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“Anyone Can Fool Someone For A Month”: Homeowner Takes Revenge On Agreement-Breaking Tenant
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“Anyone Can Fool Someone For A Month”: Homeowner Takes Revenge On Agreement-Breaking Tenant

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Being a landlord is like playing Minesweeper; you can predict which people/cells might be less likely to cause trouble, but you’re never quite sure. Eventually, one of them results in the game being over.

Redditor u/mechpaul recently told the ‘Malicious Compliance’ community about renting a bedroom to a person who appeared to be not the right fit for it. Even though the tenant seemed great at first, he started breaking certain agreements, resulting in malicious compliance from the landlord himself. Scroll down to find the full story below.

In order to learn more about the importance of lease agreements, Bored Panda turned to Manager of Housing Law at Community Legal Services, Jerika Mobley, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find her thoughts in the text below.

RELATED:

    A detailed lease agreement can help avoid any misunderstandings between the landlord and the tenant

    Image credits: wutzkoh (not the actual photo)

    This landlord’s tenant ended up breaking certain agreements, saying they weren’t on the lease

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    Image credits: Pressmaster (not the actual photo)
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    Image credits: StudioLucky (not the actual photo)

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    Image source: mechpaul

    A lease agreement ensures both parties are familiar with their rights and responsibilities

    Image credits: Alena Darme (not the actual photo)

    In a recent interview with Bored Panda, Manager of Housing Law at Community Legal Services, Jerika Mobley, pointed out that knowing your rights and responsibilities as a tenant may not only help prevent legal issues that might arise during the tenancy, but also empower you to enforce your rights when necessary. One of the ways to make sure everyone is on the same page and familiar with all the necessary information is signing a lease agreement.

    “A detailed and informative lease agreement is important, so the parties have a clear understanding of the terms and conditions, as well as their rights and responsibilities during the tenancy,” Mobley emphasized.

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    She added that before signing a lease agreement, it’s important to read it in full and ensure the terms and conditions are fair, reasonable, and able to be met. It’s also necessary to make sure “the names of all tenants and occupants, the rental amount including additional charges and fees, the due date, and the expiration date are accurately reflected in the lease agreement.”

    The expert also pointed out that it’s important to identify if application fees are reimbursable deposits or not, and inspect the property in person to ensure it is habitable before signing the agreement or paying any money.

    Failure to comply with the terms of the lease can lead to trouble

    Image credits: YuriArcursPeopleimages (not the actual photo)

    Jerika Mobley suggested that making sure everything is alright before signing the lease is important because once it is signed, the options for early termination are limited and can be costly. Moreover, “failure to comply with the terms of the lease can lead to an eviction being filed, which is a public record that cannot be sealed or expunged.”

    Eviction Lab revealed that there have been nearly 2.5 million eviction cases since March 2020, based on data gathered from ten US states. This week alone has seen nearly 15 thousand of such cases. According to a 2022 study, there are roughly 2.7 million households nationwide that are threatened with eviction every year.

    Ruby Home revealed that as much as 34% of US households—adding up to roughly 44 million of them—are renters. This means that the OP is far from the only one dealing with the struggles of finding the right fit for their rental. His situation shows that even when you think you’ve found one, things might not work out the way you expect them to; however, some people in the comments believed the OP was being too harsh with the tenant.

    Redditors shared their views in the comments, the OP replied to some of them

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    Miglė Miliūtė

    Miglė Miliūtė

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    A writer here at Bored Panda, I am a lover of good music, good food, and good company, which makes food-related topics and feel-good stories my favorite ones to cover. Passionate about traveling and concerts, I constantly seek occasions to visit places yet personally unexplored. I also enjoy spending free time outdoors, trying out different sports—even if I don’t look too graceful at it—or socializing over a cup of coffee.

    Read less »
    Miglė Miliūtė

    Miglė Miliūtė

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    A writer here at Bored Panda, I am a lover of good music, good food, and good company, which makes food-related topics and feel-good stories my favorite ones to cover. Passionate about traveling and concerts, I constantly seek occasions to visit places yet personally unexplored. I also enjoy spending free time outdoors, trying out different sports—even if I don’t look too graceful at it—or socializing over a cup of coffee.

    Ieva Pečiulytė

    Ieva Pečiulytė

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    I'm a Visual Editor for Bored Panda. I’m also an analog collage artist. My love for images and experience in layering goes well with both creating collages by hand and working with digital images as an Editor. When I’m not using my kitchen area as an art studio I also do various experiments making my own cosmetics or brewing kombucha. When I’m not at home you would most definitely find me attending a concert or walking my dog.

    Read less »

    Ieva Pečiulytė

    Ieva Pečiulytė

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    I'm a Visual Editor for Bored Panda. I’m also an analog collage artist. My love for images and experience in layering goes well with both creating collages by hand and working with digital images as an Editor. When I’m not using my kitchen area as an art studio I also do various experiments making my own cosmetics or brewing kombucha. When I’m not at home you would most definitely find me attending a concert or walking my dog.

    What do you think ?
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    Justin Smith
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    All the people saying landlords don't/can't limit how many times people visit don't seem to understand that this is one house. The landlord, op in this case, lives in the house.

    Ken Beattie
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Indeed, and to be honest it sounded like a pretty good deal for the tenant. If he'd been smarter instead of trying to just steamroll the guy who owned the house he should have talked to him up front about having guests more frequently. Hell, if he'd gone from once a fortnight to once a week the owner may not have even blinked. But going to 4-5 times a week, yeah she was living there.

    Load More Replies...
    Ace
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Does anyone really believe it happened just like this? Why must people exaggerate and embroider stories which are, presumably, based on real events? Well, to not make themselves sound like the a55hole, I guess.

    Raumpfleger
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I can't talk for other countries, but over here any side agreements, even if done verbally would be part of the contract in legal sense. Problem would be to provide proof, but the moment someone admitted it's been said and agreed to when the written contract was signed, it would be as good as included in the written version. The sheet of paper is not the contract, its just evidence of its existence. The contract itself is a mutual declaration of will that can exist in any form.

    Load More Comments
    Justin Smith
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    All the people saying landlords don't/can't limit how many times people visit don't seem to understand that this is one house. The landlord, op in this case, lives in the house.

    Ken Beattie
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Indeed, and to be honest it sounded like a pretty good deal for the tenant. If he'd been smarter instead of trying to just steamroll the guy who owned the house he should have talked to him up front about having guests more frequently. Hell, if he'd gone from once a fortnight to once a week the owner may not have even blinked. But going to 4-5 times a week, yeah she was living there.

    Load More Replies...
    Ace
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Does anyone really believe it happened just like this? Why must people exaggerate and embroider stories which are, presumably, based on real events? Well, to not make themselves sound like the a55hole, I guess.

    Raumpfleger
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I can't talk for other countries, but over here any side agreements, even if done verbally would be part of the contract in legal sense. Problem would be to provide proof, but the moment someone admitted it's been said and agreed to when the written contract was signed, it would be as good as included in the written version. The sheet of paper is not the contract, its just evidence of its existence. The contract itself is a mutual declaration of will that can exist in any form.

    Load More Comments
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