 I can't believe how much money you make. Let me raise the rent. By 50%. If you like true revenge stories, you found the best place for your vengeful needs. I create them with fleaky visuals, dipped in artificial love. In this episode, a software guy starts making more money at his job, but when his envious landlord gets ahold of this, the rent price magically inflates over 50%. The second story is about a 18-year-old kid, who accidentally burns down his crazy neighbor's fence, who sees it as an opportunity to milk a kid, to pay for her new garden and trip to Hawaii. Followed by a greedy landlord, who refuses to pay his former tenant's security deposit back. But he forgets that the tenant is one call away from turning his world upside down, forcing him to dip his face in stinky regret. Before we swim in the tears of greedy landlords and bad neighbors, tell the like button you think your neighbor is stalking you. Because you saw her googling your name on her computer. Emphasize you know this, because you saw it through your telescope. Naturally, viewer discretion is advised. These revenge acts might be disturbing to snowflakes. In the late 90s, my wife and I were just married. We were getting started, and decided to dink it, double income, no kids, for a few years to save up for a down payment on a house. The dot com bubble was still rising and I was a newly minted software developer. I had an entry level job for a while, but then got recruited to a new city and job that paid 3x what I was making before. It was an offer too good to pass up. I ran the numbers and it was a no-brainer, by living frugally and saving my entire salary living off just her income, we would easily have enough in a year to put a 20% down payment on a new house. We rented an apartment in the new city, that was listed for $950 per month. The landlord was a real estate agent, who owned a two bedroom condo as an investment property. Let's call in Hank Wozowski. Hank was a thin, gray, no-nonsense guy. He was pleasant enough, but perfunctory, and dry without a sense of humor. He made a point of explaining that under no circumstances was he responsible for maintaining the garbage disposal. Emphasizing it was not included in the rental agreement, and he would not be responsible for fixing it were to break. He seemed slightly amused by us, a clueless, young, newlywed couple, but I could tell he wanted to rent to us, because we were very obviously a safe choice as renters. We filled out the rental agreement and the credit check. And this is where the troubles began. Hank looked hard at the credit application where I listed my job title, software developer, and my income of $75,000. For a 23-year-old in his second year out of college, in the late 90s, this is a small fortune. Throw in my wife's salary and we were over six figures in income, renting an apartment far beneath our means. Like I said, dink is the way to go when starting out. I can't believe how much money you make. Hank must have said half a dozen times, muttering under his breath. I explained we were saving to buy a house, and that we were only going to stay in the apartment a year. We might stay a few months after the term is over, would month to month be okay after a year? Hank assured us that would be fine. We saw Hank only once during the year. During this moment, he was mentioning my salary again, telling us how he couldn't believe that's what software developers were making. It was awkward and I gave a vague reply. Anyway, a year later we found a house to buy, signed all the papers, and were making plans to move. The new house wasn't going to be ready until two months after our rental lease was up, so I called Hank to ask if we could, as discussed, simply extend the lease by two months before moving out. Hank assured me on the phone it would be no problem and he would send over an extension for us to sign. The extension arrived in the mail and it included a month-to-month clause and a $500 increase in the rent. I flipped out and called him, Hank, why are you increasing the rent over 50%? That's too much. That's more than my new mortgage is going to be. He was super condescending to me. Kiddo, it's what the apartment goes for now. I would be losing money by renting it for less. I tried to reason with him, but it was very clear he knew we could afford the $500. It felt like we had no choice in the matter, and he was going to screw us over as best he could. He got angry with me for arguing my point, and I'll never forget his parting words. You don't have to like it, Kiddo, you just have to pay it. My wife and I tried to figure out a way to move out early by putting our furniture in storage for a couple months and crashing with friends, but it just wasn't going to work out. I swallowed my pride and wrote out the check for $1,450 for the extra month. A month later I wrote a similar check, and moved out after. I made sure the apartment was spotless before moving, but Hank still withheld $300 from our security deposit for bullshit things, that were just a way for him to squeeze a few more dollars, from the kids who made too much money. $100 for cleaning, sure. But $300 was obscene. In my mind, he had screwed me over for $1,200 and there was nothing I could do about it. What made is even more infuriating, is that I saw the ad Hank put in the paper after we moved out. And he listed the apartment for rent at only $150 more than we had been paying originally, not the grossly inflated $500 increase. And it didn't rent. A month later I saw the same ad and he had lowered the price to $75 more than we had been paying. I assume it got rented out after a while, since the ad stopped appearing. Fast forward about 5 years. Life is good, the house is good, we have a baby, and even though the .com bubble has burst, I'm still employed. One day, out of the blue, I overhear one of my co-workers, Phil, a senior developer, talking to the guy working the reception desk. Hey, Mike, I'm expecting someone to drop off some paperwork for me. If a Hank Wozowski asks for me, tell him I'll be right out. I freeze and get a taste of bile in my mouth, remembering how I had to write out that name on those checks all those years ago. There's no way it's the same guy, right? I walk over to Phil who is still by the reception desk. Phil, I say, how do you know that name, Hank Wozowski? Phil explains that Hank is his real estate agent. I bought my condo through him several years ago. I'm selling my condo now so I can buy a house. So I'm going to ask him to be my agent again. Do you know him? I tell Phil that I used to rent an apartment from Hank and described what he looks like. Phil confirms the description, it's the same guy, while small world, right? And on cue, right then the front door to the office opens and in walks Hank Wozowski. I stare in disbelief. He's carrying a folder of papers and doesn't recognize me. Phil and Hank shake hands and they talk for a few moments. I stand there silently, wondering what to do. Phil finally says, Hank, this is my friend Rocky, I think you may have already met. Yes, well hello Hank. Good to see you again. My wife and I were your tenants a few years ago on blah blah street. Remember, the software developer who rented for a year saving to buy a house? Well, this is where I work. Here, with Phil. Hank's eyes indicate he now remembers me, and he's starting to put it all together. He shake hands and he says yes, of course he remembers and asks how we are doing. Oh we're just fine, thanks for asking. Phil says that you're his real estate agent. Small world, isn't it? Hank nods pleasantly. He still doesn't remember the details of our last conversation. I do some quick math in my head. This is the early slash mid-2000s, the real estate market is very strong and easy money for any agent. The crash of 2008 is still a few years in the future. I start to think out loud, selling the condo for around 150 to 200,000, and you're looking at houses in the $500,000 range, so that $650 to $700,000 in total transactions. An agent getting 3% on the sale and the purchase is getting around $20,000 for his trouble. That's a good commission for the agent, isn't it? Hank's eyes flash and I can tell he remembers everything about me now. Phil is surprised at my passive-aggressive tone. I am enjoying the uncomfortable silence. Hank deflects my question, saying it's complicated, and tells Phil to send back the papers as soon as possible. He shakes hands with Phil, looks at me, nods, and goes to leave. It was really good to see you again, Hank. I call behind him as he exits the building. While the door is still shutting, I say a bit too loudly so that Hank can hear. Phil, don't sign anything just yet. I have a story to tell you. Phil looks at me and says, Brocky, what the hell was that all about? He looks pissed and confused at my behavior. I tell Phil the whole story, the rent, the $500 increase, the security deposit, you don't have to like it, you just have to pay it, everything. Phil, you can't use this guy to sell your condo and buy a house. I hate him, he's evil. I'll help you find another real estate agent, just use anyone but Hank. So the great thing about Phil is that, well, he's a great guy. He says he's a little surprised at my story and has always known Hank as a straightforward guy. But I totally see him doing that to you. He admits. There's no way I could use him now. What a dick. Then Phil's eyes lit up a bit. What do you want me to say when I fire him? I have special feelings for Phil now. We came up with a plan and I made sure there were some key phrases in Phil's repertoire. We planned it all out together in advance. My only regret is that I didn't get to see Hank's reaction in person a day later, when Phil made the following phone call while I stood behind him listening. Hi, Hank. It's Phil calling. Yeah, about that. I've decided to get some other quotes from other agents. I'm not going to sign up with you. No, no, you shouldn't give a discount. You'd be losing money if you did that. No, this is just a decision I've made. No, it has nothing to do with Rocky. Well, you don't have to like it, Hank. You just have to accept it. Goodbye. Click. And it was the greatest revenge I could have ever imagined. Through a chance meeting years later, Hank got screwed out of $20,000 in easy commissions. And the best part is, Hank absolutely knew it had everything to do with Rocky. This channel has gotten me through a lot of boredom and has provided me with hours of entertainment. I figure it's my turn to tell my revenge story. So it's been about four years since this happened. I was about 18 at the time, working for a security company. There were constant call-offs and no shows, have no idea why. But being so young and naive, I was constantly working 16 hours shifts and not coming home until 8 AM. I lived with my father at the time. The time frame of this was around the 4th of July. I finally had a day off and my best friend was back in town for vacation. We decided to get together and chip in on some good ol' American fireworks. To be fair, I have had nothing but bad experiences with fireworks, so I had no idea how this would be any different. We got home with the fireworks and we laid them all out on the floor, sparklers, bottle rockets, cakes, and Roman candles. I say, why don't we mess around with some sparklers since it's still not dark yet. Great idea. We go into my backyard, where it hasn't rained in well over two months and it is extremely dry. You see the problem here? One of the little sparkies from mine and my friend Sparkler made contact with the ground, and made a two small fires that quickly spread to a large area. I ran as fast as I could to grab the garden hose and quickly started spraying down the fire. It was no use, it was spreading faster than I could spray it. I handed my friend the hose and called 911. What felt like hours was only four minutes and the fire was spreading to the neighbor's fence. The neighbor came outside and they were fairly calm to grab their hose and spray down the fence, along with a dead grass in her yard. The fire department shows up finally and I tell my friend, only one of us needs to get in trouble, you should leave. He was reluctant to leave because he felt equally responsible, but I convinced him, I didn't want him to get in trouble and have to drop out of college. My neighbor was super chill about the entire situation at first. I told her that we could talk about replacing the fence and get some quotes to repair it. She was just super grateful that everyone was okay. About two hours after the fire the arson slash fire investigator came to question me about the fire. I told him the truth, I said I was in the backyard by myself playing with fireworks and accidentally lit the ground on fire. I had gotten off that day without being hit by any charges and was commended for being honest. Here is where it goes downhill very fast. About a week later, I get a knock on the door from the neighbor. I open the door and she handed me two pieces of paper for me to look at. There was a quote for the fence valued at around $4,000 and an estimate for lawn care valued around $6,000. These were really shady and just typed. Out on a Microsoft Word document. No logo or company name. She then adds. I will also be having you pay my water bill for three months, because the new yard will need lots of water. Now the fence this woman had before was raggedy and falling apart. Her yard? Dead grass, weeds everywhere never mowed it. Now looking at this paper, she wants a mahogany fence and a brand new backyard with flowers and trimmed hedges. I responded, I need to get an estimate myself, this doesn't feel right. She says. Remember you agreed to replace my fence and a real man keeps promises. I shut the door and called my dad to tell him about what just happened. He flipped the fuck out and told me. Son, don't you give that skank a single dime. He gives me the number to his handyman and tells me to take care of it. The next day I had the guy come out for an estimate and the neighbor ran outside flailing her arms while yelling. I did not give you permission to get an estimate on my fence. Only it separates the property line, so it's both of our fences. She calls the cops on me for having a contractor, and they ultimately can't do a single thing because I'm on my property. He quickly finishes the estimate off at $1200. I also knew a guy who did lawn care, from my time working at the grocery store. He estimated the lawn re-seeding while she was away from the house to be about $800. After I get these estimates, I give copies to the woman and she is having none of it. You know these people, I don't want them near my house, they're probably really shitty contractors. I tell her, no, I know them personally, they are really nice people and do great work. She shuts the door in my face and I went on my way. I ended up working a 16 hours shift at night and got home at 8 AM, and this woman comes knocking on my door at 9 AM and demanded I speak to her. I explained, I would really love to do this. But I just got home and I have to be back at work in less than 5 hours. I need to sleep. She goes. What kind of lazy ass hat sleeps in, until 2 PM? At this point I had about lost it, and told her she can either accept my $2000 for my quotes or kiss my ass and get nothing. She stood there for a while with her mouth gaped open, but she accepted my offer and planned to meet down at the notary the next morning. I spent that night after I got off work, writing a contract and gathering the $2000 in cash. The next morning I wake up, and grab this contract to meet down at the notary. I was thrilled to finally be done with this broad, and never speak to her again. I waited for her for over 3 hours and she didn't show up. I get a call from her saying. I'm sorry, the $2000 isn't enough, and having my guys start work on this project, and you will be paying me for price. Oh really? After that, I didn't say a single word to her, and I watched for a few months as these guys turned her backyard into an oasis, complete with a small pond, brand new sod and flowers, the whole 9 yards. Come to find out she had plans to remodel these things for a long time, and was just waiting for the opportunity to go through with it. Also in this time, she used her remodel funds to go on a trip to Hawaii. You know how I found out about this? She was bragging about it on the neighborhood Facebook group, and didn't know I was in it. I have a different Facebook name than my real name. This is the moment you've been waiting for, are you ready for the revenge? Now 4 months after the fire and all the remodels, I get served papers to go to court for $10,300. At 18 years old, I'm having to hire a lawyer to work my case. When we finally do get into court, I lay everything out. The quotes, being harassed multiple times. Not showing up after agreeing to a deal. Not wanting me to get my own quotes, required by law by the way, and her bragging about screwing me out of money and, I have proof of all of this. The judge looked at her and said, Madam with all due respect, you're out of your damn mind. Not only did this young man tell the truth of what happened, he offered to pay you more than he was supposed to. Your lawn was already dead before the fire occurred, therefore he is only responsible for the fence of $1,200. I will also deduct from this his lawyer fees of $800. So, I burned this woman's fence down and all I'm having to give her is $400? Cool. She took a huge financial loss from this, not sure how much the Hawaii trip cost her, but she got in serious debt. She ended up having to sell the house because of it and moved into a smaller house. Haven't heard anything from her since. I want to clear up that I'm not saying that I do not feel bad for burning down my neighbor's fence. I felt really bad about it and wish we could have handled it more civilly. I would have been happy to meet in the middle or get multiple quotes. To this day I still don't use fireworks. Because we could have really hurt someone. What I have learned through this though, is it's best to take responsibility for your actions from the gate. The fire investigator had seen the leftover fireworks near the area of the fire, and said he would have slapped cuffs on me and I would be in jail for arson if I would have gave him any other answer. I was not criminally charged, and the incident was deemed an accidental fire. My story happened three years ago. I rented a room in a house with the current owner and occupant of the joint. I'll call him crappy landlord. I gave him a deposit to move in and the first months rent. Everything was wonderful. I did my job, I paid my rental obligation, and privacy was honored. After six months of living with him, I finally got a better paying job and left. The agreement was that when I left, I would receive my deposit back the week after. Week goes by and the crappy landlord says, I'll get it next week. Another month goes by and it changes too. I have not forgotten about you. Well, after it's been two more months, he blocks my number. I'm mad as hell because I want my money. Because of this, I started plotting my revenge. I knew some things about him. The crappy landlord was an narcotics fanatic. He told me he was planning to run a distribution ring. This way through my first month's rent, he showed me his 20 pot plants he was growing into mature plants in the house's basement. He also had a special den room where he could use crack to get a fix, along with ecstasy pills. While I worked hard at my job for not the greatest pay, he took unemployment and disability benefits while doping up back at home. Crappy landlord also had an extensive weapons collection. Firearms which were not registered in his state, as well as firearms not registered under him. He also had his own dealer that would show up to drop off dope. He did this the entire course of me being there, he thought he was safe until he started fucking with my livelihood. So I wrote everything I could remember down and did my research. Behold the powers of search engines and the internet. Bang, crime stoppers fine print, get $1,000 for your tip. Bingo, I fill out every minute detail, added timestamps and photos of the operation. Photo of the house, contacts, all extra information I had on him. Submit everything and given credentials to wait. My deposit was $350, so pocketing an extra $650 is completely worth it. He thought I wouldn't be a snitch, but he backstabbed me. So I'll happily return the favor. My parents lived in the neighboring town. I asked them to forward town newsletters to me and I also looked at the county police and news updates. Four months later I see it in bold. Drug operation busted. The police got a wiretap warrant on his phone and staked out his property. Because of the narcotics and weapons mix, the police took it seriously. So it also involved the ATF with the DEA. A SWAT team executed a search warrant and busted into his house in the early morning hours, around the time he was asleep. They seized everything. He is looking at about 40 to 60 years for his offenses. The police also apprehended the other druggy who delivered to him in the middle of the night. The evidence was pretty damning. I got my revenge, but I also saved a community. All getting back my money, plus interest. Thank you for enjoying this episode, which was made with artificial love. Subscribe to receive future episodes, and tickle the like button for good karma. Do you have any experiences surrounding this topic? Share yours below, I'll join the conversation. And I'll be seeing you. In the next one.