‘Don't trust your sweet Bengaluru landlord’: Tenant shares how they nearly got trapped, warns others

Tenant claims landlord altered agreement without prior discussion. (AI-generated representative image)

Bengaluru is one of the most expensive cities to live in India. As the country’s tech hub, demand for housing continues to rise, and rental prices are often high. Social media platforms such as X and Reddit are filled with tenants discussing their experiences in the city’s competitive property market. In one such recent post, a resident shared an account that has since gone viral online.

The Reddit post was titled, ‘Don't trust your ‘sweet’ Bangalore landlord’. In it, the tenant explained that they had been staying in a flat in Basavanagar since 2022 and described their record as responsible and consistent.

Setting the context of their tenancy and renewal, the user wrote, “I've been a tenant in the same Basavanagar flat since 2022. Never missed a payment, never a complaint. My 2026 renewal just came up, and when I asked the owner if any terms had changed, he literally messaged me: No.”

After receiving this response, the tenant said they did not rely only on the message and instead examined the draft agreement carefully, comparing it with the previous version.

Sharing a lesson they believed others should keep in mind, the user stated, “Moral of the story: Even if your landlord seems like a ‘nice uncle,’ they are running a business. Compare your new agreement against your old one word-for-word before you sign.” The user also shared a screenshot of the WhatsApp exchange.

The tenant later informed the landlord about their decision to leave and expressed their disagreement with how the situation had been handled.

Addressing the issue directly, they told their landlord, “Please, next time, do not tell me that you can just do anything that you wish to because you are the owner of the flat. Even I own a flat and have never behaved this way with any of my tenants.”

The post attracted a large number of responses from other users who shared their own experiences of renting in Bengaluru. Several netizens said they had faced similar changes in rental terms.

Recalling a past incident, one user commented, “Yeah, this happened to me too once. But it was during COVID-19, so I had leverage.” Another user pointed to an even longer notice clause introduced by their former landlord, writing, “My previous landlord introduced 3 months notice period.”

The discussion also moved to high deposit demands in the city’s rental market. One user described a situation during a house visit. Explaining what happened, a commenter wrote. “A similar incident happened to me when I visited a flat for rent. She literally asked for 5x the monthly rent as a deposit. I politely told her, according to the laws, it should be max 2 months, she told me she is the owner and can set the deposit as her wish.”

Not all users were critical of longer notice periods. Some suggested that such clauses can offer protection to tenants as well. Presenting a different view, one user wrote, “My landlord introduced 2 months, and I was happy. The way I saw it was that it’s hard to find an apartment in Bangalore, and it won’t be easy for him to just kick me out if he finds a higher-paying tenant. Since it goes both ways. Am I missing something ?”

Don’t trust your "sweet" Bangalore landlord. Mine tried to trap me with a 2-month notice period during renewal. by u/dj989 in bangalore

In response, another commenter focused on the issue of disclosure rather than the length of the notice period itself. They replied, “What you are missing is that OP’s landlord lied when he asked if any terms have changed. He did not discuss changing the notice period with OP.”

Some users also cautioned the original poster about possible difficulties during the move-out stage. Offering a warning, one user wrote, “Oh man. You've just dug a hole for yourself. He'll create a nuisance for you during move-out. You should have been outright diplomatic and just quietly moved out.”

Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content shared on social media. Moneycontrol has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.