If you rent rather than own your home, chances are you’ve heard — or experienced — a few difficult landlord situations, ranging from poor communication to concerns about unfair practices. But unfortunately, renters are rarely aware of their rights, but one content creator from Maine is. She recently shared that her battle with her past landlord is finally over — and she won!
TikToker Margaretskiff, Margaret, shared a storytime TikTok video where she recounts a legal battle she’s been in with her previous landlord. When she asked about moving to a month-to-month lease, he took that as an opportunity to evict her. Margaret was confused. “I had always been a model tenant,” she says — clean home, no pets, and she lives alone.
While searching for another place, she kept her ear to the ground, wondering if there would be an ad placed for that apartment. Her landlord did, asking for much more than she was paying. According to Margaret, Portland has “strict” rental laws. “They don’t mess around,” she says.
So she went through the proper channels to see if her landlord violated any laws, which he was. He not only failed to give Margaret 90 days to vacant the place, he was charging her too much during her stay. Even worse, he was listing the place for more than what was legally allowed.
After then failing to pay, it was taken to court, resulting in Margaret winning $350 for every month she overpaid (12 months). In addition she would get another $2000 for trying to evict her before the 90 days. Oh, and the state took care of the legal costs, so Margaret got a nice paycheck of over $6,000 for standing her ground!
Margaret’s TikTok Video Spurs Discussion on Better Renter’s Protections
Not only were many surprised Margaret actually came out a winner in her situation, people were very bothered by the uneven renter’s rights across state lines. “We need renters protections like this all over the country,” one of the top comments on Margaret’s TikTok video reads. The same viewer commented that she has “basically no rights” in her area.
Speaking on how the state footed the bill for Margaret’s court costs, a TikTok user congratulated Margaret. They wrote, “This is how I want my tax dollars spent!” Apparently thousands of people agreed given that it gained over 13,000 Likes on TikTok.
One viewer shared their success story too, in which their landlord had to pay them “$8800/month for 6 months.” This was in San Francisco, where the commenter says they have “strong tenant’s protections.” Another spoke of their friend winning $40,000 due to being evicted unlawfully.
Among other top comments, a TikTok user, Liv, wrote, “People should really learn the laws before becoming landlords.” Some argued landlords already know the laws, but are hoping their tenants don’t. Others argued landlords shouldn’t exist at all. And this appears to be the general sentiment in the comments, with many users expressing frustration toward landlords and saying they were glad to see what they viewed as a case of “karma” for the landlord involved.
