rSlash - r/Prorevenge I Made My Scummy Landlord Lose $21,000!

Episode Date: March 24, 2024

0:00 Intro 0:09 Broken windows 3:02 Legality 12:34 Big Al Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Roll your way into prizes like coffee, donuts, and even $60 Tim's gift cards. Play now on the Tim's app. Rules apply Canada only. No purchase necessary. Visit the Tim's app for Welcome to r slash pro revenge where a scummy landlord loses almost a million dollars. Our next reddit post is from orange men. My girlfriend and I moved into a house that had several broken and cracked windows held together with tape. The rest of the house was great and in perfect condition. The landlord promised to fix the windows ASAP. He kept promising to fix them month after month with no action being taken. After six months,

I began recording his phone calls and had recorded him threatening to have us evicted if we got a lawyer, which is highly illegal in my state. Landlords cannot retaliate against a tenant for getting a lawyer. So we got a lawyer and provided the lawyer with the recordings and the pictures of the windows. We also contacted the city code enforcement department and reported some minor code violations that we noticed throughout the house. At this time, I worked for a medium-sized payroll and corporate compliance company, who happened to do the payroll for the company that my landlord was the president of. Because of this, I could see exactly which laws he was breaking due to state and federal

human resources and labor law regulations. For example, he did not have a company handbook, labor board posters displayed, and didn't have various federal compliance reporting measures in place. Since I was in the industry, I knew the minimum fines for the slew of violations his company had would be about $730,000 due to the length of time they'd been operating without these requirements in place for his business. So, I reported his company to the government knowing perfectly well that things would go badly for him, that they would look to him for answers.

I didn't hear anything regarding his company's violations for some time. Meanwhile, negotiations continued between my lawyer and his. In the meantime, the code department issued a $10,000 fine for the code violations, including the windows, and required him to fix the windows. He had to replace windows in the entire house, which ended up costing about $6,000, as there were a lot of windows in the house. The legal negotiations ended after the windows were replaced. In my state, due to a clause listed on the lease, I was able to bill the landlord for the legal fees to fight him on this issue, so that cost him ANOTHER $5,000.

We're currently up to $21,000 in costs incurred by the landlord just because of these windows. A couple of months go by, and I notice this guy is no longer on the company payroll. When I called his company to verify that we shouldn't be paying him, I was informed that there were organizational changes due to fines brought against the company due to a number of violations. When all was said and done, the landlord paid $21,000 out of pocket directly for the windows and it cost him his job at his company, and at least $730k in federal and state violations. It didn't cost me a dollar in the end.

I couldn't have been happier with the outcome. Our next Reddit post is from jockstrap. Many years ago, I was a freelance computer aided design specialist. I did work for places that needed proper plans drawn up from an idea. House plans, remodels, store demolition and remodel, venue lighting and audio system, drainage plans, manufacturing machinery, and so on. If it was being used in construction or manufacturing, the odds were pretty good that I could put it on paper. This story is about me, Big Al, the business owner, Harry, Big Al's right man, and Fran,

a secretary. Big Al worked in the construction industry. His primary job was managing the development of a subdivision for a major home builder. Big Al and I had known each other socially for a few years. He was successful at his job, but had reached the top level. This would sit fine with a lot of people, but Big Al's ego and his semi-trophy wife's financial appetite wouldn't let him be satisfied. He wanted to be the big cheese and be making money by the truckload.

I got a call from Big Al one day. He needed some drawings done for building permits and custom home plans. Additionally, with the blessing and investment money from his boss, Big Al was starting up his own construction company and wanted to use me for his plans. I was enthusiastic because Big Al was a strong type A personality and would rise to the top of whatever he takes on. That means he would make some serious money, and I'd make some coin along the way as well. For two years, everything went great.

The only contract we had at the start was a handshake agreement to be honest with each other and treat each other fairly. Big Al started his business as a one-man operation in the loft of his house. After several months, he moved to a small office with a little old lady secretary slash receptionist. From there, he moved to a large office with a staff of several people to help manage the business. The company had several subdivisions around the area, and business was booming.

Big Al had developed about 20 houses. All the houses he made were foundationally very similar, but they looked different. Big Al would allow some customization of the interiors too, for a price increase. Like I said, business was good for Big Al. He needed a right hand man and offered me the job. With this new job, I'd be making about three times what I was making on my own. In all honesty, I had no desire to work for him. Big Al had a strong personality, and I'll be damned if I was going to be in a situation

where I'd be subjugated to someone like that guy. I enjoyed working with him, but I didn't want to work for him. I didn't want to turn him down outright, so I put some unreasonable demands on my conditions for employment. Flexible hours, lots of benefits, bonus opportunities, and so on. Nope, he wouldn't budge. Thankfully, I'm not sure what I would have done if he had accepted. I continued working for Big Al. By this time, he was ready to improve the base model of his houses. He wanted an individual floor plan for each of the five house options he offered and a landscaped rendering on the back. The landscapes had to be unique on each one.

This wasn't a problem, but it was a lot more work. I told him I'd have to do one to see what exactly was involved, and then give him an estimate. He agreed, and I gave him what I believed was a fair price. Big Al gave me the green light, and I started with the first three plans. When I delivered the first three set of renderings, 15 renderings total, Big Al went to introduce me to someone. The guy's name was Harry, and Harry was now Big Al's right-hand man. I would no longer be dealing with Big Al. Harry would be my primary contact moving forward.

I really didn't care as long as I got paid. There was something off about Harry that I couldn't quite nail down. Something in the back of my mind was telling me to not trust him. Big Al trusted Harry though, and Big Al knew a lot more about people in this industry than I do. So I just put aside those thoughts and moved on with the project. After all, I had 85 more renderings to complete, and I'd be getting paid for the work, or so I thought. I finished the lion's share of the renderings, which would come out to about $5,000. Harry was thrilled to have them, and he said to

leave the bill with the secretary and they'd get it in the next round of checks. No problem, that's how Big Al always used to do things. Big Al had a new secretary, Fran. Several years earlier, Fran had been the secretary for another client. We had a good relationship. She was a real sweet person. She knew Big Al for years, and he had been trying to get her on board since he started the company. Fran is the type who's sweet on the outside, but knows everything that's going on and can read people.

Do not mess with Fran. She knows where the bodies are buried. A week after I dropped off the renderings, I got a call from Harry. He tells me they will not be paying this bill at my rate, because they found someone who can deliver the same product for less than half of what I'm charging. I told him they're certainly within their rights to use someone who can do the project at a cheaper rate, but I expected to be paid at the rate that Big Al had agreed to pay. Harry informed me that they didn't have to pay at that rate because we didn't have a written

contract. He was right. Big Al and I had worked for years on a handshake. I'm trustworthy enough to do that and I thought that Big Al was as well. Harry said that Big Al was no longer involved in business at this level, so I hung up and called Big Al. Big Al said that, indeed, this was Harry's issue to handle, and he wasn't getting involved. I emailed Harry and copied Big Al, informing them that I expected to be paid at the agreed-upon rate, and I would not be doing any more work for them until that happened. Harry accused me of ripping off the company from the beginning, and he said that I was just mad because he killed my cash cow.

Big Al said nothing. Harry contacted me a week later wanting the data files for all their floor plans. They were working with my replacement, and they didn't want to pay this guy to redraw all of my floor plans. I told him, no, those are related to work product. Since we didn't have a contract and our verbal agreement was only for printed plans, I'm not legally obligated to turn over those files. Harry started with legal threats, and I told him to go ahead and call his lawyer. The lawyer would say the same thing I said. No contract, no files.

The irony is that I would have just given them a copy of the files if the relationship hadn't soured. Those files were just sitting on my hard drive doing nothing but taking up space. People have asked for their drawing files in the past, and I had no problem since I'm a nice guy. Now, however, was not a time to be a nice guy, since I had an unexpected bargaining chip. A week goes by, and Big Al calls. He says he values our past relationship, blah blah blah, and we need to work something out

here. I let Big Al know that I was not pleased with how I was treated in this mess, particularly with the tactics that Harry used, and the way that Harry was blindly backed by Big Al even though we had a great relationship prior to Harry's arrival. Big Al asked me what it would take to fix this situation and for me to send him the drawing files. I told him to pay me the $5,000 that he owed me and we'd talk. Big Al balks at that and says that he needs to do a deal that doesn't make Harry look like an idiot. I told him nothing would change the fact that Harry is an idiot

and I can't believe he's trying to cover Harry's butt. Big Al makes me a counter offer. Two thousand bucks for the renderings and three thousand dollars for the drawing files. I agreed with conditions. I would come in the following week to deliver the product and get the check even though this wasn't their usual cycle. Harry would be the one to give me the check and take possession of the product. Harry would also apologize for the way he treated me. Big Al took the deal. The big day comes and I arrive at the office. Fran holds up an envelope with a check in it.

I said that wasn't what I agreed to. She smiled and said that she tried to tell Harry, but he wouldn't listen. Fran called back to Harry's office, told him I was here to drop off the drawings, and I wanted my check. There was 10 seconds of silence as Fran listens to Harry. He was so loud, I could hear Harry's voice coming down the hallway from his office.

Fran says that she'll ask, says nothing for a few seconds, and then tells Harry that he needed to hold up his end of the deal or I was walking out the door. An obvious look of surprise came over my face. She smiled, hung up the phone, and said in a loud voice, Harry will be here in a moment. I was momentarily confused, then realized that there were several offices with an earshot of the reception area. All I could figure is that this wasn't the first time that Harry had to eat crow in the lobby. Harry came in, took the check from Fran, gave a half-hearted apology, and gave me the check.

I set the renderings and data files on Fran's desk and left. I later found out that Harry was regularly apologizing to someone in the lobby, much to the delight of everyone in Earshot, because I wasn't the only one treated badly. Fran told me that when we ran into each other a few months later. She also expressed her disdain for Harry and hoped that he would screw up bad enough for Big Al to fire him. Big Al did indeed fire Harry about a year later. It turns out, Harry changed a lot of Big Al's contractors to companies and people that Harry

had worked for in the past. These subcontractors would cook the books and give Harry a kickback. Harry and Big Al ended up in a lawsuit over it. Big Al won, but it nearly cost him his business, and he lost a lot of personal relationship with contractors due to Harry's idiocy. Our next reddit post is from 8 million. Years ago, I worked as a security officer in a high traffic tourist area during the graveyard shift. One of my responsibilities was to make sure that my buildings loading and unloading zone was kept clear because we had vehicles coming and going at all hours of the day. The curb was painted white and marked in big bold letters

Loading and unloading only, no parking. At the end of the zone There was a single handicap parking stall painted bright blue. Now, the building I worked at was near a few large night clubs, so every Friday and Saturday, the area would be crazy busy with drunken fighting, vomiting, occasional alleyway passionate hugging, etc. All night long, there'd be cute girls milling around in skimpy outfits, so the job had its perks too. Clubbers would take advantage of my building's valet parking service and pay to park in our garage before heading out to one of the clubs across the street. Some clubbers would think that they could get away with parking in our loading zone

all night. My coworkers and I would aggressively patrol the area in the earlier evening hours and advise as many people as we could so they would leave and avoid getting a ticket. It was better for us if they left because when there were too many vehicles parked out front, traffic would become a complete clusterfuck regardless of the time of day. Many people would be grateful for the information and leave. Occasionally some douche would laugh in our faces, say something about pigs or rent-a-cops or whatever and leave their car anyway. In those cases, we'd call our city's parking enforcement and they'd get a $90 ticket for their troubles.

One Saturday night, after finishing a round of patrols, I went to take a leak. On my way back out, I walk past dispatch, and my buddy calls me over the surveillance bank. Hey bro, you got one out front. I turned on the grainy camera feed just in time to see a piece of junk 97 BMW sloppily parking in front of our building. I said that I'd go out to advise the driver, but before I could leave, the driver exited his vehicle. My buddy and I watched in silence as the driver, a young male adorned with flashy cheap bling,

hiked his pants up at the crotch and blocked the path of a couple of girls walking by. He started hitting on them in the slimiest way possible, even trying to grab their hands and their butts at one point, staring shamelessly at their tits while he was schmoozing them. He took out his phone and shoved it at them, presumably asking for their numbers. Eventually, the girls were able to dodge his grabbers and ran off towards the club across the street. He repeated this routine several more times with various groups of girls walking by,

even taking out a small bottle of vodka from his back pocket and offering swigs. With each rejection, he'd get angry and presumably cuss out the girls as they hurried off. Our cameras didn't pick up the audio, but that seemed like a reasonable assumption. I sighed and looked at my buddy. Well, I guess I'll go talk to him.

I made my way out to the front and approached him just as another group of girls ducked away from him. I called out to him. He turned and stared at me blankly. Hey man, just wanted to let you know that this zone is for loading and unloading. Normally, it's not a big deal to park for a bit, but if everyone does it on the weekends, traffic gets backed up pretty bad here. The douche looked at his vehicle, then at my badge.

F you pig, I'll F you up. You pig wannabe cop. I looked at my watch. It was about 10.30pm. I continued my spiel. Parking enforcement here is pretty strict. You should move your vehicle or you might get ticketed. The guy continues cursing up a storm.

I say, have a good night sir. He flipped me off and went across the street, where he was promptly denied entry for dress code violations. He cursed out the bouncer and wandered off down the block. I walked over to his vehicle and saw that it was parked crooked, the rear of the vehicle partially blocking the lane of traffic. Half of the vehicle was in the white zone, the other in the blue handicap zone. I keyed up my radio.

Can you call parking enforcement for this vehicle? Let me know when you're ready for the plate. 15 minutes later, the parking officer arrived. He looked at the vehicle and promptly issued a $90 ticket for parking in the white zone and a $900 ticket for parking in the blue zone without a permit. I thanked the officer and went back inside to have a snack. A couple hours later, two of the local cops stopped by to say hi. At this point, my coworker radioed me and said,

Hey, is that officer such and such? I said, It sure is. He said, Are you gonna do what I think you're gonna do? And I said, Yep. Me and one of the cops lit up our cigarettes as the other cop looked at us disapprovingly. We all smoked and chatted for a bit. Then, I casually motioned over my shoulder at the BMW. I said, Hey, officer such and such, check out the parking job on that piece of garbage. We all walked over to the corner and looked at the vehicle. The two tickets

stuck on the windshield flapping in the wind. Officer Morris grabbed one of the tickets, read it over and looked at me. What's the story here? I explained the entire scene. The cop said, Hey hey OP, you got the time? Yeah, it's 1227 AM, just past midnight. Well, it's a whole new day now, isn't it? Officer Morris proceeded to write another $90 ticket for the white zone, then another $900 ticket for the blue zone. He paused for a moment after finishing the second one.

Hey, Officer Jones, looks like the vehicle is parked more than 12 inches from the curb. What do you think? Sounds about right. Officer Morris wrote another ticket for $120 and slapped it on the pile of tickets on the windshield. I shook both officers' hands and they left to continue their patrols. The next few hours of my shift went by fairly quickly. Around 5am, dispatch called me.

Hey OP, respond to dispatch ASAP! I ran down to the surveillance bank where my co-workers were all gathered and laughing their butts off. Sunday was street cleaning day and the BMW was getting ticketed again by parking enforcement. After that, we all stopped by dispatch every 5-10 minutes to see if the owner had returned. Finally, at about 6am, Douchebag came stumbling up the block, looking completely worn out. His formerly white t-shirt was stained and dirty and it looked like he'd lost at least one fight that night. We watched in suspense as he looked at the pile of tickets crammed together on his windshield and slowly removed them.

He stood there, pants sagging below his knees, shuffling through each ticket as if he were a toddler with a handful of Pokemon cards. With a look of abject defeat on his face, he got into his vehicle and drove off. The whole room erupted in laughter and high fives. As the laughter died down, I picked up the office phone and started dialing. My coworkers eyed me curiously. I put the call on speaker just as the call connected. 911, what is your emergency?

Yeah, hi. I'd like to report a possible drunk driver. I have the vehicle and driver description when you're ready. For those of you who weren't keeping track, the tally for the tickets is up to $2,100. Plus whatever additional fees this guy might have gotten for getting caught driving drunk. That was r slash pro revenge, and if you like this content, be sure to follow my podcast because I put out new Reddit podcast episodes every single day.