15+ People Who Rented a Place and Got an Unbelievable Surprise

A dream rental situation? A reliable tenant who pays on time and a landlord who minds their business. But in the real world, things don’t always go that smoothly. From landlords with boundary issues to tenants with bizarre demands, these real-life rental stories prove that “normal” is definitely relative when it comes to property agreements.

• I discovered a hidden camera in our Airbnb bedroom. It was midnight. My husband quickly covered it with a towel, and we went to sleep.
  At 2 a.m., the door burst open. The Airbnb owner stormed in, furious, screaming, “Are you kidding me? This is a camera to see the outside! Why have you covered it?”
  It turned out the camera was aimed at the street, not the bedroom. The owner, paranoid from a string of thefts in the neighborhood—including the theft of his car—had installed it to watch for trouble. He admitted to monitoring the footage obsessively.
  We left first thing in the morning, feeling shaken and uncomfortable. Despite his explanation, breaking into our room in the middle of the night crossed every boundary. We left an honest review, warning future guests about the intrusion.
  Later, as we read through other reviews, we realized this wasn’t an isolated incident. Other guests had experienced his outbursts and obsession with security. While we could understand his paranoia, it didn’t excuse the violation of our privacy or the bizarre behavior. It was an experience we wouldn’t forget, and one we wouldn’t want anyone else to endure.
• So my boyfriend and I rented this super cute little house in Portugal for the week. Everything was going great... until day three, when this woman suddenly shows up at the door, totally confused and kind of upset, like, “Uh, what are you guys doing in my house?” We were completely thrown off — we booked it online, had the keys, everything seemed totally legit. Turns out her brother had offered the place to us while she was out of town... but forgot to mention it to her. And of course, she came home early. We all ended up awkwardly sitting in the living room trying to figure it out. She was actually really chill about it, but the whole thing was so uncomfortable, we just decided to leave a day early and fly home. Not exactly the vacation we had in mind.
• The house was clean, with a bathroom, normal furniture. The old landlady warned us that we should save water and electricity. We came in the evening, and she met us right at the doorstep with the words, “Why did you leave the lights on?”
  We thought that maybe we had left the lights on in a hurry and apologized. The next day, the story repeated. On the 3rd day, the landlady made a scandal. It turned out that she was referring to the diode on the laptop, which signaled that it was switched on. © Vanig / Pikabu

“Chat with the landlord”

• A typical landlord, “Are you going to have guests over? Absolutely not!”
  My landlord, “Are you going to have guests over? Are there men among them? Will they stay for the night? Let them stay, they’ll help to replace the fridge!” © nn_astel / Twitter
• I rented a room in a flat that was owned by a single lady. She turned out to be very curious. In addition to asking about my life, she also looked through my things.
  I noticed that things in my large bag were rearranged, but I kept quiet because I didn’t want to make a fuss out of it. Before I went home for a week, I put a note inside my bag on top of my things, “Please don’t touch my things.”
  When I came back, I could see that the bag had been opened. The landlady was angry, but she couldn’t say anything, as she would have to confess that she had been going through my stuff. So, I made her stop doing this without a fuss. © 1minimi1 / Pikabu
• When I was looking for a place to rent, a friend showed me an ad which said, “Only with animals.” Cool, because I have a cat! I immediately arranged a meeting. I arrived — the flat is cozy, the price is good. I couldn’t resist and asked the landlady, “Why only with animals? What’s the catch?”
  And she said, “It’s just everyone follows ‘no animals’ policy. And I’m not against pets. So I thought that people without them can easily find a place.” That’s how we found a place to live — thanks to people like this! © Ne Vse Poimut / VK
• I was looking for a tenant for my flat. Once a guy in his 20s came to look at it. It’s a 1-bedroom flat that has everything for a comfortable life.
  We go back into the hall, and he says, “Don’t you have a shoe horn?” I was stunned, but said, “Unfortunately.” And he replied, “Then this flat’s no good,” and left. © Podslushano / Ideer

• I’ve been renting a flat from the same landlord for 3 years. He is good, adequate, allowed me to have a cat, never comes without asking. Recently, I wrote a post on social media that I’d lost my job and was open to vacancies. So, I had to figure out how to distribute the money to pay for the rent, and for all other expenses.
  The owner, apparently, read my post, called me, and said that I could skip the next month payment because he knew I lost my job. I felt so embarrassed. But his offer was so timely. As soon as I get my first salary, I will try to pay for 2 months at once. © Ne Vse Poimut / VK
• They put up the flat I rented for sale, so I had to move out. I cleaned every corner and left. The next day, the landlady called. I got scared that they’d found something broken.
  But she started to thank me for cleaning the place. And then she suddenly said, “How come you’re so wonderful and alone? Let me introduce you to a friend of mine.” © DrShigella / Pikabu
• I lived with my family in a very old flat. The taps leaked, the floors creaked, the windows were drafty. At night, a whole piece of wallpaper fell off the wall and literally covered us, scaring us terribly.
  The next morning we decided to put up new wallpaper at our own expense, so that it would be a little nicer to live there. The landlady, when she came to collect the money again, said with a nice smile that now the flat looked fresher and, of course, could no longer be rented for that “little” money that we paid, so she raised our rent. © Podsushano / VK

• I sometimes want to go back to my former home. For 6 years, I lived in a rented flat where I fell in love, got married, and had a baby. Everything was in that flat: both sorrows and joys. And then the landlord increased the rent a lot, and we had to buy our own place through a mortgage, but I don’t like it there.
  Sometimes I go for a walk and look through the windows to see how the new tenants live and what renovations the landlord has done. Weird? Yes. But curiosity takes me over! © Podslushano / Ideer
• I had a landlord that was taking my rent money, then NOT paying his mortgage. He did that so long our place was foreclosed on and suddenly for sale. I figured this out on the day when somebody hammered a ‘For Sale: Foreclosed’ sign in my front yard. © phatmexican13 / Reddit
• I rented a flat with my wife, and once we had to leave for a month. There was a lot of money in the flat, so we installed a camera just in case. A couple of days later, we watched the footage and were stunned to see our owners walking around the flat.
  When we came back, we immediately confronted them. And they were like, “We were just passing by, so we decided to come in.” © Unknown author / Pikabu
• I rented a house, and at first, everything seemed fine. But then the owner told me she’d just broken up with her boyfriend and had already moved some of her stuff into the garage. She kept complaining about how expensive rent is lately... and I got the feeling she was planning to move back in. I messaged her and made it clear we have a lease, and I’m not cool with her living here too. It’s been two days, and she hasn’t responded. Now I’m just sitting here wondering what the hell is going on. © pastelbroccoli0414 / Reddit

Here are some stories from people who came home early — and immediately wished they hadn’t.