Woman Shocked Landlord Charges $200 Fee, Then $15 a Month to Have a Pet Fish

It's no secret that the housing crisis in the United States has reached all-time levels of pure insanity. With more and more corporations owning residential homes in certain parts of the country, and it purportedly being easier to purchase a home during the Great Depression than it is today, the future of property in homeownership for individuals and families in America is looking bleaker than ever.

It doesn't help that the current presidential administration as of this writing is opting to penalize potential homeowners with stellar financial track records and credit scores by opting to subsidize individuals who will more than likely need to purchase mortgage insurance in order to own a home with lower long-term mortgage interest rates.

I.e. the better your credit score is, the higher your interest rate on a home ownership loan.

It's enough to make one think that this is a concentrated effort in order to put more money in the coffers of lending companies as opposed to ensuring folks who are fiscally responsible can build wealth through a property of their own.

This means that a lot of Americans are finding themselves in a position where they will have to rent properties to live in for longer than they would like. They're also subjected to the terms and conditions of renting a unit offered by a landlord or property management company, which are often times ridiculous.

Like this one TikToker who highlighted that they are being charged an additional fee for keeping a pet fish in their unit. A user on the platform named Nic (@nicr__) shared a screenshot showing the charges they incurred for having their aquatic friend live with them.

The image capture of the bill Nic shared indicates that she was hit with a one-time $200 fee for keeping a pet in her unit. What's more, is that there is language indicating that the fee is mostly geared towards a cat or a dog.

It reads: "Restrictions: No Aggressive Breeds"

The screenshot also says: "Fish Allowed" and states that in addition to the $200 one off pet fee she would also have to pay an additional $15 a month in order to have a fish in her unit.

Nic attempts to speak in the video several times but appears at a loss for words in response to the fee.

There were several commenters who saw the clip and expressed a similar level of disbelief upon seeing the fish fee.

"no aggressive breeds?? well there goes my plans of an oscar tank," one viewer quipped.

Another joked: "are you going to release a barracuda into the halls??" while someone else remarked, "Next they will be asking you to provide proof of spayed and neutering for your fish"

Others just couldn't believe that a company would hit someone with such a ludicrous fee: "Bro it’s a fish what are we even doing anymore," one said.

Someone else replied, "I didn’t think you needed permission for a fish lol"

It would appear that Nic isn't the only one who has been subjected to a fish fine. An Avvo forum post from 2010 uploaded by a disgruntled renter said that they were slapped with the same fee when they had fish tanks in their place.

They shared their story with the legal resource: "I have been living in this duplex for close to five years and have never had an issue with the fact that I have fish tanks. The previous manager of the property was aware of them and never charged a deposit."

However, the poster What on to say that after the building came under new management things changed: "now that there is a new manager of the duplex she is requiring me to pay a $500.00 deposit and is asking I remove two of the three fish tanks in my home. Is this legal for her to ask this of us?"

What do you think? Is pretty silly and grimy for a landlord to charge their tenant an extra fee just because they have a fish in their apartment? Or does having an aquarium in one's place put it at a higher risk for potential damage, thus justifying the fish fine?