Earlier today I was reading a very serious blog post by Renter Girl. She discussed a few of the distressed phrases tenants had typed into a search engine to land onto her website.
Here are some of the searched phrases:
- “I’m afraid of my landlord.”
- “… my landlord comes round unannounced.”
- “My landlord threatens me.”
- “Is my landlord entitled to go through my underwear drawer.”
- her responses failed to make sense
- she dodged most of what I said
- she ignored the fact I said I liked her blog (that hurt the most)
- she came across as rude and hormonal
- she was narrow minded
- she didn’t actually have a clue what I was saying.
Yes. You read correctly.
“Is my landlord entitled to go through my underwear drawer”
Anyone else find that fucking hilarious? The hilarious part is that the tenant believes there might be a possibility that the landlord is entitled to sniff through her pants.
I genuinely cracked up.
Unfortunately, I don’t think my sense of humour was shared amongst the others, as everyone else was sympathising with the criticalness of the issue. To me, that one search query was like a kid farting during Sunday prayer – it unfastened the entire seriousness.
I can appreciate that it would be creepy for a tenant to witness their landlord scouring through their underwear drawer, but at the same time, very amusing, especially if the landlord started sniffing the underwear like it was covered in cocaine.
Irrespective of whether it’s fucking hilarious or not (I’m pretty certain IT IS hilarious), I believe both parties are in the wrong. I made that point in the comments section of her blog post, but my view wasn’t a general consensus. Shame.
My point is…
1) The tenant should have known her rights before becoming a tenant. If someone has to Google, “Is my landlord entitled to go through my underwear drawer”, then they clearly neglected to understand even their most basic of statutory rights. That’s lazy and ignorant.
2) On the same token, the landlord should be aware of his tenant’s rights. Again, lazy and ignorant. Moreover, the landlord shouldn’t be such a creepy parasite.
The landlord is definitely the worse of two evils, but I genuinely believe both parties can take some form of blame for being idiots.
Locking horns with Renter Girl
Unfortunately, I don’t think Renter Girl got my point. She was adamant that the tenant is never at fault in that situation, only the landlord and/or letting agent!
I swear, this classic battle between Landlord Vs Tenant which you’re about to witness wasn’t intentional, it was out of my hands as I believe God wanted it this way! This is how the conversation went:
If anything, this just highlights how blindly people will sign contracts (Tenancy Agreements), without actually knowing their rights. I’m not sure who’s worse, the landlords or the tenants.
No – when you are sitting in Letting Agency and have no home as you had to move and are awaiting your deposit refund and are told: pay up and sign or you don’t get the flat/house, then it’s absolutely the tenant I feel sorry for. But never the letting Agents. Never.
(I have no idea what she’s talking about there!!!)
Yeah, that’s both irrelevant and a contradiction.
It’s irrelevant because the tenant’s right to live in peace is a statutory right. So “paying up and signing” doesn’t affect their rights.
It’s a contradiction because if the tenant is waiting for a refund, they already have rental experience, therefore should know their rights even more so.
I guess we have one thing in common though- never feeling sorry for letting agents.
landlord – you don’t get the flat if you don’t sign the agreement! It’s not irrelevant – especially if you are new to this and scared, or homeless.
(BANG HEAD AGAINST A FUCKING BRICK WALL!!!!!)
I think you’re missing the point.
My initial point was that tenants are becoming tenants without knowing their rights. That’s the tenants’ fault.
Your counter response was that tenants are often forced to sign an agreement. But irrespective of whether someone signs a contract or not, the tenant’s statutory rights won’t change regardless of what is written in the Tenancy Agreement! So it is irrelevant!
Moreover, being “scared” doesn’t justify entering a legal agreement without understanding it. Again, that’s the tenant’s fault.
Anyways, I feel as though I’m banging my head against a brick wall. You don’t seem to understand that tenant’s have statutory rights, which has nothing to do with a tenancy agreement.
On a side note, nice blog :)
Rights mean nothing when they are ignored. or when – if you stand up for yourself, you can be given notice on a whim, with no reason. And – I do understand. That’s because I am clever, not stupid.
At this point I was throwing up over my keyboard, horridly watching my Nando’s chicken being regurgitated, as I read the words, “That’s because I am clever, not stupid”
It’s horrendously cringe worthy when someone genuinely praises their own intelligence, period. But it’s especially horrid when a) they’re being serious and 2) most of what they’re saying is horribly inaccurate and wishy-washy.
After cleaning up my lunch, I realised 6 things:
Regardless of what she says, in this particular instance, I think she’s a complete dumb fuck; certainly NOT clever. While I was telling her that tenants should know their statutory rights, she was scratching her arse and trying to justify that tenants have legitimate excuses for not knowing their rights, and that tenants will sign a tenancy agreement just to get a roof over their heads. That was a confusing response because I already told her that tenancy agreements have NOTHING to do with “statutory rights” *slaps forehead*
Conversation simplified
When you dumb the conversation down, this is what really happened:
Tenants have statutory rights which they should be aware of.
Yeah, but tenants need to sign a tenancy agreement
Yeah, but that doesn’t matter. Statutory rights have nothing to do with tenancy agreements
Yeah, but tenants have to sign because some times they’re homeless and scared!
Yes, again, a tenant’s statutory rights have nothing to do with tenancy agreements
Ok, but what about tenancy agreements? Tenants are forced to sign them due to circumstances
Sugartits, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying…
I understand, I’m clever! As I was saying…if tenants complain, they get served notice by the landlord.
URGHHHH!!! The shift of argument at the end was just uber weird.
I’m still amazed she deemed it appropriate to oppose my beliefs on the necessity of tenants and landlords being aware of their statutory rights before becoming either of. Both tenant and landlord should know their rights before becoming one or the other, right? I sincerely thought that kind of logic was on the same par as saying “the sky is blue”. But then again, you always get some stupid fuckface coming along with a response like, “It’s not at night, it’s black harhar” …. and HERE’S A PUNCH IN THE FACE FOR BEING A DOUCHE-BAG!
This actually reminds me of people that blindly get mortgages without understanding the terms and conditions, specifically when the mortgage comes out of its fixed period and onto the variable rate. The borrower typically throws a hissyfit and blames everyone else for being “set up” before taking some actual responsibility and admitting they fucked up by agreeing to something they never understood!
Anyway, her knowledge and general ability to comprehend has yet to be desired (I hope she’s not giving tenants legal advice), but she writes well and I like her blog, so check out her life as a tenant. But aye, make sure you come back here, this is home.
By the way, I’m still laughing at the whole, “Is My Landlord Entitled To Go Through My Underwear Drawer?” That’s some golden shit right there.
The only search query that could top that is, “Is my landlord entitled to cum on my face”. Just as hilarious, just as stupid, and just as creepy.
Update (five mins after post was published): I just realised that I never actually answered the question. The answer is NO, your landlord isn’t entitled to go through your underwear drawer x
Disclaimer: I'm just a landlord blogger; I'm 100% not qualified to give legal or financial advice. I'm a doofus. Any information I share is my unqualified opinion, and should never be construed as professional legal or financial advice. You should definitely get advice from a qualified professional for any legal or financial matters. For more information, please read my full disclaimer.
Did you know she used to write for The Guardian under the name Penelope Anderson?