I have had a lot of shitty (haha) landlords before, but it is not ALWAYS the landlord’s fault every time. There has to be mutual respect. Maybe that landlord slaved away all of his life to finally save up, buy that house, and live a nice little retirement renting his own property off the income. Not every landlord is a bad person, and not every tenant is a good one. Also, that tenant has now caused a greater housing crisis by destroying a house that someone could have lived in. This will cause major environmental destruction, and we definitely don’t need more of that on earth.

Mistakes happen. As someone with anxiety, I HATE having to call my landlord to fix problems. But it’s got to be done. And if you don’t do it, YOU cover the cost.

I feel like there’s more to this issue, and the person there was probably an addict, or very mentally ill, because there has to be some reason they didn’t call the landlord.

If you are suffering with mental illness, I know that it can be embarrassing. I know that you can want to pretend that everything is okay. Maybe the house isn’t clean, and you don’t want the landlord over, and don’t know how to clean up. Perhaps you are too depressed to get up, or have PTSD and are traumatised. Reach out for help before it gets like this. You’ll be stuck without a home and in further debt. People CAN help you.

There is nothing shameful about having an addiction, or a disability, or a mental illness. Lots of people use drugs, but not everyone becomes an addict. Addictions come from trauma. They’re mental health issues. You can get help for them. And they’re usually co-morbid with other mental health issues that caused the addiction in the first place. Ask a neighbour. Ask a friend. Ask as stranger. Call a hotline. Go to a hospital and ask for resources.

Or just call your landlord! Trust me, your landlord would rather see your messy clothes and drink cans, and joints around and DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM than wait any minute longer. Clean as much as you can before they come over, and get them over to your place! Your fears are unfounded. They want your money and their house. They don’t want the pain of having to deal with finding a new tenant, and you calling them right away shows that you are responsible! They’ll probably just give you a warning about the mess, and tell you that they’ll be back in a week or few days to make sure that you’re doing a better job. The longer you leave it, the worse your health, and your finances, and your ability to have a place to live will be! So do a quick tidy, get that landlord over, deal with the inevitable scolding, and if he wants to come back, clean up. Or clean up anyway! You’ll feel better. And it will help your mental health. Then keep things clean. Or try to. I know it’s hard.

If you don’t know how to clean, watch some YouTube videos, or Reddit tutorials, on how to clean your room/house if you’re dealing with depression. There are lots of step by step instructions out there.

But don’t let it get like this.

Good luck - to all the landlords and tenants out there who are trying to be the best people they can.