As a tenant, you’re often at the mercy of your landlord if they choose not to extend your agreement – but this landlord’s reason for wanting to evict his tenant has been branded as “ridiculous”.
In the current housing climate, renting a property rather than buying is becoming increasingly common, but it comes with its own risks. When you sign a tenancy agreement, it’s usually for a fixed term, and while landlords can agree to extend your stay, they can also tell you that they’re getting new tenants in – meaning you have to move.
If you break the terms of your tenancy, fail to pay your rent, or engage in anti-social behaviour, your landlord may also have grounds to evict you. However, the landlord must follow legal procedures such as serving a valid notice and obtaining a court order.
But one tenant was recently left baffled when his landlord threatened to evict him for one bizarre reason – he’d made an innocent mistake with his wheelie bins.
The landlord claimed the tenant’s actions were “embarrassing”, and after first asking him to “apologise” to his neighbours, he eventually escalated the situation and said eviction was on the cards.
The email chain between the landlord and the tenant was sent to property strategist Jack Rooke, who compiled the messages into a TikTok video which has been going viral. The subject of the email was titled: “URGENT: Your inappropriate use of the green bin.”
In the landlord’s first message, he told his tenant, named Ben, that he had put “non-recyclable waste in the green wheelie bin”. He said he was “appalled” by Ben’s actions, which he described as a “direct violation of council rules” and “embarrassing”, and demanded he “issue a written apology immediately”.
Ben then replied to his landlord, Martin, saying he had made an “honest mistake” about the bins and “must have accidentally mixed up the bins”. He told Martin he would “double-check next time” and left it at that, assuming the issue had been resolved.
However, Martin was still not impressed. He claimed Ben had “caused chaos” with his mistake and had left his “reputation in tatters”. The landlord said he had contacted the council over the issue and said he was “considering eviction if this disrespect continues”.
Baffled, Ben told his landlord that he was “blowing this slightly out of proportion”. He apologised for the mix-up again, but this still wasn’t enough for Martin, who came back and said his “flippant attitude to this catastrophe is shocking”.
The landlord went on to list some ways he believed Ben could “resolve” the problem, including writing a formal apology to all the residents of his street, hosting a neighbourhood barbecue to “publicly demonstrate his remorse”, and even offering to clean everyone’s wheelie bins for free.
He even suggested he would be taking Ben to court for the bin mix-up. However, TikToker Jack said he had contacted Ben for a further update and the tenant had not heard from his landlord’s solicitor.
Jack said: “I caught up with Ben, and I just had to confirm that he didn’t hear anything from his landlord’s solicitors. There was no further word of it. I just think the landlord was having a bit of a moment and a bit of a bad day.”
Commenters on the post were firmly on the tenant’s side. Many of them said that even as big believers of recycling themselves, sometimes accidents happen and it’s no one’s fault as long as the issues don’t persist.
One person said: “I’m a big believer in recycling. If I’m in public I’ll walk around until I find the correct bin to use if I’ve got a bottle. But at the end of the day, an accident is an accident. For crying out loud.”
Another added: “This landlord needs a hobby.”