Emily Chan
Landlords are notorious for squeezing out every dollar they can from their tenants. Sarah Pribis (@sarahpribis) is an actress living in a rent-controlled apartment in New York City, and she’s on TikTok sharing screenshots of text messages from her landlord, who has been trying to force her out of the apartment for ten years. The video went viral and gained 24.6 million views.
The first text exchange started with Sarah’s landlord asking if she had moved out of the apartment. Sarah informed him that she was on a work assignment. In response, he told her that someone had said she moved out.
That was followed up with another text, telling her she wasn’t allowed to move out and rent out the apartment to another person since it was rent-stabilized.
Sarah restated that she was still living there with her roommate but would be commuting to Connecticut for work for about a month. She concluded the conversation by saying that she wouldn’t just up and leave without warning.
“If I was moving out, I would tell you. I’m aware of the rules, and I wouldn’t want to put my lease at risk,” she wrote.
Another screenshot showed a near-identical conversation with Sarah’s landlord, asking her if she had moved back in. She informed him that she had been in the apartment on the weekends and on some days during the week.
He told her that someone had said she moved out again. She reiterated that she wasn’t moving and all her belongings were still in the apartment.
Then, he asked if she would be staying in Connecticut for work. She replied that it was a temporary arrangement since an office would be opening in New York City soon. He responded with, “Nice. Maybe then you can rent a nicer apartment, lol.” She wrote back, “One day! I’m not quite there yet, but moving in the right direction.
Next, he teased the idea of offering her money to move out. Apparently, his father had previously offered Sarah $10,000 to move out, which he thought was a pretty good amount of money. She retorted that it wasn’t enough to get her to move because she really liked living there.
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