Although rent and especially home prices are getting more expensive all the time, it’s well known that they’re particularly staggering in a major metropolis like New York City or Los Angeles.
And since both of those cities are really dense, it’s hard for people living there not to get desperate and put up with living conditions that wouldn’t be worth half the rent they end up paying.
But even though landlords in those places are well aware they can get away with charging over $1,500 a month for the privilege of living in a closet, some apartments are so bad that they don’t even meet those sad standards.
That’s the situation two college students happened to walk into when they started studying in Los Angeles and it was immediately clear to others in the area that they were taken advantage of.
On January 21, a student named Emma Fidler and her roommate posted a TikTok detailing the things that didn’t make sense about their apartment.
According to Bored Panda , the pair had come in from out of state and never got to see their apartment before they started renting because it was a last minute replacement after their housing arrangements fell through.
And as we can see, it wasn’t one that gave them a lot of space as a recess had to be cut into the bathroom door to make room for the toilet.
Similarly, the kitchen was barely large enough to accommodate one person, but somehow came with a disproportionately big fridge. As a result, it’s not actually possible to open the door more than halfway.
But while other problems like the bedrooms with no lights and a shower that’s 10 inches too short underscore why this place isn’t worth $2,520 a month, it gets worse.
And that’s because some facets of the apartment are downright unsafe.
As we can see, the wall in the bathroom has a barely-covered hole in the wall that is not only rotting, but confirmed in a follow-up video to be full of hazardous mold.
Worse yet, another follow-up showed that the apartment’s smoke alarm is not only non-functional, but hanging from the ceiling by a wire.
And if that wasn’t enough, it seems the apartment itself wasn’t the only worrying part of their living situation.
As we can see here, this neighborhood is apparently known for its regular police raids, which seem like they can happen at any time of day.
So while it was already strange that there’s a sliding door that opens up to a motel balcony next to their front door, the apparent crime problems likely don’t make that fact any more comfortable to live with.
And as their commenters who also lived in L.A. soon pointed out, it’s not even common in that city for an apartment this run down to cost anywhere near $2,500 a month.
Some reported paying that much for a three-bedroom apartment in Echo Park, others in Westwood and Hermosa Beach reported paying far less for much better places.
But one stroke of good luck that these women have experienced is that the attention their TikTok garnered put them in a position where they could demand some intervention from maintenance workers.
And not only does the questionable legality of their apartment’s condition mean that it’s now being renovated, but it also means they can stay at a nice hotel at their landlord’s expense while that occurs.
At least they’ve got that going for them.
