Living in a place you love is a huge blessing. But no matter how much you adore your city, trying to find a new apartment to move into can make you question why you ever wanted to live there in the first place. Everything’s expensive or taken; might as well pack up and move to the countryside!
So when one woman and her husband realized they could rent their home out to a couple of friends while they spent 2 months out of the country, it seemed like a perfect arrangement. However, when they returned home, the woman was shocked to find that all of her kitchen utensils were gone. Below, you’ll find the full story that she recently posted on Reddit, as well as some of the replies invested readers shared.
This woman was happy to let her husband’s friends stay in her apartment while her family was out of the country
Image credits: Hatice Baran (not the actual photo)
But when she returned home, she was shocked to find that her kitchen had been cleared out
Image credits: A. C. (not the actual photo)
Image source: SaltDry1680
Navigating being both a landlord and friend can be challenging
Image credits: Jakub Żerdzicki (not the actual photo)
Being a landlord sounds like an extremely simple job in theory. You own a place, you find a tenant, you charge them money. Easy peasy, right? But the job can quickly become complicated when tenants start wreaking havoc on your property.
From painting the walls a wild color to flooding the bathroom and causing water damage throughout the entire building, there’s a reason why landlords always make you put down a deposit. And these issues can make the tenant-landlord relationship even more challenging when both parties are friends.
When it comes to renting a place out to someone you know, RiverTown Realty notes that there may be some unexpected pitfalls. Talking about money between friends is often uncomfortable, especially if you have to ask for it.
Chasing down a late rent payment or confronting your tenant about property damage they’ve caused can be extremely awkward when you’re also trying to avoid hurting your friend’s feelings.
Personal space can become an issue as well when balancing the titles of both friend and landlord. If the owner of your apartment was a stranger, you certainly wouldn’t expect them to barge in whenever they wanted. But what if they’re a close friend? The lines can become blurred.
And if either party reaches a point where they decide that the arrangement is no longer working, finding out how to break the news to their friend can be difficult. It might even feel like a breakup, and it must be handled delicately to keep the friendship intact.
It’s reasonable to expect to be held responsible if you damage a landlord’s property or break something in their home. So why should this be any different if you just so happen to hang out with your landlord in social settings?
Tenants should always be held responsible for damage they’ve caused to their landlord’s property
In this particular situation, the kitchen utensils may not have been damaged per se, but they have vanished. So the tenants responsible should be expected to find a solution.
RentPrep recommends that landlords identify and document any damage that has been caused on their property. It’s always wise to have detailed photos of the apartment prior to tenants moving in, so it’s easy to spot exactly what has changed since then.
And if the renters refuse to compensate the property owner for any damage they have caused, it might be time to seek eviction, deduct from the security deposit or even pursue legal action.
“If the damage is significant enough and numerous valuable items were stolen, the police may consider it a criminal case and file charges,” RentPrep notes.
This is a sticky situation due to the nature of the relationship between landlord and tenant, but most of us would want to be especially courteous while staying in a friend’s home.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. Then, if you’d like to check out another Bored Panda article discussing similar drama, look no further than right here!
Readers unanimously agreed that the author had every right to be upset, and she joined in on the conversation to share more details
Many also warned her that the utensils may have been stolen, rather than thrown away
