Because of Human Waste
Being a landlord/lady or property manager is one of the most challenging jobs out there, and the stories they can share only support that statement. From destructive tenants to those with a hidden agenda or those refusing to leave the property even after being evicted, landlords often find themselves in difficult situations.
Everyone has no doubt heard stories about people being evicted for not paying the rent or for damaging the walls, and while there are one or two stories like that, the vast majority of the stories that you are going to read are unlike anything that you have ever heard.
Check out these dumb, destructive, and downright dastardly ways that landlords had to evict their most problematic tenants.
I’m the son of a landlord, and one afternoon, my dad asked me to clean out a garage unit for a few extra bucks. I brought a guy with me because there was a lot of stuff. When I began to clean it out, I discovered that the lady who’d been renting the unit had been secretly living there for months. We had to throw out family photos and an odd couch that we had to break into pieces to get out of the garage….
Because the Living Room Was a Litter Box
But here’s the best part. We found four 5-gallon buckets full of human waste. We didn’t realize what it was until the last bucket was placed onto the truck and its lid popped open. I’d never smelled anything so bad in my life. Reddit user: Tackysackjones
I have a friend who, for as long as I’ve known him, has always been a roommate, probably to save money. Approximately five houses ago, he told me that the place he lived in had to be completely redone because the previous tenant spread cat litter all over the carpet in one of the rooms…
Because Dogs Were Not Allowed
The lady let her six cats use the mat as their personal toilet. I was surprised that he took the house, but the sad part is that it’s not the first time that I’ve heard that story. Reddit user: Ratbat001
My father and I bought and managed a four-plex; well, to be exact, he bought it, and I was the live-in manager. Being only 22 years old, I was nervous, as I’d never had any experience managing a property, but I was up to the challenge. A few months in, we’re in the backyard when a girl comes out with a puppy….
Because They Were Hoarders
I didn’t recognize her, so after a brief conversation, she says, “Hi, I just moved into apartment 1 (not on the lease to our knowledge). My puppy (dogs weren’t allowed) has worms (diarrhea everywhere). Oh, can you wait to cash my rent check, I don’t think I have enough in my account (late rent/possible bounced check)….”
We were absolutely speechless. She had to move out because we didn’t allow dogs. I was happy because she seemed like she could’ve been a nightmare tenant. Reddit user: [redacted]
As a landlord, I’ve seen many things, and one of the most difficult types of tenants to deal with are the hoarders. I can’t rank them from best to worst, but I’ve found that the ones who use their bathrooms as storage (to the point where they can’t use the bathroom anymore) are the absolute worst. Words cannot describe how bad things can get….
Because They Don’t Pay on Time
The thing about toilets is that wax rings will dry out and crack if you don’t keep them moist with occasional flushing. When they crack, they leak into the unit below, and that’s when I need to barge into their apartment to fix the toilet. It is always gross, and oftentimes, it results in someone being asked to leave. Reddit user: Earthling03
One of my current lodgers never pays on time, and he says that I knew he couldn’t pay on time, so I was unfair in renting it to him. If that wasn’t bad enough, he doesn’t do his dishes, and he plugs his own ethernet into the modem because the house’s internet is “too slow”….
Because She Caused an Explosion
When I asked him to take care of my dog one time, he just covered their pee and poo with paper towels and waited for me to return. His lease will be up in a few weeks, and I can’t wait. Reddit user: Chewbacca22
My landlady shared this story with me about one of her previous tenants. They somehow managed to leave a can of aerosol on the stovetop while they were cooking. The can exploded, causing over $40,000 worth of damage to the rental property. The tenant could not understand why they were responsible for paying the damages….
Because She Had Six Giant Dogs
The landlord had to sue the tenant and, after winning, evicted them. And that’s how I got the apartment. Reddit user: Victor_HardApple
A part of the rental agreement clearly stated that no pets were allowed. Every time the host of the rental house would visit, she always found scuffing and marks around the house. Because she didn’t see or smell any pets, she always attributed it to kids, but she soon learned what was really going on….
Because of the Bad Habits They Had
She dropped by one day, unannounced, to drop off some extra cupcakes, and she was greeted by the six massive dogs who had been running around the house. The tenant swore they were her friends’ and that she was dog-sitting for the day, but the evidence (bowls, packs of food) suggested otherwise….
She later learned that every time she visited, a friend would come to take the dogs on a long drive and would have the house cleaned. They were told to leave at the end of the month. Reddit user: joshualan
I had two ‘artists’ living in a unit who decided to put hundreds of drywall plugs into the ceiling. Why? So they could suspend mannequin parts from the ceiling. I also learned that they dealt substances out of the apartment. As we were getting the paperwork ready to have them evicted, the police arrested them….
Because of Animal Abuse
During their raid, they found a cache of other unsafe items. The most embarrassing bit is that the police found him in bed with a random woman. Reddit user: hearse83
One of the tenants at our apartment had a dog that she treated like garbage; she barely took care of it. One day, she left the dog out in the freezing cold, and my mother was absolutely furious. Just as we were about to take the dog out of the cold, the tenant grabs him and slaps him….
Because They Started a Business in the House
She then told us that the “pet fees” were the reason why she couldn’t pay her rent on time. We then found out that the dog was not hers. We evicted her straight away. Reddit user: Enygmaz
We learned that one of our fellow tenants built an entire turtle habitat in the basement for their breeding business. They decided to flood the entire basement, about 6 inches of water, all without permission. It had concrete flooring, but there was also drywall in many parts of the basement….
Because He Left Poo Around the Building
I don’t know how the landlord found out or how long the breeding facility lasted, but I do know that they were kicked out immediately, with no notice. It was either they left right away or he’d sue for damages. Reddit user: [redacted]
This incident happened at my campus dorm. For weeks we’d been trying to figure out who was behind the mysterious plastic bags filled with poo popping up in the tree in front of the dorm building. Every morning we’d wake up to a bag and then try to figure out how it got there….
Because He Wasn’t a Tenant
One of the foreign students seemed to have an issue sharing the bathroom with others, so we figured that it might be him. We soon learned that it was him, and instead of disposing of the bags discretely, he threw it out of the window, and it always seemed to land in the tree….
It didn’t go over well with housing management, and as expected, he lost his room. I can’t say that I’m upset about it. Reddit user: TheBassMeister
I’m not a landlord, but I knew a guy back when we were in college who moved into an off-campus apartment with his friends because he was broke and very irresponsible. In an effort to save money, he didn’t add himself to their lease, as there would be charges for any additional occupants. He didn’t pay any rent for the entire time that he was there….
Because She Paid for a Tattoo and Not Her Rent
A year later, his friends graduate and move out, and they give him enough notice and warning so that he could get his act together and move out as well. He did nothing of that sort; he stayed. The landlord came later on to tell him that he had to leave, and he told them, “Well, this isn’t my apartment, so it’s not my job to pay rent. I just live here.” Reddit user: Luckboy28
My sister owned some duplexes, which she rented out. Although it happens often, there was one tenant who was several months behind on payments, and every time, she promised she was working on getting the money. My sister was very understanding, so she allowed her to stay while the tenant recovered….
Because They Were Liabilities
But one day she went by to visit the tenant, and she saw that the tenant had a brand new tattoo: an entire sleeve covered in ink. When she asked the tenant about the tattoo, she responded by saying that she really wanted the tattoo. The eviction process started immediately. Reddit user: Teriyaki_Tara
I’m a property manager, so I’m the person who manages the properties on behalf of landlords. We once had a group of tenants who climbed out of their kitchen window to smoke on the flat roof outside. They ended up falling and causing serious damage to the shop immediately below….
Because They Left Their Pets
They claimed that we never informed them that they couldn’t climb out of the window. Okay, fine. Then another tenant from the same group put a pan on the stove, forgot about it, and it set the kitchen on fire. They didn’t seem to understand why their contract wasn’t renewed and why we kept their security deposit. Reddit user: CKIDefianT
There was one main rule for being evicted: not paying 3+ months’ worth of rent. But it now seems that we may have to add “no pets” to the list. For some reason, my tenants always managed to have animal-related incidents in their apartment. The second to last tenant abandoned a cat at the apartment, and we had to deal with it, its feces, and cat food scattered around the place….
Because He Was Breeding Dogs
The last tenant decided to bring home a huge dog and just left him on the terrace all day and all night. The dog destroyed the walls on the terrace, those in the apartment, and the walls on the rooftop patio. We also had to clean the poo and urine left everywhere. Reddit user: anon00000anon
This happened to a distant relative of mine. He was evicted because he decided to start breeding dogs in his family cottage. He wasn’t supposed to be in the family cottage to begin with, as it’s only a 3-season cottage. Secondly, he’s not a dog breeder in the slightest; he’s actually a chef by trade….
Because What Didn’t They Do?
When his family came to the cottage to spend the winter, they found him, his girlfriend, 40 puppies, and destroyed floors. He was told to get the heck out. Reddit user: snarkola
I had to evict my tenant’s significant other for several reasons. They threw roadkill over the fence, threatened to burn down the neighbor’s house, walked around naked on the roof, and put a hole through the wall. They also left an unidentifiable stain in the master closet, and that’s not the worst part….
Because of the Smell
They broke a window and decided not to show up to the hearing because they weren’t served papers. I later found out that they were sleeping in the abandoned lot near Walmart. Reddit user: iblametheowl
I’m not the landlord; I’m the tenant after the person who was evicted. My wife and I bought a house approximately 2.5 years ago, and before we moved in, it was a rental property. Almost as soon as we moved in, the neighbors filled us in on what happened with the previous tenants….
Because He Literally Thought He Owned the Place
They owned animals, lots of them; between ten and twelve dogs and three cats. When the previous owners came to check on it, they evicted them right away because the animals destroyed the house. After cleaning up after them and putting it all in a dumpster outside, you could smell the stench for miles. Reddit user: totspur1982
I once met a guy at court (long story) who had to appear for not paying rent. He’d been renting the apartment for over 20 years, and one day he decided to stop paying the rent and refused to move out. According to him, he “paid so much rent that he should own the place by now….”
Because They Brought Sand to a Non-Beach
He took things a step further by harming dogs in the complex just because he didn’t like them. When the judge asked if it was true, he started by saying, “Listen here, I’ve been paying rent for 20 years–” The judge slammed the gavel and awarded everything to the landlady before he could finish his sentence….
He was evicted, and the court ordered him to pay every cent of back rent. The judge even told him how to press charges for the dog incidents. Reddit user: Luckboy28
A friend of mine rented a flat with some friends for his first year of university, then decided to throw a beach-themed welcoming party. To achieve their theme, they got sand and spread it throughout the carpeted living room. The landlord caught wind of it during the party, and when he went there, he saw it first-hand….
Because They Liked to Cause Fires
They were immediately evicted, and because they could not find somewhere else to live, they dropped out. Before they left, they were supposed to get rid of the sand, which they did…by dropping it through the gaps of the deck. A few months later, they got a bill because the sand ruined the foundation. Reddit user: AngloKiwi
One of my tenants left a pot on the stove, then left the unit, causing severe smoke damage. It wasn’t the first time that they’d done it, and luckily another tenant in the next apartment over called the fire department. They had to kick the door in to get to it, and the tenant had the audacity to ask if our insurance covered the damages….
Because He Painted His Art on the Walls
When they found out that it didn’t, they tried to stop the eviction proceeding by saying that it was an electrical fire. The fire report stated otherwise, and they were kicked out for negligence. Reddit user: FractiousPhoebe
I own a beautiful holiday house in another country, which I rent out through an agency. There’s an option to rent it out for longer periods during the off season, and surprisingly, someone was interested in it. It was a trust fund wannabe artist who stayed there for 16 months over 3 years. He was dramatic and needy and became quite the problem for the agency….
Because They Affected the Neighbors
The final straw came when he decided to paint a mural on the living room wall: my wall. He then threatened to sue the agency if they didn’t compensate him for it. He had to be escorted out by the police. Reddit user: fatfae
A family of four moved into one of the places I managed, and not too long after, they started to park their cars on the lawn and not in the driveway, as we’d advised. Some other families moved in; then, the daughter gave birth to twins. There were now 11 people living in a three-bedroom, 1500-square-foot house….
Because He Was a Health Hazard
They refused to take out the trash and just dropped it on the ground. When their toilets became clogged, the plumber refused to fix it because of their living conditions. They began to play music so loud that the neighbors wanted to attack them. It became so bad that the sheriff, not me, had to evict them, and they were actually surprised. Reddit user: joerogansketobuddy
My parents rented out their small home in a rural town. The tenant decided to hunt through the screen door, and it didn’t take long for it to have several small holes. The carpet was covered in dog droppings, and the furniture reeked of alcohol. There were some other unsanitary things, but it’s too gross to mention….
Because They Could Not Get Along
My father loaded all the furniture and the carpet on his backhoe, dug a huge hole in the back, and buried all his things in it. When the man came to ask for his things, my father pointed to where the hole was. Reddit user: midlifecrackers
This was a rent to own situation, and there were three ladies’ names on the lease. Two of them were sisters, but all three of the women had children and boyfriends. There ended up being twelve people in there, and when the women who signed the lease started fighting, they called my husband to solve their issues….
Because They Killed a Cow
After three months of not paying their rent, they were all evicted. We then saw the damage they did to the house. They began to carve into the antique woodwork of the house, spilled something blue on the carpet, threw food on the ceiling, and left lots of junk behind. We had to pay lots of money to get everything fixed. Reddit user: dgostah
My father worked hard to convert five barns on his farm that he now lets out to different businesses. In the fields right next to it, he keeps a few cows. One day, he hears a gunshot while working on the other side of the farm. He runs over to see one of the office owners holding a double-barreled shotgun aiming it at the cow….
Because They Poked a Sword Through the Floor
He shot one of the cows, and without noticing my father staring at him, he shot it again, ending its life. During the court proceeding, we found out that the guy had lost a big business deal and decided to take it out on the animal. Not only did he get evicted, but he’s now serving a 5-year sentence for using an illegally owned weapon. Reddit user: LegaliseBroccoli
I’m not a landlord, but I worked for a guy who owns a bar with an apartment upstairs. One of the cooks lived in the apartment, but he could only stay there if he worked for the bar. To make a long story short, he got into a fight with some of the other cooks and proceeded to stab the floor late at night….
Because He Opened a Halfway House
He proceeded to take a picture of the sword in the floor, then sent it to the boss. Not only was he kicked out, but he also lost his job. I was tasked with cleaning out the apartment and replacing the drywall. Reddit user: lesslighter
Two months ago, a tenant moved in and signed the lease, which specifically says that there is no subletting. He was a recovering addict who had a good job in programming. A month after moving in, he fell off the wagon and ended up losing his job. To make ends meet, he turned the house into an “unofficial” half-way house….
Because They Kept Breaking the Toilet
There was enough space to sleep eight people, excluding couches, comfortably. The neighbors told me what was going on. He charged rent based on the different rooms available and made enough to pay me and still make a profit. I told him that he had to go, and he did so peacefully. Reddit user: megawaffleforme
My previous tenants broke the toilet multiple times, and I’m not talking about clogging it up. They broke the actual toilet, which led me to believe that they might have been doing some weightlifting on it. It happened every month to 6 weeks, and we were spending more money replacing them than the rent they were paying….
Because They Stole All the Light Bulbs
After about 6 months, I had to give them notice to leave. They blamed it on their 3-year-old child. I’ve never broken a toilet just by sitting, and I’m much heavier than a kid. Reddit user: [redacted]
There once was a tenant who would wait until the building was empty to steal the lightbulbs. It would happen every time one of his bulbs went out. He got caught a few times and was told to contact maintenance instead of taking them because he, like the other tenants, would not be charged for bulbs….
Because They Didn’t Know How to Dispose of Their Garbage
But no, I think he liked the thrill of stealing them. The final straw was when he let himself into another tenant’s suite (using a coat hanger) to steal a bulb. He would have gotten away with it if he hadn’t fallen off the chair he used to take it. Before he was out of the hospital, all of his things had been put into off-site storage, and he was locked out of the building. Reddit user: technos
I once had to get rid of a tenant because they failed to dispose of garbage, and it wasn’t a small amount of garbage. I had to rent a U-Haul to get it out because there was so much. I had to stop counting after clearing out the third box of 30 garbage bags….
Because We Did Things We Weren’t Supposed To
I also had to repaint the walls and install new flooring because of the smell. The roaches who made their home there took three weeks to die, and even after that, there was an odor I couldn’t get rid of. Reddit user: nickum
During the first two weeks of my first year in college, I stayed up all night with two other students engaging in activities that I should not have. One of our Christian flatmates walks in, sees us ingesting the substances, then walks out without saying a word. The next day, I get a phone call saying that I’m being evicted….
Because They Destroyed the Apartment
Obviously, it was our little Christian flatmate, because we all got our deposits back and we were later rehoused, minus him. He even went as far as to call the university to tell them what we’d done, but luckily, they didn’t care because they thought it was your average student party. Reddit user: neo101b
This is my dad’s story. When he was much younger, my grandfather and his brother-in-law owned a store together, and they rented out the apartment right above it. At one point in time, they rented it out to two Middle Eastern brothers, and one day they heard crashing and banging while they were downstairs in the shop….
Because They Let the Dog Go All Over the House
All of a sudden, one of the brothers runs down the stairs with a machete, hides it in the store, and runs out the door. The apartment was destroyed. What other reason would they need to evict them? Reddit user: [redacted]
I’m not a landlord, but two years ago, my dad was renting a house from one. He decided to get a dog who one day decided to poop all over the house. The dog dropped so many loads that everyone in the house was at least one step away from stepping in a pile. Unfortunately, my sister and I were charged with looking after him….
Because They Poured Cement Down the Drains
Unbeknownst to us, the landlord came for a monthly inspection, and we were instantly evicted. We apologized profusely. Reddit user: FLUFFAttack189
I once had a tenant who decided to pour cement down the drains. There was no possible way to repair it, and it would have been more cost-effective to demolish, salvage what I could, then rebuild it. The cement got into the septic system, and we had to settle with the city for damaging its infrastructure….
Because They Would Not Pay the Rent
It was the biggest nightmare of my life. We ended up suing the tenant, and guess what we got in return? a 1990 Toyota Tercel. Reddit user: Throwaway1242014
We had this one tenant who refused to pay rent. We went through the correct procedure to have him evicted, but for some reason, he managed to get the judge to agree to an extension. This went on for some time, and he managed to get seven months of free rent….
Because They Lied About Who They Were
During his extension, he complained about anything and everything, from the neighbor’s cat to when an alarm went off across the street. There was nothing I could do to fix the situation. When he finally left, the place was in shambles; there were holes in the wall and cigarette burns in the carpet. Reddit user: [redacted]
I once had a tenant who lied about who they were. He initially told me that he was a student who had to get a job to support himself. He even provided false documents to support his lie. I later found out that he wasn’t a student and that he didn’t even have a job….
I learned that he was on disability, aside from being an alcoholic and an addict. After giving him several notices, he moved out, but he left the room in shambles before leaving. The only thing he left behind was a gerbil. I didn’t even know he had a pet. Reddit user: idip