Let’s face it: most people move into new places hoping for their homes to be in tip-top shape. Tenants hope for clean carpets, spotless rooms, and most importantly, no holes in the walls.
Well, one renter on TikToker seems to be missing out on the new home aesthetic experience.
In a viral video, Aliena (@aliena.215) shows off what she calls the “landlord special” at her apartment. It has since garnered over 300,000 views.
In the clip, Aliena sees a protruding piece of wood that is supposedly covering a hole. She mentions that it’s falling off, and as she takes the piece of wood off the wall, it shows a small hole in the wall. “Landlord special times 300, like what?” she said.
As she turns the piece of wood around, there’s a sticker of a paddle cutting board product on the back of it. It’s not a piece of wood after all.
“They used a cutting board to fill up this hole,” Aliena says.
The trials and tribulations of apartment maintenance
To anyone who has lived in an apartment or currently lives in one, maintenance problems are bound to happen. Some common maintenance problems include plumbing, electrical, structural, and pest infestations. For most situations like these, it’s the landlord’s responsibility to ensure that the apartment is safe and reliable for people to live in.
Another TikToker @justthem0m had a similar situation to Aliena in 2023, as she also received the “landlord special” after maintenance workers tried to cover a hole in the wall with paper and painted over it. This goes to show that maintenance workers aren’t always on task to what they’re supposed to do.
How can you get rid of a ‘landlord special’ covering a hole in the wall?
Most of the time, renters have to do their own maintenance to get their desired look. Lifehacker shared some simple fixes for ugly landlord jobs in your apartment. When it comes to poorly covered holes in the wall, author Becca Lewis suggests removing whatever the landlord covered the hole with and using a drywall patch kit instead. These run for about $12 on Amazon.
‘And it’s one from Dollar Tree’
After showing viewers the “landlord special”, many commenters poked fun at poor fix.
One person pointed out the label of the cutting board, writing, ”And it’s one from Dollar Tree.”
Another said, ”Nah that’s the renter hiding special, done one of these before.”
A third joined in, writing, ”Didn’t even bother to take off the sticker.”
Others joked about the possibility of Aliena, or the apartment’s previous tenants, getting their deposit back once they move out.
“Someone really wanted their deposit back,” one viewer wrote.
“There goes your deposit,” another said.
A further user added, ”They turned $1.25 into an extra $500 in rent.”
@aliena.215 #CapCut birthday thingz #feb15 #aquarius ♬ sonido original – Pichi Liz 
The Daily Dot reached out to Aliena via TikTok DM.
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