Landlord Tries To Get Tenant To Pay $80 Cleaning Fee For Nothing, Ends Up Paying $6,000

A lot of jerks are only being jerks because they think they can get away with it and just need someone to cut them down to size. That’s why one Reddit user’s story of going above and beyond to make sure a scheming landlord got retribution is exactly the kind of success story we need to make the jerks of the world sleep with one eye open.

The story, posted in r/ProRevenge, starts when a couple decided to move out of their run-down attic after a flippant new landlord decided to almost double their rent. The landlord tried to get $80 out of them on the way out for some vague “cleaning” expenses, but they fought back, even when the disagreement ballooned to him taking their entire deposit.

That’s when a game of legal chicken started. According to the Reddit user’s story, it’s not cheap to take a case like this to the sheriff and most people aren’t willing to take the chance that it’ll pay off (presumably the same reason why jerks like “Jack” are able to keep jerking people around.) But they stuck to their principles, and pay off it did. Not only did the tenants get their entire deposit and their fees back, but Jack got a big, fat order to pay back the rest of the tenants who had reported him for doing the same thing in the past, but hadn’t pressed the issue after the fees scared them off. Not all heroes wear capes.

Image credits: Patrick Haney (Not the actual photo)

Someone shared a story of making sure this landlord got what was coming

Landlord Tries To Get Tenant To Pay $80 Cleaning Fee For Nothing, Ends Up Paying $6,000

Image credits: UnderwhelmingTwin

US housing services directory Porch conducted a survey of tenants and landlords in which they found that 24.8% of landlords admitted to keeping part of a security deposit that a tenant deserved! How many of them do you think do this because they’ve simply never had any consequences, and how many of them would think twice if they messed with a tenant who was prepared to get revenge?

Commenters commended the tenants for their dedication to getting justice

Landlord Tries To Get Tenant To Pay $80 Cleaning Fee For Nothing, Ends Up Paying $6,000

Lili ended up in Vilnius, Lithuania out of her curiosity for studying languages, and stayed here out of sheer willpower. She loves cats maybe even a little more than the internet average and enjoys cooking videos despite only fantasizing about being able to make anything more complicated than fried rice.

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I'm the Visual Editor at Bored Panda, responsible for ensuring that everything our audience sees is top-notch and well-researched. What I love most about my job? Discovering new things about the world and immersing myself in exceptional photography and art.

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What do you think ?

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Bob Beltcher 4 years ago

I remember the first apartment I rented cost me $454/m. Paid exactly that for 8 months on a 12m lease. New management came in and started charging everyone water and trash fees of an additional $50/m. I told them it's not in my contract so they sent an eviction notice. I let it ride through the court system until my lease was up and never paid them the extra money. They threatened to keep my $350 security deposit so I just didn't pay them the last months rent. Never be afraid to stand up for yourself. A lot of people I to think they have authority over you but they dont.

19points

Full Name 4 years ago

I had a place that had a 1/2 month's rent damage deposit and I didn't trust my landlord one tiny little teensy weensy bit so I just was "late" with rent for 2 weeks and moved out suddenly in the middle of the month so I had fully paid for all the time that I was there, and I didn't damage the place at all so he couldn't come after me because I just treated it as if my damage deposit was my 1/2 months rent. That was the only time. I've always gotten 100% of my damage back otherwise.

0points

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FurryManiac 4 years ago

This will sound really naive, but I can’t believe any decent person would do this. Or even a trashy one, for that matter....

10points

NoJo 4 years ago

Look at the videos for a show called "Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords" and prepare to be shocked.

7points

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Deborah Paul 4 years ago

No decent person would do it, indecent people do whatever they want.

1point

Seabeast 4 years ago

It happened to me years ago when I was young and naive. Believe it.

1point

Adam Francis 4 years ago

We had a landlord try to scam us too. We moved into a place that had the original carpet; about 30 years old, not tacked to the floor and wasn't clean. The place was dirty and there were holes in the walls when we moved in. The rent was cheap and the neighborhood was great so we didn't care. I didn't even care if we lost the deposit when moving out. My wife however, was furious when they tried to charge us for cleaning the 30 year old carpet and for replacing it. We did have some broken blinds that we owed for and a couple other things, but she took them to small claims court and won the whole deposit plus costs of $75. The look on that chicks face when she had to hand me that check, was priceless.

5points

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POST

Bob Beltcher 4 years ago

19points

Full Name 4 years ago

0points

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FurryManiac 4 years ago

This will sound really naive, but I can’t believe any decent person would do this. Or even a trashy one, for that matter....

10points

NoJo 4 years ago

Look at the videos for a show called "Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords" and prepare to be shocked.

7points

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Deborah Paul 4 years ago

No decent person would do it, indecent people do whatever they want.

1point

Seabeast 4 years ago

It happened to me years ago when I was young and naive. Believe it.

1point

Adam Francis 4 years ago

5points

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