Landlord blasted for charging tenant higher rent for ‘staying in’ at weekends

After hiking the rent price just a month ago, one tenant was hit with a text message from their landlord demanding that they pay an additional fee for staying at home at weekends – people have urged the tenant to get legal advice as they are ‘going crazy’ over the demand

Millions of people across the country have no choice but to rent a property as the housing crisis paired with soaring inflation rates and the cost of living crisis makes buying a home near-impossible. Many renters have shared concerns over hiked housing rates in light of the economic downturn, as landlords up their fees in a bid to combat their rising bills.

Proving that rental issues stretch way beyond the UK, one US-based tenant person has revealed that their landlord has not only upped their monthly rent recently, but is now demanding extra payment for each weekend the tenant ‘stays in’, leaving people gobsmacked.

The anonymous person took to Reddit to share their landlords bizarre request that came in the form of a short text – leaving the person baffled.

The text reads: “Every Saturday and Sunday outdoor than no need to add $30 monthly Every Saturday and Sunday indoor than have to add $30 monthly”.

The landlord’s message seems to suggest that they expect a $30 top-up payment when the tenant stays at home at the weekends, despite them already paying a higher rent price to begin with.

What would you do in this situation? Tell us in the comments…

The anonymous tenant captioned the post “landlord wants to increase my rent 1 month after I just moved in if I stay home during the weekends”.

Hundreds of people have flocked to the comments section of the post, questioning whether the landlord’s request is legal and offering the tenant advice.

One person wrote “That doesn’t seem legal. Is it on your contract?” to which the tenant replied “It’s not legal, the audacity is ridiculous. But I have to negotiate with her instead of confronting her about the law as I do not want to burn bridges and she might try different ways to make my life here difficult”.

Reddit users understood why the tenant is fearful of challenging the landlord’s demands, but urged them to reconsider, with one saying: “You should NOT tolerate it at all, I wouldn’t even try negotiating with shady tactics. IF she did try to make things difficult, that would ALSO be illegal actions.

“This is highly recommended to look into filing a complaint about this and keep records of all communications going forward”.

Another person penned: “Start looking for a better place now and keep all the messages, if they’re doing this now then it’s only going to get worse next thing you know you’re paying extra to have someone over overnight and things like that”.

Responding to people’s suggestions, the tenant said in the comments: “Yeah I Googled and also consulted a few property agents and they said she can’t increase my rent. But she has been pestering me non-stop and also just came into my room to ‘inspect’ what I’m doing.

“I’m going crazy and debating on just paying the extra if that will make her leave me alone. But I also know if I do that, she would likely keep stepping over me”.

A Reddit user then replied: “If you have a written contract then she legally can’t change her mind and decide to charge you more. Tell her you won’t pay it and intend to finish out the contract as both agreed to at the time of signing. Towards the end of your contract start looking for another place”.

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