out this piece next.
This tenant recently asked for advice online after they were told to pay for their landlord’s child’s medical bills
Image credits: Dave & Margie Hill (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Rolf Larsen (not the actual photo)
Later, the renter shared an update on the situation and clarified some details readers were curious about
Image credits: LeatherSeveral7614
Landlords are notorious for being unreasonable. Whether it is overcharging for a space the size of a closet, raising rent by 20% and only providing one month’s notice, refusing to give a tenant their deposit back even though the place looks spotless, or slapping a white layer of paint over everything including electrical outlets and bugs, most tenants know they cannot always trust their landlords. But in this specific situation, there is no way the renter could be held liable. They were simply doing their laundry as per usual, and the problem only came about when the landlords were not watching their child closely enough.
I completely understand that you cannot keep an eye on your kid 100% of the time. At some point, parents need to take showers, use the bathroom, wash the dishes, tidy up, etc., but that does not make the tenant the default babysitter. Kids also get hurt all the time; it’s just part of growing up. As horrified as I’m sure the parents were to find their little one tumbling around in a hot dryer, sometimes, we just cannot protect our children from everything. A broken arm or a burn from a dryer is a lesson that kids need to learn every now and then. Of course, it is great to hear that the boy turned out fine and should not have any long-term medical issues, but he also probably learned a valuable lesson: to never do that again. I would hope that his parents learned to keep a closer watch over him too.
Many of the commenters told the tenant to lawyer up quickly if their landlord was going to keep demanding they pay, but hopefully, that won’t become necessary. Medical bills are ridiculously expensive in the United States, and it is unfortunate that this situation ever happened in the first place, but at some point the parents have to be reasonable. There is no way that a court or judge would find the tenant responsible for these medical bills, and it is completely unfair to hold the fact that they didn’t raise rent over their tenant’s head. We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation down below, and if you have any small children, please be sure that your washer and dryer turn off when they’re opened. (Or, you know, that your kids know never to open them…)
Readers have unanimously agreed that this was not the renter’s fault, while many even recommended they consult a lawyer
This doesn’t make sense. Why would you pay for their ambulance just because it was your laundry? Not your responsibility to babysit their kid. The fact they would even ask you to pay is absurd.
It's beyond absurd. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact they didn't raise the rent four months ago. I don't understand how that factors into consideration in the least. They need to learn to watch their kid! The next eight months may be unpleasant.
Load More Replies...NTA. It's their house, their dryer, and their child. The responsibility is 100% theirs.
the landlord is responsible for the dryer and the child He should get a lawyer and see if those medical bills really are 8,000
There is absolutely no way that this person is TA. These people allowed their four year old to wander around unsupervised in they knew that the dryer was broken. The child's injuries are entirely on his parents. The OP needs to contact a lawyer and start planning to move because these aren't going to leave this alone.
The landlords have a big bill and think they have a sucker to pay it. You should consult with a lawyer or your renter’s insurance (you have renter’s insurance, right?). If they try to claim against your insurance, your insurance company will counterclaim against their homeowners insurance which had better be the right kind for their landlord situation or they will find themselves in a bit of trouble.
How does not raising the rent have any bearing on this? The "forum" he talked with must be run by landlords, which is why they suggested he pay!?! This is a no brainer. Hire a lawyer and have them send a cease & desist order for the harassment. They know, as stated, they have no case. Start looking for a new place, because I'm sure they're going to be terrible landlords from here on out.
The landlord is responsible for all. Railings entryways faulty equipment it is the landlords responsibility to make sure everything is in safe and working order
Bottom line the dryer belonged to the landlords and it was their responsibility for the upkeep and safe operation of the device. And since it was their obligation to do so are responsible for any injuries arising from the use by any tenant, especially since it had been stated it's use would be permitted for the tenants at no extra charge. So now we get to the trauma and injuries sustained by the child, the fact the machines door failed to lock and secure when closed is the responsibility of the owner, regardless if it was a manufacturing defect or not. If it was a manufacturing defect then the owner should have contacted customer service to see if there had been any safety warnings or recalls for that model, and if too far out of date then the least they could have done was to put a simple hasp with a padlock on it and then given each tenant a key with instructions in their lease or rental agreement to keep it locked at all time - whether in use or not for safety reasons.
This doesn’t make sense. Why would you pay for their ambulance just because it was your laundry? Not your responsibility to babysit their kid. The fact they would even ask you to pay is absurd.
It's beyond absurd. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact they didn't raise the rent four months ago. I don't understand how that factors into consideration in the least. They need to learn to watch their kid! The next eight months may be unpleasant.
Load More Replies...NTA. It's their house, their dryer, and their child. The responsibility is 100% theirs.
the landlord is responsible for the dryer and the child He should get a lawyer and see if those medical bills really are 8,000
There is absolutely no way that this person is TA. These people allowed their four year old to wander around unsupervised in they knew that the dryer was broken. The child's injuries are entirely on his parents. The OP needs to contact a lawyer and start planning to move because these aren't going to leave this alone.
The landlords have a big bill and think they have a sucker to pay it. You should consult with a lawyer or your renter’s insurance (you have renter’s insurance, right?). If they try to claim against your insurance, your insurance company will counterclaim against their homeowners insurance which had better be the right kind for their landlord situation or they will find themselves in a bit of trouble.
How does not raising the rent have any bearing on this? The "forum" he talked with must be run by landlords, which is why they suggested he pay!?! This is a no brainer. Hire a lawyer and have them send a cease & desist order for the harassment. They know, as stated, they have no case. Start looking for a new place, because I'm sure they're going to be terrible landlords from here on out.
The landlord is responsible for all. Railings entryways faulty equipment it is the landlords responsibility to make sure everything is in safe and working order
Bottom line the dryer belonged to the landlords and it was their responsibility for the upkeep and safe operation of the device. And since it was their obligation to do so are responsible for any injuries arising from the use by any tenant, especially since it had been stated it's use would be permitted for the tenants at no extra charge. So now we get to the trauma and injuries sustained by the child, the fact the machines door failed to lock and secure when closed is the responsibility of the owner, regardless if it was a manufacturing defect or not. If it was a manufacturing defect then the owner should have contacted customer service to see if there had been any safety warnings or recalls for that model, and if too far out of date then the least they could have done was to put a simple hasp with a padlock on it and then given each tenant a key with instructions in their lease or rental agreement to keep it locked at all time - whether in use or not for safety reasons.
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