‘Control freak’: Bizarre reason entitled Sydney landlord evicted renter

A Sydney landlord has kicked out her tenant in the middle of the nation’s crippling rental crisis for one truly “psychotic” reason.

A Sydney renter has revealed he was evicted by his landlord via a brutal text message for one absolutely unhinged – and illegal – reason.

Taking to Reddit on Wednesday, the tenant, identified only as Jack, shared a series of passive aggressive texts he received from his landlord after several friends crashed at his place after a night out.

“Hi. Just to let you know that 3 freeloaders walked out of my private garden this morning. Like to explain to me?” the first message reads.

The bizarre exchange then took a wild turn in a second text sent the following day, with the landlord announcing she was booting Jack out.

“Hi Jack. With much regret I decided NOT to lease the granny flat out any further. Notice is now given to you to vacate the property within the legal period of 3 months or 13 weeks (or earlier) effective from 27 Feb to 26 May 2023. Good luck to you.”

“What do you mean [free]loaders? My friends stayed over after a night out I’m allowed to do that. I can find other accommodation if necessary but does this have anything to do with yesterday?” was his stunned response.

He then shared a screenshot of the exchange on Twitter. He asked if the landlord’s act was legal, revealing he had been having “ongoing issues about friends staying over occasionally at my flat” and that she had previously upped his rent in exchange for allowing his girlfriend to visit once a week.

The tenant was evicted for having some friends crash at their place. Picture: Reddit

While permission must be sought before an additional person actually moves into a rental property, tenants are well within their rights to have guests stay at their home occasionally without having to notify the landlord, as long as the rent is paid and the property cared for.

Unsurprisingly, Reddit users reacted to the situation with fury, with the landlord variously described as a “control freak” and a “Karen” with a “psychotic attitude”.

“That’s ridiculous and so controlling. I wanna say you’re probably dodging a bullet, but also, the rental market is cutthroat, so good luck,” a sympathetic Redditor posted.

Another reminded the poster that the lease was covered by the rules of the NSW Residential Tenancies Act, meaning he was entitled to protections.

Jack went on to describe the woman as “literally insane”, but worried whether the flat had been “rented legitimately” given he had never dealt with an agent.

“My main question is, aside from all that, she’s still illegally increased my rent in the past so should I even bother playing by the rules? What real affect would leaving w/o notice and not paying the rest of rent have? I’ve [already] assumed the bond is dead and gone by now.”

Many Redditors claimed the woman couldn’t legally withhold the bond unless she successfully claims against it for damage, with many suggesting he simply stop paying rent before moving out.

“You paid extra for your [girlfriend] to stay over WTF? Dude. No! She has been bleeding you dry because you have not yet stood up for yourself. Now is the perfect time to start. Stand up straight with your shoulders back,” one person wrote.

The tenant was evicted for having some friends crash at their place. Picture: Reddit

“Was your bond submitted to the rental bonds board? If not, you are not getting it back. What I would do is not pay the last few weeks rent and just move out ASAP.

“Bridges are burnt here. Just move on and don’t pay a single cent more.”

Meanwhile, others suggested a series of genius ways to seek revenge, including informing the Australian Taxation Office the woman had been leasing her principal place of residence, which would mean that when she sells, the whole property cannot be capital gain tax-free.

And others suggested Jack make his remaining days at the property as miserable as possible for her.

“Freeloaders, you ain’t seen nothing. 90 days of freeloaders are on their way. Have a moving away party, garage sales every weekend, sell s**t on Gumtree, order heaps of cheap s**t to be delivered to the address every day,” another suggested.

“This clown wants to be funny, have some fun, stress her out enough she won’t be bothered to rent it out. Win for all prospective tenants.”

The tenant was evicted for having some friends crash at their place. Picture: Reddit

Another suggested Jack “crank the aircon” every day to drive up her electricity bills.

“Shame they’ve shut down all the crypto mining as this would have been the perfect place to run 20+ mining ASIC rigs 24/7 for 3 months,” another said.

While Redditors were quick to joke about the situation, it comes amid a serious, nationwide rental crisis.

Rental vacancies are at near-record lows across the nation, coinciding with skyrocketing house prices, leaving many Aussies desperate to put a roof over their heads.

The crisis has been caused by a string of factors, including increasing immigration and inflation, as well as the rise of short-term accommodation platform Airbnb.

Originally published as ‘Control freak’: Bizarre reason entitled Sydney landlord evicted renter