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“I’m Literally Doing This Because They Will Take My Deposit”: Tenant Vents About The Reality Of Renting, Says Landlords Will Take Deposits For “Anything”
There are three things you can look at forever – how fire burns, how water flows, and how tenants in rented apartments resent their landlords. Of course, sometimes there are also bad tenants, but usually, landlords are the source of problems in such conflicts…
Perhaps you did not know that Dante was going to put picky landlords in a separate, tenth circle of hell but decided not to do this, because he also rented an apartment and did not want to quarrel with his landlord just to get his deposit back (but this is not exactly true).
But the author of this video on TikTok, a blogger with the nickname kay1331, was absolutely afraid that their deposit for a rented apartment would not be returned. The video shot by them went viral, gaining 283.9K views and almost 44K likes so far.
More info: TikTok
RELATED:
The Original Poster has to scrape off the black layer of paint in their rented apartment
Image credits: kay.1331
The Original Poster admitted that they used paintable wallpaper, and when they took it off, there was a little line of black paint around the edge. As a result, they had to literally scrape off the black layer of paint.
Image credits: kay.1331
The author is still afraid that the landlord may take their deposit anyway
The thing is that the OP is afraid that if there’s even the slightest problem with the paint, their landlord will refuse to return the deposit. According to the tenant’s own words, anyone who has ever rented an apartment knows that landlords are ready to take a deposit for literally anything.
Image credits: kay.1331
According to the latest research, almost 40 percent of tenants lose their deposits annually
By the way, the OP is not far from the truth. So, for example, according to a large-scale survey conducted by the British company Hillarys, approximately 29% of all tenants surveyed lose their deposits every year, which amounts to more than $1 billion.
Image credits: kay.1331
The most vulnerable category of tenants is young people and students. For example, last year, as another survey made by StudentTenant shows, four out of ten students lost part of their deposit or even the entire amount.
Image credits: kay.1331
There are several reasons why a landlord could take your deposit
According to the researchers, professional cleaning, damage to fittings, excessive wear and tear and unpaid bills are most often the reasons for non-refund or withholding of a part of the deposit. But this, of course, is if the landlord behaves decently enough.
@kay.1331 The paintable wallpaper worked amazing though and didnt damage the surface underneath! #rentingapartments #apartmentlife #getmydepositback ♬ оригінальний звук Kay
Be that as it may, in order to protect yourself from dishonest landlords, it is advised to take pictures of the condition of the apartment right after the contract signing and resolve any issues which may arise as quickly as possible. So the OP is absolutely right about scraping off the black paint – that might work well.
People in the comments said that landlords can literally make up a reason to withhold a deposit
Actually, commenters on the OP’s video also claim that landlords are willing to withhold deposits in any case – for example, to clean carpets and drapes, even if you cleaned everything yourself beforehand. Deposits are not returned for the smallest of reasons – and a paint drip may well be one.
One of the people in the comments, by the way, wrote that she deliberately took a number of pictures and a full video immediately after moving into the apartment – just in case to prove that she was not the cause of any problem. Let’s just hope this works…
Well, if the issue of landlords and tenants looks interesting to you, you can delve further into the topic and read the post about how a management company required this tenant to sign the inspection form literally in the blind, otherwise, they would refuse to give the keys. However, owning a home is not a universal solution either – and this post of ours is the best proof of that. In any case, any comments are highly appreciated.
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What do you think ?
Celia McReynolds Tinsley 2 years ago
She chose to put the wallpaper up and part of removing it is cleaning up the residue it leaves behind. Plenty of tenants have lots of reasons to complain about their landlord but I don't see that here.
Kat O. 2 years ago
Agreed. This wasn't natural wear and tear. She caused the "damage" so she should fix it.
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Sinkvenice 2 years ago
But *she* painted the walls, that was her choice not the landlord's. My god, what a spoiled brat. If I painted where I was renting there's no way I'd leave it that way. She's paying rent for a property someone else owns! If she ever buys her own place she can do whatever the hell she wants to it. The sense of entitlement is nauseating.
Nightshade1972 2 years ago
I was in college when the Red Hot Chili Peppers were a hot new band. My suitemates wanted to paint RHCP-specific murals on the walls of their dorm room. The university let them--as long as they agreed to repaint the walls themselves when they moved out (the university agreed to give them the paint). They agreed, they did repaint before they moved out, and afaik they didn't get in trouble, the university was happy with the repaint job.
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Mad Dragon 2 years ago
I never got a single deposit back when I was renting. At the last place I rented before buying my house, I just considered the deposit a cleaning fee and put zero effort into cleaning. I left it tidy and took all my belongings and trash, but no way was I going to spend three days dusting and polishing and vacuuming. That's what my $300 deposit paid for.
Celia McReynolds Tinsley 2 years ago
She chose to put the wallpaper up and part of removing it is cleaning up the residue it leaves behind. Plenty of tenants have lots of reasons to complain about their landlord but I don't see that here.
Kat O. 2 years ago
Agreed. This wasn't natural wear and tear. She caused the "damage" so she should fix it.
Load More Replies... Sinkvenice 2 years ago
But *she* painted the walls, that was her choice not the landlord's. My god, what a spoiled brat. If I painted where I was renting there's no way I'd leave it that way. She's paying rent for a property someone else owns! If she ever buys her own place she can do whatever the hell she wants to it. The sense of entitlement is nauseating.
Nightshade1972 2 years ago
I was in college when the Red Hot Chili Peppers were a hot new band. My suitemates wanted to paint RHCP-specific murals on the walls of their dorm room. The university let them--as long as they agreed to repaint the walls themselves when they moved out (the university agreed to give them the paint). They agreed, they did repaint before they moved out, and afaik they didn't get in trouble, the university was happy with the repaint job.
Load More Replies... Mad Dragon 2 years ago
I never got a single deposit back when I was renting. At the last place I rented before buying my house, I just considered the deposit a cleaning fee and put zero effort into cleaning. I left it tidy and took all my belongings and trash, but no way was I going to spend three days dusting and polishing and vacuuming. That's what my $300 deposit paid for.
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