HOAs are determined to keep their neighborhoods looking pristine , no matter what. If you happen to live a neighborhood rules by a home owner's association, you don't always have a lot of choice about how to keep your home. For example, you might want to paint your home a nice warm yellow color, but lots of HOAs have a strict color palette you need to choose from. So the HOA could easily reject your request , and insist you paint your place a boring gray color instead.

It's important to be careful with your wording over text, especially if you're delivering an ultimatum to your ex. This woman was trying to threaten that if her ex didn't come to clean their apartment before he moved out, she would keep all of their security deposit. The trouble was that he had no interest in doing all of the work and was pleased to let her take the money. She did not anticipate that he might maliciously comply with her demands in a way that would make her have to clean the apa…

Getting even with a landlord is the kind of rare occurrence one can only dream of in this life. If I had the opportunity to get back at some of my landlords knowing with certainty that the odds were in my favor and that I wouldn't be negatively affected in any way, you bet I would enact my own form of petty revenge. For me, the most egregious case of prior shady landlords would be the manager of my first New York apartment. This dude refused to acknowledge our leaking problem and insisted the r…

Just the knowledge that our landlords probably bought our apartment for 1/10th it's current value and are living fat off of our rent check every month is enough to grind every tenant's gears, but if a landlord has the audacity to wring out a single cent more than our rent amount at the end of the month, we feel the back of our throats prickle with rage.

You can't expect everyone around you to do things your way! Look, there are many compromises people need to make as roommates. All parties need to agree to certain rules, like tidying up in shared spaces, doing your dishes, etc. These are all necessary conversations roommates need to have in order to coexist peacefully. Of course, roommates also need to acknowledge and recognize that people have different ways of doing things, and not everyone is going to align on everything all the time. You w…

Is there anything worse for non-confrontational folks than having to confront your noisy neighbors? As a non-confrontational person myself, I get anxious just thinking about being put in this position. I still have stress dreams about that time I had a crazy neighbor complain about my ceiling fan. Or that time when someone thought I was having a party when it was the people next door. Somehow, I still felt like it was my fault. So if you dread these kinds of encounters and that's just when you'…

Finding the right roommate is just like finding the right apartment: sure, desperate times call for desperate measures, but you cannot compromise too much, or else you'll face the consequences. At the end of the day, a bad roommate can ruin a great apartment, whereas a great roommate can at the very least improve the experience of living in a bad apartment. At least the two of you are getting along as you suffer through it! If the two of you do not get along, it doesn't matter if you have a was…

Most young people make naive decisions when it comes to who they choose to live with. Personally, I've been known to make this mistake. Even when you have the slightest hesitation when the idea of living together presents itself, you go through a process of self-denial where you essentially convince yourself that the two of you are a perfect cohabitating match, but the reality is that not all great friends make great roommates, and sometimes living together can become the beginning of the end o…

There are realistic expectations roommates put on one another like tidying up after oneself in shared spaces, paying one's fair share of rent and expenses, etc. And then there are the ridiculous demands… Who hasn't been in a situation where a roommate has unrealistic expectations? Sometimes, they expect you to clean up their dishes, do their laundry, and essentially be their personal assistant and occasional therapist. Sometimes, it gets to the point where your own identity starts to feel nonex…

This young person took lemons and made some pretty good lemonade with them when one of his elderly neighbors decided to spread untrue rumors about him, causing neighborly conflict that almost led to him being removed from the building. So, what exactly went down is this: The OP, u/Zenmedic, was being bugged constantly by his upstairs neighbor, Linda, who accused him of various wrongdoings for over one decade while he lived there. Throughout those twelve years, OP went from being a University st…

Years ago, a newlywed couple moved into a small one-bedroom apartment. Unbeknownst to them, their quiet existence was about to be disrupted by an elderly neighbor on the other side of their only shared wall. Complaints about excessive noise started pouring in, despite the couple's peaceful lifestyle. They contacted the apartment management, who dismissed the complaints as misunderstandings. The situation escalated when the police showed up multiple times in response to noise complaints , even c…

Landlords are the scum of the Earth. They hike up the rent 10% every month, they paint over your electrical outlets, and they're clearly under the impression that the entire world exists for their profit. They'll scam their tenants out of anything if it means making an extra buck– At the risk of losing our residence, is there any way for us tenants to retaliate?

One customer had a hard time getting their internet provider to understand them. When they said they were moving off the grid , they weren't kidding! Rural life is appealing to many people because of that amazing peace and quiet you find while living in nature. Isolated from other houses, cars, and buildings, you can really appreciate the quietude. Some people even love to live really deep out in nature . In places like Alaska or other very rural locales, it's common that some folks won't have…

Every roommate relationship requires a constant reestablishing of boundaries. However, no matter what you do to rectify whatever problems you and your roommate are having, there are some people out there who simply don't get it. These special individuals have no concept of boundaries, space, and mutual respect. Furthermore, there's an even more dangerous combination out there, which is the occasional scenario when this kind of roommate also just so happens to be a pathological liar. This means…

At one cheap apartment , this couple found themselves faced with massive fines. When you're young, sometimes the only housing you can afford is a cheap and tiny little room. Lots of landlords charge outrageous amounts of money for these little tiny shoeboxes of apartments. They seem to know that if you don't have a lot of money, you may also be low on housing options. Then, you end up signing paperwork that gives the landlord an advantage over you. This person, u/Clintosaurus_Rex, and their gir…

“This rooster is a serious problem," one person lamented in a note to their loud neighbors.