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“We Didn’t Agree With Paying $1,000”: Landlord Demands Compensation For A Scratch On The Floor
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“We Didn’t Agree With Paying $1,000”: Landlord Demands Compensation For A Scratch On The Floor

“We Didn’t Agree With Paying $1,000”: Landlord Demands Compensation For A Scratch On The FloorWoman Asks If Her Landlord Is Reasonable For Charging $1,000 For A Scratch On The Floor“The Audacity”: Greedy Landlord Tries To Extort Tenant Over A Single Scratch On The FloorA Single Scratch On A Floorboard Gets A $1,000 Charge From The Landlord, Tenant Asks For AdviceRenter Refuses To Pay $1,000 For One Scratch On The Floor“Does That Make Sense To You?”: Woman Refuses To Pay Landlord $1,000 For ‘Almost Invisible’ ScratchWoman Shows A Single Scratch Landlord Demanded $1,000 For, Asks If It’s As Absurd As She Thinks“Sounds Ridiculous”: Landlord Wants Woman To Pay $1,000 Over A Single ScratchLandlord Demands Renter Pay $1,000 For A Minor Scratch On The FloorLandlord Attempts To Charge Tenant $1,000 For A Single Scratch On A Floor Panel
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Moving out tends to have its “regular” pitfalls, landlords running the entire place under a microscope to eat up your deposit, strange last-minute fees, and packing. But some take greed and selfishness to the next level.

For example, one Sydney landlord managed to surprise still when they attempted to get a tenant to pay $1000 for a single, small scratch on a wooden floor panel. Fortunately, OP didn’t back down and reached out to the internet for help. She took their suggestions and later shared an update about how she contested and battled to get the fee reduced.

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    Being hit with a random fee while moving out can be annoying

    Image credits: Yan Krukau (not the actual photo)

    But one Sydney tenant shared her experience with getting a shockingly large bill over very minor damage

    Image source: BabyButt3rcup

    OP shared an image of the scratch

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    Image credits: BabyButt3rcup

    The housing crisis has emboldened many greedy landlords

    Image credits: Erik Mclean (not the actual photo)

    The housing market is such a mess that every landlord has seemingly turned into a shark that smells blood on the water. Given that many can make huge sums of money renting out property on Airbnb, perhaps some landlords actually feel like they are being generous for allowing “regular” tenants to pay rent.

    For example, a study conducted in Manhattan found that a full-time Airbnb could make approximately double to triple what a normal tenant would pay in a year. While not every landlord wants to bother with many short-term stays, the overall effect in larger cities (Sydney, for example) has been a 5 to 10% increase in rent across the board, as demand increases while supply struggles to keep up.

    All this money and the fact that people simply need accommodation creates a new breed of landlord that can and will do their utmost to squeeze every last cent out of a property. It’s not like landlords had a great reputation to begin with, as even in the pre-internet age, people have struggled. But the current housing crisis has allowed bad behavior to pass since people are more desperate than ever to have a place to stay.

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    It can be hard to know what to do when a landlord is threatening you

    Image credits: Ketut Subiyanto (not the actual photo)

    While the housing crisis discourse tends to center on the US, where rents have been steadily rising over the last few years, this issue is truly global. Digital nomads and work-from-home have irrevocably changed where people can live since you no longer have to be near an office. The result is small, sleepy towns suddenly filling with wealthy, mobile professionals, increasing rent across the board.

    If you are a landlord, this is wonderful news, as your potential tenants are no longer limited to local residents. Instead, you can now replace them with working adults from all over the country, if not the world and charge them even more, raising the overall rents across the area. At the same time, despite charging more, landlords aren’t exactly bending over backward to be more accommodating.

    Instead, you find examples, both serious and parody, of landlords actually asking for tips, as we previously covered on Bored Panda. While often enough, landlords simply want to make some money on the side with the property they happen to own, there is a growing class of landlords who seem to think they are doing everyone a favor.

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    Tenants are often more protected under the law than they might be aware

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    Image credits: Maria Ziegler (not the actual photo)

    This entitlement and feeling of impunity has perhaps bled into all other actions, like in OP’s case. Besides the fix not being nearly as expensive, she indicates that the landlord also lied about needing to change the entire floor, as they already had a new tenant. Not exactly something you do when someone has just moved in.

    Similarly, you don’t need to change the entire floor to fix a single panel, much to some contractors’ chagrin. This might suggest that the landlord already planned to change the floor and simply wanted to extort OP for every last dollar they could find.

    Fortunately, tenants are often protected under the law and OP was wise to reach out to the internet in an update that you can find further in the post. While in a perfect world, the landlord would have just taken the new, real estimate (detailed below) it’s still a good sign that there are ways to fight back.

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    OP did some research and found that the bill was disproportionately high

    Netizens rallied together and shared some advice

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    Later, she shared an update after contesting the fee

    Image credits: Karolina Grabowska (not the actual photo)

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    Image source: BabyButt3rcup

    Readers still thought the landlord was out of line

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    Justin Sandberg

    Justin Sandberg

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

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    I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

    Read less »
    Justin Sandberg

    Justin Sandberg

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

    Kotryna Br

    Kotryna Br

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    Kotryna is a Photo Editor at Bored Panda with a BA in Graphic Design. Before Bored Panda, she worked as a freelance graphic designer and illiustrator. When not editing, she enjoys working with clay, drawing, playing board games and drinking good tea.

    Read less »

    Kotryna Br

    Kotryna Br

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Kotryna is a Photo Editor at Bored Panda with a BA in Graphic Design. Before Bored Panda, she worked as a freelance graphic designer and illiustrator. When not editing, she enjoys working with clay, drawing, playing board games and drinking good tea.

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

    Looks to me more like what we'd call laminate flooring over here, i.e. it's not solid wood, but formed tongue&groove panels that clip together. So it may not be possible to simply treat the surface - it's not just stained wood that can be sanded and restained. Nor is replacing a single piece straightforward. The entire floor from one edge will need to be lifted to remove the damaged panel, and they may not even have, or be able to source, an exact replacement. So yeah, you did the damage, now pay the bill.

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

    I do floors for a living and it is quite possible to pull one plank and snap it back in without having to pull trim and half the floor - I've seen my installer do it plenty of times. Depends how much time u want to dedicate to it I guess. But totally agree that's way more than a scratch that can barely be seen or fixed with some simple oil soap - no one I know here in the states would even attempt to fix it like that as that often times will make it stick out even more

    Load More Replies...
    JuniorCJ82
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    1) not a minor scratch at all 2) that single piece can be replaced 3) be more careful next time

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

    U are completely right it's not a minor scratch but a skilled flooring professional could pull that board without necessarily having to pull trim and half the floor

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

    That is NOT a small scratch - it's a major gouge in the flooring. If I was your landlord, I would charge you for the damage, as well. Let the down votes begin.

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

    Have fun in court, then! The fact that the landlord decreased the charge by half proves they were trying to take advantage, especially when they said they were going to replace the whole thing to fix a single panel. Let the lawsuits begin.

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

    Looks to me more like what we'd call laminate flooring over here, i.e. it's not solid wood, but formed tongue&groove panels that clip together. So it may not be possible to simply treat the surface - it's not just stained wood that can be sanded and restained. Nor is replacing a single piece straightforward. The entire floor from one edge will need to be lifted to remove the damaged panel, and they may not even have, or be able to source, an exact replacement. So yeah, you did the damage, now pay the bill.

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

    I do floors for a living and it is quite possible to pull one plank and snap it back in without having to pull trim and half the floor - I've seen my installer do it plenty of times. Depends how much time u want to dedicate to it I guess. But totally agree that's way more than a scratch that can barely be seen or fixed with some simple oil soap - no one I know here in the states would even attempt to fix it like that as that often times will make it stick out even more

    Load More Replies...
    JuniorCJ82
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    1) not a minor scratch at all 2) that single piece can be replaced 3) be more careful next time

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

    U are completely right it's not a minor scratch but a skilled flooring professional could pull that board without necessarily having to pull trim and half the floor

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

    That is NOT a small scratch - it's a major gouge in the flooring. If I was your landlord, I would charge you for the damage, as well. Let the down votes begin.

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

    Have fun in court, then! The fact that the landlord decreased the charge by half proves they were trying to take advantage, especially when they said they were going to replace the whole thing to fix a single panel. Let the lawsuits begin.

    Load More Replies...
    Load More Comments
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