Anyone who has rented a house or an apartment knows how troublesome it can be. Constant instability and restrictive rules substantially reduce comfort, while losing the landlord lottery and getting a bad one can make, in extreme cases, the accommodation unlivable. 

Tenants in the r/Renters community are constantly sharing their fights and struggles with property owners. From unrealistic charges to requesting tips on rent, they prove that, in fact, landlords are really that bad. To find these horror stories, all you have to do is scroll down.

#1 Finally, An Honest Landlord

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#2 Landlords- Please Don’t Paint Over Cockroaches

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#3 What Am I Supposed To Do?

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Data shows that in the UK, homeowners are typically more satisfied with their accommodation than private or social renters. In 2023, the Housing Ombudsman, a government service that looks at housing complaints, found that the main reason tenants aren’t pleased with their dwellings is because of their condition. 

30% say that the property owner didn't bother to repair it or that the landlord was slow to get things done. 

The following issue was how landlords handled the complaints, with 78% of cases containing maladministration or poor communication. As a result, 46% of the time landlords had to pay residents compensation because of poor housing conditions and its management.

#4 How Much Do You Tip Your Landlord?

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#5 How Cold Is It Tho

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#6 Charging For Carpet Replacement Upon Move Out? Reston, Va

Just moved out of a 1 bedroom apartment. I rented a carpet shampooer from Home Depot before and had the whole place looking and smelling real nice. Just got this email which screams of nonsense. I plan to fight this to the death. The carpet was not damaged and had zero stains when I left. The pictures aren’t amazing but you can tell there’s not big damage

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With such evidence, it’s no surprise that landlords are often stereotyped as the bad guys. Unfortunately, the warning signs are not always immediately apparent to tenants, which makes it hard to avoid them. Luckily for us, rental property management company Bay Management Group has a few tips on how to notice the signs of a ‘bad’ landlord. 

According to them, the first red flag is if a landlord is hard to get a hold of upon an initial meeting. They could be dodging calls, avoiding questions, and showing little interest in helping applicants throughout the process. If the very first interaction is unpleasant, it’s a big bad sign, as contacting them for maintenance or repair might be difficult after moving in.

#7 Landlord Said If It Comes Back I’m Responsible

Recently got displaced for a week while some people came by and fixed my ceiling. It was covered in full since there was evidence of mold on the windowsills prior to moving in. Company came in and took the humidity which was 78. They were going to replace the ceiling, parts of the wall, and connect the air vent all the way outside as it was not hooked up correctly. Came back after a week and everything is replaced and there is no evidence of mold anymore. Tub is clogged and I’m waiting on that to get fixed but otherwise, seems good. The thing that didn’t make sense to me is the landlord telling me that if it happens again I will be responsible for it. He did not provide any maintenance advice on how to control it if this should happen again. My leasing contract states that I will only be held responsible for repairs if I don’t take the necessary precautions to avoid it but how do I avoid mold growth? Contract includes vent cleaning, filter replacement, not running the ac too hard, normal house things- but nothing about mold. I’ve requested receipts of all the work done so I have evidence that it was done properly and I also plan on requesting humidity check ups. I fail to understand how this would fall back on me if it comes back? If it’s done correctly, it shouldn’t return at all?

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#8 (Texas) Is It Legal For My Landlord To Leave The Bathroom Without A Tub Or Shower?

He promised to have it in within a couple weeks of living here, but has yet to even order the tub that fits my rental house. I have one bathroom with a shower, but nothing in the master bathroom

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#9 Can They Really Force Us To Pay $30? Il

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The first impression matters a lot, so if they show up late to a showing without an apology or if the interaction is rushed, unprofessional, or even rude, this could be an additional red flag. Healthy and open communication is important in landlord-tenant relationships, and if that’s not the case from the get-go, it might be a good idea to walk away.

#10 What The Heck Is This?

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#11 Landlord Installed It Just Above The Door Of Our Apartment. If It Has Audio Is That Legal? Door Is Thin And Could Clearly Eavesdrop If Audio Enabled Camera

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#12 Landlord’s Outrageous Requests

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The company emphasizes the importance of seeing the actual rental before signing the lease as well. Dishonest property owners may post the best, very old, or even fake photos to attract people. Meanwhile, the reality is often far different from the images.

These offerings might also be priced suspiciously low. But if you’re in a hot rental market and the price seems too good to be true, it probably is, and you should be aware of not falling victim to a scam.

#13 Inflation Is Tough! $2800 To $4500 For A 750sqft Apartment In The North End Of Boston (Ma)

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#14 Advice On How To Deal With A Landlord Denying That It Has A Roach Problem

I live in a building in a city right outside Chicago. It does have a lot of units and I realize big old buildings do have bug issues but my landlord is insisting that they’re just water bugs. I told her last Thursday that when I was paying my rent that I’ve seen a couple roaches and she tells me to take a picture next time. So last night I had a friend over and she was sitting on the floor and my cat ran by and a roach ran under my friends leg. So not only was I horrified I was embarrassed I sent her a picture at like 1 am and she didn’t reach out till 2 this afternoon and is still insistent it’s water bugs. My friend used Google lens and what do you know it registered as a roach. I called her and told her I’m not gonna argue with her about it and that she needs to get the exterminator quick. I have poison bait traps by the doorways and today I sprayed raid outside the back door and the landing on the inside. What else could I do to solve this issue if she won’t. Any advice is welcomed.

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#15 Landlord Says I Haven't Paid For This Month's Rent Even After I Already Did. I Don't Know What Else To Do

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The first impression of the property also matters, and when it looks disheveled, that could be another concerning sign. Landlords are often responsible for the upkeep of common areas, so if you notice cracked ceilings, reeking hallways, and dirty laundry rooms, it could mean that they put little effort into maintaining the individual rooms.

#16 Landlord Won’t Fix Mold Problem (Mn)

I notified the landlord about a mold problem 2 weeks ago and he keeps saying that he will fix it but nothing ever comes of it. He keeps making excuses and lying about it and saying that people are coming, which makes me take a day to work from home so that I can be here when they come to fix it (I don’t have unlimited work from home days)

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#17 My Landlord Is A Perv And I Dont Know What To Do

I 24f am in PA, my roommate recently moved out and since I've been here by myself my landlord started asking for hugs every time he came over (he also shows up unannounced to "fix" things and will push his way in even after I say no and I require notice) the hugs were already crossing a line but I don't have anywhere to go and am already nervous about him and he wouldn't leave until I did it so I just did what he wanted. now he has sent me this email and I'm scared to go home. I've been staying at a friends house trying to figure out what to do

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#18 "It's Not Me Who's Choosing To Raise Your Rent. It's The Market."

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Poor maintenance is a very concerning sign, says John Liston, a landlord in Boston and manager of strategy and operations at HelloAllSet. “If, while you’re walking around, you see a lot of minor damage in the unit, then it’s highly likely that your landlord puts the bare minimum of effort into maintaining the unit,” says Liston. “Individual tenants can only cause so much damage, and tenants are more likely to let damage linger if they inherited the unit in poor condition.”

#19 Apparently My Landlord Can’t Make A Call Because He’s “Out Of Town”

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#20 Landlord Is Out Of State. Son Lives Here. This Is His Response To Me Asking To Keep Noise Down- How Should I Proceed? I’m In California

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#21 Oh Front Door Locks Freezing

I moved into a new apt in April and this is my first winter here. They removed all the storm doors when renovating the property and never did any weather stripping/proofing with the front doors, it’s about 1 degree out right now with high winds that have been pushing through our front door along with snow and today I woke up to our locks iced up from the inside

Image credits: Inevitable-Bed-8192

Issues of repair are the number one thing that causes tension between tenants and landlords, so it’s crucial to ask questions about the maintenance process, like how residents can make a request, who is responsible for repairs, and how quickly the issues usually get fixed. 

#22 Apartment Manager Discussing My Personal Life Via Internal Email

So I moved in to my new apartment in late January, I didn’t have a car then but recently got 1. Email the apartment manager for a parking permit, and she didn’t respond after a few days so I sent a follow-up. She send me a email today to say she was off and will follow-up but accidentally sent me this email which was obviously meant for internal purposes

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#23 Found On Facebook

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#24 $750 A Month To Live In A Shed In Someone's Backyard With No Toilet Or Shower Or Appliances

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Looking at online reviews from previous tenants on sites like ApartmentRatings and MyLandlordScore is also a great way to see what kind of landlord you’ll have to deal with. A pattern of bad comments is a red flag, and combined with other warning signs, it’s enough to continue the search and avoid the particular accommodation.

#25 Interesting Situation

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#26 Outrageous Fees Just To Apply (Ga)

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#27 Leasing Company Sealed Living Squirrels In My Walls, What Do I Do??

I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
I put in a maintenance ticket back in January to have holes sealed up at the edge of my roof where squirrels had gotten in and I could hear them chewing at the wood in the walls on a regular basis. Month after month I would contact the leasing company for my house anyway I could to ask when this was going to get resolved.
Yesterday they finally came out with a crane and did this metal work and expanding foam job, cutting down my little library to reach it.
Update: THE SQUIRRELS HAVE ALL BEEN FREED!
After a hearing about my dilemma, my sister and her partner, both strong animal lovers with animal rescue experience, drove all the way down from the Duluth area to give me a hand with my situation.

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If you wish to avoid any unpleasant or unexpected situations, the rental agreement is the most important document to ensure that. Unreliable landlords purposefully include vague or unclear terms that place the majority of responsibility on tenants. Potential residents should move on if the property owner refuses to review the lease, doesn’t produce it, or wants you to sign it before seeing the housing. 

#28 Landlord Covered My Windows With Plastic

I was shocked when I came home from work and saw plastic covering every window in my apartment. I reached out to the property management and they told me it was for “waterproofing” the building. Asked for a date when it would be removed and they said they “weren’t sure”. It’s cutting off ventilation and I’m having to run my AC in 70 degree weather because it’s almost 80 degrees in my apartment with this plastic on. I asked if they would subsidize a portion of my electric bills since I will be needing to run the AC, which they said they would “get back to me about” but of course they didn’t

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#29 Absolutely Floored At The Income Requirement (Ca)

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#30 Can They Legally Do This?

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#31 Is This Detached Ceiling Light Potentially Dangerous? Probably Manager Has Not Responded To My Requests To Fix It For 2 Weeks

This is in the hallway of my building. As you can see, the light is fully detached from the ceiling and hanging by the wires. I’ve been trying to get the property maintenance guy to fix it for over two weeks. I last texted him a week ago, no response. I’m worried it could fall on somebody, or mess up the wiring

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#32 Landlord Refusal To Fix Floor Due To Cost, Possible Stalling

It has been a year since my heel went through our flooring while putting socks on totally random and most likely due to poor flooring. My landlord has not fixed it and has said it is because of the high cost. And has even gone as far to say he doesn’t believe me that’s how it happened and thinks it’s because I dropped something “heavy”. He has given me the opportunity to pay half (which I will not do) or wait until he finds a cheaper estimate. I am now worried that he is just waiting until I move out to take it out of my deposit

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#33 Is This Normal? Charging An Extra $400/Month For Month To Month

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#34 Can My Landlord Raise My Rent Via Fb Marketplace Message?

My landlord, who has my email and phone number, which I have requested to communicate over both many times, sent me this rent increase notice via Facebook Marketplace. We never signed anything agreeing to this, and our newest lease, from August, states we were still paying our original rate. He has been a consistent problem for other situations since living here, but this is the only one I am not sure how to handle

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#35 Question About Qualifications?

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#36 Is This Oven Safe And Acceptable As Stated By Landlord?

It has a glass cover, but no actual door so it has its springs exposed. The handle is very flimsy and is very hard to open the oven with as it isn’t properly attached. As soon as 5e oven is turned on it starts smoking without even being opened

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#37 Charged For Space Heater

Recently my furnace went out and was replaced by my landlord. While it was out we were given space heaters. After it was fixed our water lines froze. We asked the property company if we could hold onto the space heaters to heat up the pipes. They’ve now given us a $100 bill for use of the space heaters

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#38 Apartment Doesn’t Allow Rock Salt For My Stairs (Ca)

I live in a low income apartment with my baby since July. Got a note in august saying they’d be fixing the stair due to people getting hurt from them and nothing has been done. There’s also water dripping on the steps throughout the day and freezes over at night. I recently almost slipped down them while carrying my baby, on my way to work at 5am . They don’t allow rock salt because they say it’ll ruin the concrete

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#39 Just Got This Email From Management

The bike and charcoal grill one really got me. Where else tf am I supposed to put these things? Im not sure why there’s regulations on what we can and cannot have on our tiny patios? I understand the clothing/trash bc it can blow into road but other than that I see no issue?

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#40 Can My Landlord Fine Everyone For Damage In The Lobby? Chicago, Il

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#41 Landlord Blew Me Off After Asking For Ac To Be Cleaned/Maintained (Tx)

So the AC in our apartment has been chugging day and night never stopping at 75-76 degrees and it never really stayed cool. With the humidity in the air we couldn't sleep, my allergies got worse and worse. I reached out to the contract landlord to send someone to check on it. He came himself asked if I changed the filter and batteries in the thermostat. I told him yes I have been changing the filters every month. I mentioned I checked the intake inside and external unit for exhaust and they had gunk in them. He was brushed it off and deflected, called me an idiot saying it was nothing and "You think you are knowing everything that are happen and you are wrong" at that point I had given multiple chances for him to not be rude. I started letting him spiral in his self talk about how he owns commercial property and he knows more than I do because of that..and he said "If you don't like it then move out". I called a favor for a tech to come look and this is the result. I'm down 300 bucks

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#42 I Feel Decieved On Day 1 Of Move-In

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#43 I've Been Waiting Over 3 Hours For The Keys To My New Apartment

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#44 My Landlords Sent A Handyman Who Did This. Would’ve Killed Us If My Father In Law Hadn’t Checked It

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#45 Landlord’s Girlfriend Sent This Text, She Is Not Stated On The Lease As The Property Manager Only Him, Is This Legally Aloud

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#46 Landlord Wants To Use (My) Stairs, California

I share a duplex with my landlord (bad decision) and he has hired movers to move things out of the unit that he lives in. We both have our own stairs to access our units but my stairs would be far more convenient for the movers to use. I have cleaned the stairs but my landlord has a history of making veiled threats like the one above. I guess I'm torn between keeping the peace and telling him that he cannot use my stairs

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#47 Landlord Filed Eviction. I Paid The Rent 10 Days Late. She Said She Would Drop The Eviction

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#48 What Should Me And My Wife Do? (Fl)

These past three days the overhead sprinkler in our bedroom has been randomly going off for seemingly no reason. We've called Maintenance since the day it started and the most they've done was look at it and cut a hole in the ceiling around it. They arent gonna do anything else because, and I quote, "we can't do anything because we don't know what the problem is"

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#49 My Sisters Place Flooded And The Landlord Is Brushing Off Safety Concerns

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#50 Is This Even Legal?? (Ohio)

I saw these notices being put in our doors by someone yesterday around 4-4:30 in the AFTERNOON. So it's not even a full 24 hours notice

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#51 Does This Count As An Emergency? Over 72 Hours And No Help

Woke up to water POURING out of my ceiling at 5:30am on Saturday. It stopped after another hour or two on its own. But I touched the top which was bowed in and it was extremely soft. The entire place smelled like mildew/dirty water. I haven’t been able to take a shower, I have to leave the window open to air out the smell. Is this an emergency or am I being dramatic here in wanting the property managers to take this more seriously?

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#52 Landlord Help - No Water - They Will Not Call A Plumber

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#53 No Access To Thermostat - Pa

Moving in tomorrow and Landlord drops this last minute note with no prior mention of this. Moving into a house with 3 separate units

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#54 Landlord Won't Respond To Messages Regarding A New Mail Box Key And It's Been Almost 5 Months And I Don't Know What To Do. (Mn)

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#55 My Old Landlord Is Saying I Needed To Have The Carpets Professionally Vacuumed ?

Am I required to do this ? They never even mentioned it.

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#56 I Got This Today, I Am Going To Complain And Demand A Week Time Frame

This will make a month and a half straight where they can walk into my home. They came in 2 days ago and broke some of my stuff, said sorry and just walked out so I don't trust them to be alone in my home. Also my heat pump works fine, they have not inspected it

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#57 Yes, Your Landlords Hang Out In Private Fb Investing Groups And Ask For Advice On How To Best Intimidate Tenants With Emotional Support Animals

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#58 I Got Email From Leasing Office To Take Down Ornamental On Door. I See Wreath On Door Of My Neighbor's For More Than A Year

I see wreath on door of my neighbor's for more than a year and others have doormats still on. Is it true to not even add this on door which is less flammable than the door or wall itself?

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#59 Is My Landlord Allowed To Do This (Il)

My landlord is trying to raise rent as picture shows. We have a 1 year fixed lease of $550 and he is trying to increase it to $600. Is he legally allowed to do this while in middle of lease? I have read the lease carefully and there’s no verbiage saying he can raise it in the middle of the lease

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#60 (Ma) My Landlord/Property Manager Has Blocked Me From Paying Rent

my landlord/property manager has blocked me from paying rent. I haven’t been late, I haven’t had any issues, but the property manager never answers calls or emails from the tenants (there are some more people in the building and idk if they’re having issues too). I have called and emailed (20 times) over the course of 3 months

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#61 Was Promised A Parking Spot And Got This Smh. Have To Park In Front Of The Black Car :/

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#62 Is This Even Legal? Landlord Charged Me An Extra 1k For Notice To Cease, Even Though I Disputed It Outside Of Court Via Letter To Their Hq

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#63 So I Asked My Property Managers Why The Rent Renewal Included A $200 Monthly Increase With A Slew Of Concerns…

…they offered to take off $50 from the quote. But I’m confused why they claim the market value is almost 1.5x what they’re charging

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#64 Hey! What Does This Mean?

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