Earlier this year, TikTok user Megan Bowen (@meganbowen__) revealed that her landlord planned to raise her rent to $4,000 per month.
That said, there were numerous issues with the apartment, such as the fact that Bowen awoke one morning to find the basement flooded. Bowen said she tried negotiating with her landlord about lowering the cost, but they were not keen to do so. Eventually, Bowen ended up leaving the apartment.
Recently, Bowen decided to check back in on her old apartment to see if anyone had decided to rent it. No one has.
“I just did a little searching, because I was like ‘no one’s paying that much, I know no one’s going to pay that much,’” Bowen says. “Did a little research tonight, and I was like, ‘Did anyone move in?’ I’m really curious.”
“No, they didn’t!” she continues. “It’s still listed, and they dropped it $600!”
“They wouldn’t even negotiate with me,” Bowen notes. “Here they are now with an empty unit.”
Bowen concludes by saying that she’s moving into a sublease soon, though she says in a comment that this is simply a temporary solution until she can find something more permanent.
Bowen isn’t the first to spark discussion after showing a dramatic rental increase. One user claimed their landlord raised their rent by $400 per month out of spite. Another alleged their landlord increased their rent by almost $500 every two weeks. A further user also detailed how their landlord planned to increase their rent from $2,100 to $4,175.
@meganbowen__ 😡😤🤬‼️
♬ original sound – Megan Bowen
Back on Bowen’s video, users shared their thoughts on the TikToker’s housing situation.
“Some landlords need to consider that having a reliable tenant that will stay put for yearsss, always pay their rent, and not damage the place comes out to be valuable and a $$ gain,” said a user.
“My last landlord was a slumlord. After I moved, he tried renting it for $700 more (already overpriced), it sat empty for over 6 months,” recounted a second. “It was amazing.”
“Same exact thing happened to me,” stated a third. “My old unit is still on the market and being advertised at $300 less than quoted to me.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Bowen via email.
