27 Evil Landlords Who Are Showing Their True Colors During the Pandemic

The global COVID-19 pandemic has led to shelter-at-home orders in countries all over the world. Millions of people are out of jobs and unable to find work. The economy has all but come to a halt. But there are still renters everywhere who are on the hook for monthly payments to their landlords.

Sure, there have been a few heartwarming stories of understanding landlords who have waived their tenants' rent, but the majority of landlords seem to be expecting rent to be paid on time no matter the sudden change in people's financial situations. In fact, some are going further than that, sending condescending memos to their tenants or even checking to see if they've received their stimulus check (a crime!) to insist that they can afford their rent this month. Below are 25 landlords who, quite frankly, belong in jail for their behavior!

I cannot even believe this. A property manager allegedly used their tenants' social security numbers to check the IRS website to see if they had received their stimulus checks yet and could, therefore, afford to pay rent. They didn't even try to hide the fact that they committed this crime! Big yikes.

This landlord sent a letter to their tenants to specifically mention that there is no ban on evictions in their county and to reiterate when rent is due and when late fees take effect. They're basically saying, "We know there's a global health crisis. We don't care."

You would think that a global pandemic would bring out the best in people, that sympathy for others would be through the roof and that we would treat each other with kindness, respect, and understanding. Not the case for this nasty landlord and so many others.

Some landlords just don't get how unprecedented these times are. Besides, seeing kids outside drawing with chalk is probably oddly relaxing in these oddly not so normal times. 

Talk about being persnickety during a pandemic. This person was using a plant pot to hold down some paper that they were painting on their balcony, probably to feel slightly better about the state of the world, and this landlord had the nerve to say it didn't look "neat" in appearance. Who cares?! We'll all trying to live through a pandemic. Let the person have their paint.

Not only is this landlord not waiving rent, but they had the nerve to raise the rent to, in the words they inexplicably chose to use, "pass on the cost." They're blaming elected officials for increases in the cost of housing. During a pandemic. These people don't have souls!

In addition to residential buildings, there are tons of businesses that cannot function now that people are homebound, like this gym. And there are landlords that own these buildings too, who should understand that there is no way that these businesses can function right now. But that's just not happening.

Obviously, the landlord didn't really care about telling people to stay safe during the pandemic. They clearly used it as an excuse to remind their tenants to pay rent on time. So gross.

It's amazing. You don't have to out yourself as a garbage person on Twitter. It's not a requirement. You could totally keep your mouth shut if you wanted to! But this guy didn't hesitate!

 "We understand this is a tough time, so why not give us all the money you have now since you might not have it in two weeks? If you pay rent now, you won't have to choose between paying your rent and paying for groceries later!" Scumbags!

So gross. This is why we need comprehensive rent freezes. For those who haven't rented in a while, landlords notoriously skirt laws and cut corners to take advantage of people and help themselves, and that's not changing now.

This is insane. She temporarily moved out to take care of her grandparents, and now she's being charged if she doesn't move out completely by May 1. How is she supposed to move out of her apartment when it's her permanent home and she's not even there?! Pure evil.

This is a bonkers story. This person posted this exchange to Reddit saying that their landlord gave them one day of notice during a pandemic to move out because they found someone else who would pay more for the apartment. Luckily, Reddit had plenty of suggestions (this is illegal! tenants have rights!), and they got it sorted out.

If you want a deep look into the dregs of humanity, head to landlord groups on Facebook where every post basically says, "Hey guys! Just wondering the maximum I can screw over my tenants without being thrown in jail! Would appreciate any advice on being totally evil and devoid of humanity. Thanks!"

Yikes! The bold type, then the bold and underlined type, is a lot. It's like, we get it. You have no sympathy for human beings. You don't have to underline that. It's very clear from the words themselves.

I love that they passive-aggressively hid a very condescending message about paying rent during the pandemic in "Another note." They even threw around D*nald T*ump's name as proof that they can evict anyone who doesn't pay. The "If you would like to discuss with us how any of this, or the spread of the virus is our fault, please come see us in the office." The snark is uncalled for. 

"We understand that you may have lost all your income, but you still have to pay your rent on time in full every month." Explain that logic to me! If you are not making money, you will not have money to pay rent. And the "don't pay for inessential services like cable if you can't pay rent" thing is absurd. Cable is around $60 a month. If my rent was $60 a month, maybe I'd cancel cable to pay for rent. But until you accept $60 a month for rent, canceling cable isn't going to help me pay rent!

This. Is. Bonkers. I'm pretty sure you can only obtain money orders and cashiers' checks in person at the bank. So this landlord is saying, "You still have to pay rent, but now every time you go to pay rent, you have to risk your life to do it." Unconscionable.

They actually took the front door off of her house for not being able to afford her rent for the first time in the year-and-four-months that she's lived there. Narok is in Kenya. This is a global problem. People are suffering at the hands of their landlords. Everywhere.

This UK landlord casually raised the rent during a pandemic, clearly not reading the room. Not only is it tough for people to afford the rents they already have right now, but it's also nearly impossible to move at the moment. Landlords know this and are taking advantage of it.

This letter says that "late fees and evictions will also be enforced" even though, as the tenant responded, the city manager put a moratorium on evictions due to COVID-19. This property manager lied to their tenants in an effort to scare them into paying rent. Cool. I hate them.

How thick are people? This landlord wanted to defy social distancing orders to bring someone around to this person's apartment to let them look at it. When they said they were uncomfortable with that, as they have high-risk relatives, the landlord basically said, "Too bad." 

BuzzFeed News reported that some landlords are using the vulnerable position of some of their tenants to sexually harass them and ask for sex as payment. It doesn't get much grosser than this, folks. 

When these tenants lost their restaurant jobs, this landlord suggested that they get grocery store jobs during the pandemic instead of even entertaining the thought of charging them less for rent or waiving their rent for the time being. It takes a certain kind of person to suggest this. Namely, a person who is comfortable with possibly leading people to their deaths.

I do love that this tenant had enough and gave the landlord a taste of their own medicine, but I don't know how far this response got them in the long run. Which is unfortunate, because it's pretty brilliant. Renting is a two-way street. Landlords have responsibilities toward tenants as well! It would be prudent for them to remember that.

This landlord thought they were being slick, but they didn't realize that they gave all of their tenants an invaluable organizing tool. Needless to say, the tenants organized and went on a rent strike, and this landlord is probably beating themselves up for their slight email mistake, don't you think? 

Are infinitely scaling late charges like this even legal? Seems ridiculous to continually punish people who can't make rent right away.