Logo_White

lede_post_card_default

lede_post_card_stacked

lede_post_card_featured_post

lede_post_card_featured_post_3:2

lede_post_card_featured_post_1:1

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero_3:2

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero_1:1

lede_post_card_featured_posts_sidebar

lede_post_card_highlighted_post

lede_post_card_horizontal_a

lede_post_card_horizontal_c

lede_post_card_related_post

lede_post_card_square

lede_article_featured_16x9

lede_article_featured_16x9_full_width

lede_article_featured_3x2

lede_article_featured_3x2_full_width

lede_article_featured_1x1

lede_article_featured_1x1_full_width

lede_article_featured_flexible

lede_article_featured_flexible_full_width

lede_article_content

lede_article_content_wide_width

lede_article_content_full_width

lede_byline_avatar_post_card

lede_byline_avatar_highlight

lede_profile_coral_avatar

lede_logo

lede_logo_banner

lede_logo_footer_banner

lede_logo_simple_header

lede_sponsorship_logo

lede_sponsorship_logo_river_card

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card_logo

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card

lede_leaderboard

Main Header Menu

Logo_2a8517

The Daily Dot

Brooke Park is a reporting fellow with the Daily Dot and a journalism senior at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work has appeared in Texas Monthly, The Dallas Morning News and The Texas Tribune.

Brooke Park

person making chalk art on sidewalk with caption "so I told him to come check it out tomorrow (l) person hosing chalk art on sidewalk with caption "my landlord's wife told me my chalk art was disrespectful" (c) person making chalk art on sidewalk with caption "she immediately tells me that what I was doing was disrespectful and not okay" (r)

disrespectful chalk art tiktok

‘Husband probably complimented your art and she’s wildly insecure’: Tenant says landlord’s wife made her wash off her chalk art

Brooke Sjoberg is a freelance writer who graduated with her Bachelors in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020.

Brooke Sjoberg

man greenscreen TikTok in front of Airbnb payout caption "When you remove the cleaning fee, raise your nightly rate, and now you're 100% occupied at your 30 Airbnb homes" (l) Airbnb keys in lock (c) man greenscreen TikTok in front of Airbnb payout caption "When you remove the cleaning fee, raise your nightly rate, and now you're 100% occupied at your 30 Airbnb homes" (r)

airbnb remove cleaning fee raise rate tiktok

‘It’s all a mental game’: Airbnb host says he’s fully booked after taking away cleaning fee but raising nightly rate

person holding paint scrapper speaking sitting on floor (l) wooden house with rolled up 100 dollar bills inside security deposit concept (c) person scrapping black paint off of cabinet door sitting on floor (r)

security deposit tiktok

‘They always find some tiny bs so I just give up’: Tenant calls out landlords for using ‘anything’ to keep the security deposit

Braden Bjella is a culture writer. His work can be found in Mixmag, Electronic Beats, Schon! magazine, and more.

Braden Bjella

young woman pointing at $2,200 text in background with caption "My current rent in Austin Texas" (l) key on house keychain (c) same young woman with dismayed look in front of $4,678 text in background with caption "rent if I renew my lease"

rent increase austin congratulations

Unclick

‘The audacity to write ‘congratulations’ in the email’: Woman says her rent went up by $2,500 in Austin, apartment sent her email congratulating her

Laiken Neumann is a Trending news editor based in Austin, Texas.

Laiken Neumann

intentional park management

‘They’re gonna get evicted’: Man says trailer park management is trying to run residents out with unaffordable new rules

Rebekah is a freelance reporter for the Daily Dot.

Rebekah Harding

woman checking email (l) computer screen (m) woman looking puzzled

855 rent month increase

‘This is really out of control’: Tenant says their rent is going up by $850 per month in viral TikTok

Lauren Castro is a reporter based in Austin, Texas.

Lauren Castro

person talking to camera with landlord text (l) airbnb phone (m) person showing phone texts (r)

airbnb landlord

‘Consider yourself lucky!’: Tenant says he lists rented house on Airbnb in viral TikTok, sparking debate

Rachel Kiley is a writer who sometimes writes things and sometimes is based in L.A., but is definitely always on Twitter @rachelkiley.

Rachel Kiley Author Photograph

Rachel Kiley

Man with hand up caption "my landlord broke into my apartment without any notice and demanded the keys. I still have a month left on our rental agreement." (l) Woman with marks all over her face and neck caption "When I refused to give him y keys he put his hand around my neck, slammed me on my bed, and strangled me" "I couldn't scream or breath when he did this. He continued for over a minute, I began to lose vision and hearing" (c) Man yelling mouth open with other man behind caption "my landlord broke into my apartment without any notice and demanded the keys. I still have a month left on our rental agreement." (r)

landlord attack

Woman claims landlord strangled her after she refused to move out early

Cecilia Lenzen is a freelance writer for the Daily Dot.

Cecilia Lenzen

Woman brushing hair behind ear caption "NO WHERE IN THE LEASE DOES IT SAY WE CANNOT HAVE THESE" (l) Woman with curtains behind her (r)

curtains

‘Nowhere in the lease does it say we cannot have these’: Property manager cites TikToker for curtains in viral TikTok, sparking debate

Woman in greenscreen video caption "actual photos from my move out inspection after I cleaned for 5 hours and the report they attached" (l) Red house with magnifying glass up to it with other white houses around (c) Screnshot of womans inspection claim "dirty: caption "they really trying to scam me" (r)

inspection scam

‘Goodbye $500 security deposit’: TikToker says landlord tried scamming her by deeming her clean apartment ‘dirty’ during move out inspection

Moises Mendez II is a recent graduate from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. He is a freelance journalist based in New York City writing about everything from music to LGBTQ issues.

Moises Mendez II

amazon giftcard (l) Woman greenscreen tiktok video with text " Hi, Alexis. Thank you for letting us use your apartment last month for our property inspections! Your unit impressed so many people at the corporate office, that I am reaching out to see if you'd be comfortable with us photographing your apartment to use as our "staged" photos for the blank studio floorplan. We would not photograph any personal items- we're mostly just trying to show the furniture layout, scale off furniture, use of space etc. Your apartment is adorable, and I know your unit would help generate interest when we advertise the floorplan. We would provide you with an Amazon gift card, and I would have my on-site cleaner coe clean your apartment for you" (r)

apartment compensation

‘Ask for a discount on rent’: Landlord asks to use TikToker’s apartment for their marketing, offers Amazon gift card as compensation (updated)

paint can and tray on table (l) zinsser mold killing primer (c) man painting wall with roller with caption "please help. my landlord is covering water damage & toxic mold with paint again?! we can't afford a lawyer and we filed many 311 complaints"

landlord painting mold killer

‘My landlord thinks paint is the solution to everything’: TikToker claims landlord continues to cover water damage, toxic mold with paint

landlord_phone_call_patio_decor

‘Living in an apt is soul crushing. Every aspect of your home life is controlled’: TikToker shares voicemail they received from landlord over patio decorations

Kathleen is a Honolulu-based freelance writer, editor and communications strategist who has been published by the New York Times, Vice, Huffington Post, Hana Hou!, and more. She&#8217;s worked in the communication departments at the Honolulu Museum of Art, ACLU of Hawaii and Hawaii Community Foundation. When she&#8217;s not writing, she can be found in the ocean, walking her rescue poi dog or oil painting.

Kathleen Wong

fridge (l) hand reaching for fridge door (m) open fridge showing a bug infestation and rotten food (r)

bug infested fridge

‘If they don’t throw that damn fridge away’: Cleaner shows bug-infested fridge in viral TikTok—commenters call out ‘cheap’ landlord

Clara is a full-time digital nomad writing about culture, food, and music. Her work has been featured in publications such as Refinery29, the Austin Chronicle, USA Today, and NiceKicks. She aims to be quicker on her feet than Borat&#8217;s lawyers.

Clara Wang

young woman with caption "how flirting a little w my cute landlord went" (l) text message that reads "ok... can you send me a pic of it.. might need to be replaced" (c) selfie with faucet (r)

Landlords