Hmm, if you have a landlord or landlady who isn’t a threat to your mental health, you should be thanking God!
I arrived in Russia in 2017, and until last year, I had been living in my school’s hostel. After graduation, I decided to move into an apartment. Friends, I found a fairly nice place, and for the price, it was okay. The person I was communicating with was a lady in her mid-fifties.
The first red flag I ignored was when she said I had to pay six months’ rent upfront. I didn’t know the rules of renting an apartment, so I just went along with what she said.
Once I moved in, she was supposed to provide me with my registration. For about a month, I kept calling her, but she avoided me like the plague, always deferring to a later time. Finally, by the end of that first month, I received my registration from her.
During that month, she would randomly show up at my apartment, claiming that the neighbors were complaining about noise. Mind you, I was living alone, and I was certain she was lying. I kept getting weird vibes from her but didn’t complain because I thought she would eventually leave me alone.
She implemented strict “checks” of my apartment frequently for any damages. As if that wasn’t enough, she even installed CCTV outside my apartment. Throughout all this, I never complained because I am a very calm person.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was one particular incident. A friend from another city asked to crash at my place, and I saw no issue with it. On the day my friend arrived, I ordered food from an African friend who delivered it in person.
Three of us were in the apartment chatting and chilling for a while. My friend who brought the food left in the evening, while the person from out of town left the next morning.
Tell me why, after they left, my landlady bombarded my phone with messages and videos from the CCTV showing the two people entering my apartment! I was shocked and scared—why was this woman monitoring my life like this?
That afternoon, she came over, entered my apartment, and started checking the bathroom, kitchen, and everywhere else. In her words, I was unlawfully bringing people to stay. She claimed that according to our agreement, only one person was meant to live in the apartment.
I was furious but didn’t want things to escalate. I explained that if she had watched the CCTV, she would have seen them leave and that only one person stayed overnight—who left early in the morning. Nobody was living with me! She started shouting and refused to listen.
I decided I had had enough. I went to the police station and explained my predicament. They told me there was nothing they could do and suggested I get a lawyer. That week, I made sure to find a lawyer and narrated everything that had happened during my stay in the apartment.
The lawyer said that in many ways, my landlady was crossing boundaries and that she was acting this way because I hadn’t reacted initially and I didn’t know the rules. My lawyer drafted a letter with a stern warning for her. Since sending that letter, she has never troubled me again. I didn’t renew my lease and left that place after six months.
What I’ve shared is just a glimpse of what I experienced with that woman. Whatever you’re doing in a foreign land, make sure you know the rules and your rights—it will save you from unnecessary stress.
May God help us o.
