Bored Panda works better on our iPhone app
Continue in app Continue in browser

Add post form topAdd Post
Tooltip close

The Bored Panda iOS app is live! Fight boredom with iPhones and iPads here.

Kid Jumps Into A Dryer, Parents Want This Person To Pay Over $8k For His Medical Bills
1.5K

Kid Jumps Into A Dryer, Parents Want This Person To Pay Over $8k For His Medical Bills

“Am I A Jerk For Not Wanting To Reimburse Medical Bills For A Kid Who Jumped Into The Dryer While My Clothes Were Drying?”Kids Jumps Into A Dryer, Parents Want This Person To Pay Over $8k For His Medical BillsTenant Asks The Internet For Advice After Their Landlord Tried To Charge Them $8477 For Their Child’s Medical BillsParents Want Their Neighbor To Pay Over $8k For Their Child's Medical Bills Because He Jumped Into The Dryer While Their Clothes Were In TherePerson Wonders If They're The Jerk For Not Wanting To Pay Over $8k For Medical Bills For A Kid Who Jumped Into The Dryer While Their Clothes Were In ThereLandlord’s Child Climbs Into The Dryer While Their Tenant Was Doing Laundry, Tries To Make The Tenant Pay For The Kid’s Medical BillsTenant Asks If They
ADVERTISEMENT

Having an amicable relationship with your landlord can be vital to feeling comfortable and at home in a space. So you pay your rent on time, you avoid making too much noise, and you are careful to respect the space. You never cause disputes, and you go out of your way to be kind whenever you encounter your landlord and their family. Yet for some reason, no matter how hard we try to be the perfect tenant, sometimes landlords go out of their way to create problems…

One tenant, LeatherSeveral7614 on Reddit, recently reached out to others online asking for some advice on a heated situation they found themselves in with their landlord. Below, you can read the frustrated renter’s full story and decide what you think their best course of action would be, and then let us know in the comments how you would respond to a landlord who tried to squeeze money out of you in this way. We hope you don’t have any similar personal experiences with landlords, but if you do, feel free to share them with your fellow pandas down below. And then if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article featuring landlord and tenant disputes, check out this piece next. 

RELATED:

    This tenant recently asked for advice online after they were told to pay for their landlord’s child’s medical bills

    Image credits: Dave & Margie Hill (not the actual photo)

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits: Rolf Larsen (not the actual photo)

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Later, the renter shared an update on the situation and clarified some details readers were curious about

    Image credits: LeatherSeveral7614

    Landlords are notorious for being unreasonable. Whether it is overcharging for a space the size of a closet, raising rent by 20% and only providing one month’s notice, refusing to give a tenant their deposit back even though the place looks spotless, or slapping a white layer of paint over everything including electrical outlets and bugs, most tenants know they cannot always trust their landlords. But in this specific situation, there is no way the renter could be held liable. They were simply doing their laundry as per usual, and the problem only came about when the landlords were not watching their child closely enough.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    I completely understand that you cannot keep an eye on your kid 100% of the time. At some point, parents need to take showers, use the bathroom, wash the dishes, tidy up, etc., but that does not make the tenant the default babysitter. Kids also get hurt all the time; it’s just part of growing up. As horrified as I’m sure the parents were to find their little one tumbling around in a hot dryer, sometimes, we just cannot protect our children from everything. A broken arm or a burn from a dryer is a lesson that kids need to learn every now and then. Of course, it is great to hear that the boy turned out fine and should not have any long-term medical issues, but he also probably learned a valuable lesson: to never do that again. I would hope that his parents learned to keep a closer watch over him too.

    Many of the commenters told the tenant to lawyer up quickly if their landlord was going to keep demanding they pay, but hopefully, that won’t become necessary. Medical bills are ridiculously expensive in the United States, and it is unfortunate that this situation ever happened in the first place, but at some point the parents have to be reasonable. There is no way that a court or judge would find the tenant responsible for these medical bills, and it is completely unfair to hold the fact that they didn’t raise rent over their tenant’s head. We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation down below, and if you have any small children, please be sure that your washer and dryer turn off when they’re opened. (Or, you know, that your kids know never to open them…)

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Readers have unanimously agreed that this was not the renter’s fault, while many even recommended they consult a lawyer

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    Share on Facebook
    Adelaide Ross

    Adelaide Ross

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    Howdy, I'm Adelaide! I'm originally from Texas, but after graduating from university with an acting degree, I relocated to sunny Los Angeles for a while. I then got a serious bite from the travel bug and found myself moving to Sweden and England before settling in Lithuania about two years ago. I'm passionate about animal welfare, sustainability and eating delicious food. But as you can see, I cover a wide range of topics including drama, internet trends and hilarious memes. I can easily be won over with a Seinfeld reference, vegan pastry or glass of fresh cold brew. And during my free time, I can usually be seen strolling through a park, playing tennis or baking something tasty.

    Read less »
    Adelaide Ross

    Adelaide Ross

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Howdy, I'm Adelaide! I'm originally from Texas, but after graduating from university with an acting degree, I relocated to sunny Los Angeles for a while. I then got a serious bite from the travel bug and found myself moving to Sweden and England before settling in Lithuania about two years ago. I'm passionate about animal welfare, sustainability and eating delicious food. But as you can see, I cover a wide range of topics including drama, internet trends and hilarious memes. I can easily be won over with a Seinfeld reference, vegan pastry or glass of fresh cold brew. And during my free time, I can usually be seen strolling through a park, playing tennis or baking something tasty.

    Ilona Baliūnaitė

    Ilona Baliūnaitė

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    I'm a Visual Editor at Bored Panda since 2017. I've searched through a multitude of images to create over 2000 diverse posts on a wide range of topics. I love memes, funny, and cute stuff, but I'm also into social issues topics. Despite my background in communication, my heart belongs to visual media, especially photography. When I'm not at my desk, you're likely to find me in the streets with my camera, checking out cool exhibitions, watching a movie at the cinema or just chilling with a coffee in a cozy place

    Read less »

    Ilona Baliūnaitė

    Ilona Baliūnaitė

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    I'm a Visual Editor at Bored Panda since 2017. I've searched through a multitude of images to create over 2000 diverse posts on a wide range of topics. I love memes, funny, and cute stuff, but I'm also into social issues topics. Despite my background in communication, my heart belongs to visual media, especially photography. When I'm not at my desk, you're likely to find me in the streets with my camera, checking out cool exhibitions, watching a movie at the cinema or just chilling with a coffee in a cozy place

    What do you think ?
    Add photo comments
    POST
    Alma Muminovic
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This doesn’t make sense. Why would you pay for their ambulance just because it was your laundry? Not your responsibility to babysit their kid. The fact they would even ask you to pay is absurd.

    nixoloco
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's beyond absurd. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact they didn't raise the rent four months ago. I don't understand how that factors into consideration in the least. They need to learn to watch their kid! The next eight months may be unpleasant.

    Load More Replies...
    Trillian
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Their kid, their dryer. If they had been supervising the kid properly and made sure not to keep unsafe faulty equipment around, nothing would have happened.

    Beth L
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    LOLOLOL! Tell them that you'll just turn around and sue the landlord for that amount plus legal and court fees. Then find your local renter's rights agency or NGO.

    Load More Comments
    Alma Muminovic
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This doesn’t make sense. Why would you pay for their ambulance just because it was your laundry? Not your responsibility to babysit their kid. The fact they would even ask you to pay is absurd.

    nixoloco
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's beyond absurd. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact they didn't raise the rent four months ago. I don't understand how that factors into consideration in the least. They need to learn to watch their kid! The next eight months may be unpleasant.

    Load More Replies...
    Trillian
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Their kid, their dryer. If they had been supervising the kid properly and made sure not to keep unsafe faulty equipment around, nothing would have happened.

    Beth L
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    LOLOLOL! Tell them that you'll just turn around and sue the landlord for that amount plus legal and court fees. Then find your local renter's rights agency or NGO.

    Load More Comments
    Related on Bored Panda
    Related on Bored Panda
    Trending on Bored Panda
    Also on Bored Panda