Horror stories

Razvan posted in category Home rental

I once rented a flat on the 5th floor in an apartment building that had an internal shaft. On the ground floor lived a young lady that owned two dogs. She let the dogs stay in shaft, but she did not let them any food or drinks, much less walking them. The other neighbors refused to intervene because they said she was crazy. I called both animal control and the police several times, but nothing ever happened. I was feeding the dogs by throwing food and water down the shaft, to make sure that they had something to eat and drink. In the night, I would listen to their whines and screams and barks. It went on for a couple of months, until the lady was finally moved out. I wish I had known before taking the flat.

John posted in category Home share

In 2006, after my girlfriend left me, I had to find a flat on a short term notice. Since I didn't have the time to do a proper search myself, I used an agent to find a room in a flat. The previous tenant was a girl, who, when I came to see the room had not packed up her stuff yet. The room was less than 8 square meters large, but the girl had decorated the room perfectly, with nice pictures, a bed that fit really well and even a desk. I thought the room was really cute.

When I moved in, it turned out that I had "misunderstood" the agent in that the furniture would stay. Coming from a larger flat, none of my furniture would fit this little room, so I ended up sleeping on a mattress in a tiny naked room.

The other three people living in the flat were all keeping to themselves, one of them a baker starting work very early in the morning. Like this, any use of the common spaces after nine in the evening was out of the question and I had to stay with my laptop on the mattress in the little room.

Needless to say, I decided this was not a place to stay, so I packed my stuff, said goodbye to my deposit and left.

Rodica posted in category Home rental

Once I left an open carton of milk cleverly hidden inside a bookshelf before leaving a place because I was angry with the owner. I'm sure he has a horror story to share about me :)))

Adrian posted in category Home rental

I rented a flat next to the central park in Cluj-Napoca, and I committed to a 6 month long contract with no option for premature termination.... great idea! The flat was in a large, stylish old house next to the British Council, with grandesque furniture and a great view of the park.

The problem: The ceiling was more than 4 meters high, the flat was very poorly isolated, I rented it one month before the start of winter and it turned out that it was impossible to get the temperature of the flat above 13 degrees (even during the day). The landlord refused to admit the problem, claiming that the apartment was warm enough and that they had never had problems before. I was locked into the deal and there was nothing I could do.

The solution: Hundreds of Euros in gas bills and spending every moment in the flat under a thick blanket next to the gas oven. Half a traumatizing year later, I'm living happily in a smaller flat with a decent temperature and the possibility to cancel the contract with one month notice, should I be dissatisfied with anything.

Gabriela posted in category Home rental

I found once the perfect flat in a newly built apartment complex. The place had fancy couches, automatic window blinds, automatic room temperature management, a kitchen bar area and underground parking. I also got a bonus: a very poor sound isolation so that I could hear every time the neighbor turned in bed or let out a fart. And I paid at least twice the average amount of rent in the city I was staying. Never before have I given an agent a more sour and bitter 50% of the first month rent...