47 Horrible Landlords Who Made Renting A Total Nightmare
Article created by: Gabija Palšytė
When it comes to renting, most of us have our own checklists, but one thing we all surely need is a decent landlord. A good landlord can make life so much easier for you. Late on rent? No problem. Need something fixed? Done immediately. They’re the kind of people who work with you, not against you, making renting feel like a breeze. But sadly, not everyone’s that lucky.
So, to give you an idea of just how bad it can get, we’ve rounded up some of the most shocking landlord stories out there. Keep scrolling, dear Pandas, and brace yourself for some jaw-dropping tales!
#5
The Roof We’ve Been Telling Our Landlord About For Months Finally Gave Up
Some of you might say “Why didn’t you fix it?”, my landlord added in all the rental contracts in the building that you can’t do anything without his permission, we’ve been telling him for months about the situation, but he is stingy as heck, so this is the end result of most issues with the building.
#7
My Landlord Finally Decided To Pour The Concrete Yesterday… Without Notice Right Before I Go To Work
The landlord just redid the sidewalk around the apartment complex 2 months ago. They decided to tear up the slabs infrastructure of my door (just my door) a week ago and it’s been just dirt with a big drop-off since.
This morning I had to leave in a bit of a rush and stepped into wet concrete. No notice about it or anything. Made me finally retire the Hey Dudes. Now they’re just the Bye Dudes.
#8
Have Fungi Growing In My Apartment, Pretty Sure There’s Black Mold Hidden Too. What Are My Options?
Renting an apartment and have had constant flooding during the storms. This was a problem last year too. Now it’s much worse. Fungi is growing in and around my apartment. The floor has had black spots creep through the fake wood flooring.
I called 311 and filed a complaint and they told me an inspector would reach out in two days time, but they didn’t. So after a week, I called the health inspector’s office only to be rudely told that they don’t give out timelines for when they can come back and inspect/test the place.
Any others had this problem and the landlord would just shrug it off? What are my options as far as remediation or rehousing? Do I withhold rent until this is resolved?
I’m in serious need of advice as I have asthma and eczema and I can’t keep either in control now and I think it’s due to this issue.
#10
Landlord Is Converting The Common Areas (Parking And Laundry) Into Additional Units. Introducing The New “Open Air” Laundry Room
Powered by an extension cord and water just runs out into the grass.
#11
My Landlord Took Away The Bed And Mattress That Were Provided In The “Furnished” Rental And Replaced It With This Thing Which Is Really Hard To Sleep On
#12
Our Landlord Changed Our Fridge While I Was At Work. She Sent Me A Message Asking To Take My Food Out While I Was At Work, When I Got Home Everything Was Left Like This
#13
Landlord Threatens Tenants With Eviction If They Don’t Keep Their Blinds Open
#14
My Landlord Is An Idiot. Picture Of When I Trimmed It vs. What He Wanted
I decided to move out the townhouse I’ved lived at for 3 years. The landlord started sending realtors out to look at the place, I assume they plan to sell it. One of the realtors complained the trees made it, “Hard to see the house and needed curb appeal”. So, I trimmed the branches a little bit and thought it looked nice. Landlord disagreed and said it needs to be done more. This is the final product he is happy with. It makes me so sad.
#17
I Came Back From Thanksgiving To Find That My Landlord Had Revarnished/Painted The Stairs Up To My Apartment. They Are Still Wet, I Was Given No Notice, And There Is Only One Staircase
#18
This Was My Landlord’s Solution To The AC Unit Leaking Water And Soaking The Carpet. It Was Left On For At Least 24 Hours Before I Got There
#20
It’s A Mushroom. There Are Baby Mushrooms Trying To Sprout Out Next To It. I Moved Into This Apartment 5 Days Ago, And This Happened Last Night
No other signs of water damage. The most baffling part to me is that the ceiling around the mushroom is completely solid. This mushroom really just shoved its way through an entire wall.
I’m terrified that it’s a leaky sewer issue – since, unfortunately, mushrooms thrive in that kind of environment.
My landlord is giving me the runaround. He says he doesn’t have any handymen available to look at it. Asked me if I knew any. No, I don’t, I’m the renter. Not quite sure what to do next. I’ve put all my important belongings in my car and am staying with my brother for the next few days until this gets figured out. I recognize the imminent danger of this kind of damage. We need a mold remediation company, not a handyman. Ugh. I HATE RENTING.
#21
This Text Message From My Daughter’s Landlord While We’re Attending Her College Graduation
This landlord has been petty to my daughter and her roommates for the past 2 years, so when my daughter sent her this text message, she didn’t disappoint.
#22
Upstairs Neighbor’s Kid Routinely Floods Their Bathroom, Landlord Refuses To Fix The Damaged Ceiling. And He Even Threatened To Sue Us For Us Talking About It Publicly
#24
My Landlord Won’t Fix Our Leaking Roof (It’s Almost Been A Month), Or Oven, Or Install Smoke Detectors, And It Looks Like There’s Mold In The Bathroom
#25
Asked My Landlord To Fix My Utility Lines. She Cut Them All Off Now I Don’t Have Wi-Fi Or Phones. She Doesn’t Care Either. I’m In Canada And This Is My Very First Time Renting
#26
Landlord Wanted A “Low Maintenance Yard”
He put these stones in the entire backyard. We are planning on moving into this house in a month, and have three small kids and two dogs. This is so not what we wanted, but we don’t have a choice.
What’s the best way to make safe walking and playing areas for the kids and dogs? What products can we buy to cover parts of this?
#27
My Landlord Justified Their $200 Monthly Rent Increase By Promising Building Upgrades. May I Present The Power Washing Of My Sidewalks
#28
Someone Tried To Break Into My Place And Ripped My Front Door Handle Off, My Landlord Is Leaving All My Texts On Read. I Now Have To Slip My Hand Into The Mailbox To Close My Door
#29
My Landlord Destroyed All My Yard Flowers
Once every spring these flowers bloom in my yard, I think they’re invasive but they’re pretty and I don’t live close to a natural area so I let them live. I love looking at them, it breaks up the monotony of grass and leaves all around. My landlord said he was coming to power wash the sidewalks today and said nothing about yard work. I’m responsible for mowing, but since the grass hasn’t even grown yet, I haven’t touched it. However, he decided to mow the yard anyway – completely destroying all my flowers in the process.
#30
Found This In The Apartment I Just Moved Into. I Did Tour The Apartment And Scoped Out The Neighborhood (Day And Night) And Thought All Was Well
I guess I didn’t really look hard enough but I didn’t think I’d need to look for a bullet hole. I already signed a 10-month lease and paid all move-in fees. Landlord said it’s been this way for years and refuses to fix it.
#31
The Landlord Refuses To Replace The Broken Tile. Our Rent Is $3,257 Per Month
We just moved into an apartment and noted during inspection that this tile was broken and several others were cracked. The landlord told us to “make a list”, which we did, presumably to be addressed after we moved in.
After weeks of searching, I located and purchased 6 matching tiles (pictured). I showed them to my landlord and asked when she could schedule her handyman. Her reply was, “That’s a lot of work. Just fill the gap with some putty.”
That’s completely absurd given our rent. I’ll replace them myself, but her response makes me want to break the tiles when we move out and keep the broken bits.
#32
Landlord Won’t Give My Router Back
As the title suggests. My family and I moved out yesterday (March 15th) and we wanted to get our router which is connected to the main Wi-Fi router which was in HER room. She told us we could just come get it another time as she was not available, and supposedly she has a lot of boxes covering access to the WiFi router.
She now is refusing to give me my router, and is being hostile, which she never has been before. What can I do? I’m thinking of just saying I’ll get the police involved, but not sure if that would work. I just need my router back..
#33
My Landlord Decided To Set Up His Washing Machine In The Garage. That Spot Is Our Assigned Parking Space
He told my boyfriend straight up that he was doing it, and after we both took the day to calm down, we made it very clear we weren’t going to park there anymore. So he’s going to “fix” it so it drains into the neighbor’s yard there.
#35
Landlord Switched The Payment Platform To One That Charges A Fee On Top Of Rent. I Know $1 Isn’t Much But The Concept Of Paying To Pay Rent Grates On Me
#37
The Landlord Gave Permission To An Unstable Homeless Man To Live Underneath The Stairs Of Our House Without Telling Anyone
We live in a multifamily home. The hideaway wasn’t immediately obvious. It’s right behind my downstairs neighbor’s bedroom window, she is a young woman who lives alone. The past week she kept feeling like someone was watching her at night but thought she was going crazy. When she went looking for her cat that got out, she came across this and the story came out.
#38
Landlord Refusing To Pay For Maintenance. We Have A Clogged Shower Drain And Have Already Tried To Fix The Problem, But We Are Not Able To Fix The Issue
I asked our landlord to send in a plumber and got this response, refusing to hire someone and advising me that it’s my responsibility to pay a technician to repair the problem. My understanding was that these kinds of maintenance repairs were the responsibility of the landlord.
#40
Show Me You’re A Renter In One Picture. I Found Out Last Week That My Cat, My Roommate, And I Have Been Under The Weather From A Spell Of Light Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
The landlord ordered us a new stove, and I uncovered this absolute gem of a fire hazard. When we first moved in 2 years ago, I asked to have all of the outlets upgraded to the 21st century. Must have missed the worst outlet of them all. Hooray renting. P.S. don’t judge us for not cleaning behind the oven.
#41
When You Try Warning Your Landlords About The Leak In Your Kitchen
They hired a really bad roofing company to replace the roof due to multiple leaks in our place and black mold in the attic. It turns out they needed carpenters to complete the job, and they won’t be back till 3 months later. One of the panels they had removed made the leak worse, and they tried to put a tarp over it to keep the rain out, but the leak was still there. They tried telling the landlords, but they said there was nothing they could do, now this.
#45
My Landlord Opened My Crocs And This Is How He Returned Them To My Door
All of the packaging is gone & he claimed there was “no name on the box” so he opened them and threw everything they came in away. He was for sure going to just keep them because they had dirt on the inside and I know they didn’t get sent like that, they come in plastic. He has another tenant besides my roommate and me and didn’t text any of us to see if we were missing a package.
