Everyone knows that landlords aren’t always the easiest people to deal with. Sometimes you get lucky and find one who’s kind and understanding. Other times, you get the complete opposite, someone who seems unhinged. That’s exactly what a tenant in Chicago is dealing with after her female landlord’s behavior went from annoying to downright disturbing.
In a viral video, the tenant shared that her landlord has been harassing her for months. Things recently took a terrifying turn when the woman showed up with a steel bat and started smashing the tenant’s stairs, apparently trying to trap her inside. You can hear the loud banging of the bat at the start of the video, but as soon as the tenant walked downstairs with her phone recording, the landlord quickly retreated back into her unit.
Destroying the stairs isn’t the only insane thing the Chicago landlord did. In another video, the tenant showed a different incident that took place a few months ago. She filmed her landlord cutting the WiFi cord. When the cable workers would come to fix it, she would start harassing them too. “Throw her [expletive] up. That [expletive] don’t own this building,” the landlord said to one of the cable workers in the video. She kept insulting the tenant and calling her names as well. The landlord also told her to pay some rent. The tenant clarified in a comment that she had been paying rent until recently. Even if she wasn’t, that doesn’t justify how she is being treated.
There was also a third video in which you could hear the landlord calling the tenant many names. The tenant also shared more details about the situation. She said she recently stopped paying rent because the landlord kept turning off her utilities. She also wanted the tenant to pay additional money if she wanted her utilities. The poor woman also clarified that she went to the police several times, but they didn’t help. Unfortunately, she isn’t able to move currently, so she is stuck dealing with this insanity. Honestly, the landlord looks like she could use some help when it comes to her mental health.
People Reacting to the Crazy Chicago Landlord
People were definitely shocked by everything the Chicago landlord was doing. No one would even imagine that someone would reach the point where they start destroying stairs to trap a person. Since these living conditions aren’t worth paying for, one person told the tenant, “Don’t pay that rent ‼” Another person found that the landlord was insane for doing this, as they said, “What kind of clown does this to their own property?” The tenant also left a comment of her own, adding more details to her current situation. “On top of everything else, she changed the locks on the back entrance and refuses to give me a key, so I can’t even use that door to get in or out safely. That means if something happens, I have no second way to exit the building,” she wrote. That’s dangerous.
Many people left comments about the disturbing situation. One person tried to help the tenant, writing, “Hi, what city and state is this, if you don’t mind? This looks like Chicago. I’m a former city administrator and can make a phone call on your behalf.” Another woman offered general advice, saying, “NEVER rent a place where the landlord lives too always a horror story.” After seeing the landlord’s behavior in these videos, that’s probably sound advice.
Others took a more sarcastic approach. “Fall and sue. You now have a building,” one commenter joked. Hopefully, it never gets to that point and a more peaceful resolution can be found.
