When Landlord Threatens Price Hike, Tenant ‘Sabotages’ Apartment Showings By Putting Issues On Display

When you’re looking for a place to live, ideally you get to take a tour of the apartment, house or unit you would be renting before you sign a lease. That’s the only way to see for yourself if the rental is in good shape and if you think you would enjoy living there.

One TikTok user and basement apartment renter named Katie decided that she wasn’t going to renew her lease since her landlord wanted to increase the amount of rent. Her apartment has multiple problems with it, including cracks in the walls and a shower that doesn’t drain. She definitely didn’t think it would make sense to pay more for an apartment that is in pretty bad condition. Instead, she thought it made sense to “sabotage” her landlord’s apartment showings.

Katie posted a video on TikTok where she pointed out all of the things she did to “sabotage” the showings. For example, she moved furniture and wall hangings so that all of the cracks in the walls would be on display. She also put Drain-O right next to the shower so anyone who looked would know the shower “doesn’t drain.”

@cornchipsandcorgiscan u tell i live in a basement apartment with landlords that have the audacity to increase rent next year?♬ Call me – 90sFlav

Viewers have different opinions about Katie’s behavior. Some thing she is naiive to expect a landlord to actually fix problems. One comment reads, “Anyone confused and think she’s petty has never rented? Most landlords will never fix a thing no matter how much you show them.”

Other viewers point out that Katie didn’t really do anything to sabotage the showings. All she did was call attention to the current condition of apartment. One viewer wrote, “This isn’t sabotage you’re just showing off the features.”

Yet other viewers can relate to Katie’s predicament. Apparently she isn’t the first one to call out problems with a rental so that potential renters will know what the apartment is really like. One viewer shared, “I once went to a walkthrough and the existing tenants taped a piece of paper to the bedroom door that said ‘spider count’ with tallies.”

Another viewer wrote, “One time I went to a showing and when the landlord left the room, the tenant handed me a handwritten note of reasons not to live there.”

Many viewers of Katie’s first video about her apartment requested a “part 2,” so she did indeed post a part 2. In her follow-up video, she showed all the things that were never hidden in her apartment, like mold pretty much everywhere.

@cornchipsandcorgisReply to @graciecentric part 2 !! 🤩 ##landlords ##renters ##apartmentlife♬ Call me – 90sFlav

We hope Katie posts a follow-up video showing the next place she decides to live. We’re pulling for her hoping the next one doesn’t have any mold or wall cracks.

Have you ever had a landlord that refused to fix the problems in your apartment? Do you think what Katie did was “sabotage”?