Woman matches with former landlord on Hinge and agrees to date to get security deposit back

A Tennessee TikTok user went viral after telling viewers that she matched with her previous landlord on the dating app Hinge and agreed to go on a date with him – if he paid using her security deposit that she had yet to get back.

Being in your 20s is hard. You’re thrown into the adult world and expected to learn everything and bills, taxes and deposits while also fighting with others to rent a home. And on top of this, there’s dating and finding your way around dating apps.

It becomes even more awkward when your previous landlord, who has yet to pay back your security deposit, matches with you on one of these apps. Luckily it doesn’t happen a lot, but it’s exactly what happened to TikToker dubwaah, also known as Heather DuBois.

How did the landlord not recognize Heather?

Taking to TikTok, Heather showed screenshots of a man who had liked and sent a messaged to Heather on Hinge.

In the message, the man invited Heather out for coffee and shared his Instagram account. Thanks to the account name, Heather realized the potential match was her former landlord, who she had only met once before when first touring the property.

Talking about the top photo on the man’s profile, Heather told her viewers: “I noticed the background on one of his photos and I was like ‘what the heck? That was taken on the rooftop on my old townhouse that I moved out of back in September’.”

She went on: “He clearly didn’t recognize me in the photo because we only met once when I toured the apartment. But things ended very badly. To the point when we both said ‘don’t contact me again’.”

The landlord refuses to pay back deposit

Having lived there with her now ex-boyfriend, Heather described the pair as easy tenants that never requested anything from the landlord. But as their lease ended, things took a turn for the worse.

“He ended up keeping our security deposit with absolutely zero word of what the damages were, no running list. He just texted me like ‘you know the damages are far beyond the security deposit.’

“No, I actually don’t know that. I paid over 400 for a move out cleanout. We left that place like spick and span.”

She continued to explain how things quickly escalated, with the landlord threatening to file a police report and claimed that the pair had gone back to the property to claim mail – which they hadn’t done, according to Heather, as they were out of state.

Heather then cut back to the screenshot of the hinge profile, having written a message that read: “Yes, sure! But only if you give me the security deposit back” along with a smiley face.

Could this be the next new rom-com story?

Heather’s video has gone viral, racking up 181,000 views with most people being on Heather’s side.

One person wrote in the comments: “go on Just enough dates for him to pay enough to equal the deposit.”

Another said: “Ask him if you can come over, get his address, then serve him with a civil suit to reclaim your security deposit since he illegally withheld it”

A third person said: “If only I would match my old LL. Would venmo charge him for emotional trauma.”

Referring to the hit 90s rom-com You’ve Got Mail, a fourth person wrote: “new rom-com with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.”

One day after publishing the first video, Heather updated viewers in a new video, where she revealed that the landlord had unmatched with her on the app after reading her message and finding out who she was. Not the happy ending we were hoping for.

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