r/Maliciouscompliance Landlord Wants Me to Report Him... So I Did!

rSlash

This episode of r/Malicious Compliance features five Reddit users who leveraged strict adherence to contracts, leases, and workplace policies to outmaneuver uncooperative landlords and corporate

Key takeaways

• Cinnamon Moon used a 2020 HR addendum to legally reclassify her home as her primary office, forcing the VP of Operations to back down after HR cited legal stipend risks.
• October Flavor filed a city code enforcement claim for peeling paint, triggering an inspection that uncovered fire alarm failures and miswired electrical panels between units.

Main topics

• Remote work contracts
• Landlord-tenant law

Notable quotes

"My home office remains open for business."

Conclusion

The episode demonstrates how meticulous attention to written agreements

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Hey, I'm Ike Barinholtz. On my new show, Funny You Ask, trivia starts the conversation and then things immediately go off the rails. I ask a question. My guests think they know the answer. Sometimes they do. More often, they do not. And then the conversation takes a turn. One trivia question turns into stories about career highs, painful bombs, and behind-the-scenes moments that probably should have remained private. You'll hear confidence, misplaced confidence, bold guesses, wrong answers, quick laughs and the slow realization that maybe this was a bad idea to say out loud. If you like smart comedy, sharp conversations and trivia that exists purely to melt people's brains, this is Funny You Ask with me, Ike Barinholtz. Follow Funny You Ask with Ike Barinholtz on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Speaker 3 (0:49) Welcome to r slash malicious compliance, where OP gets his scummy landlord into big trouble. Our next Reddit post is from Cinnamon Moon. I work as a senior database administrator for a mid-sized tech company. When 2020 hit, our entire department went remote. We crushed our metrics, rolled out major infrastructure upgrades ahead of schedule, and saved the company a fortune in operational costs. For six years, my setup worked like a charm. Then a new VP of Operations was hired. This guy was a classic butts-in-seats manager. Two weeks ago, he sent out an all-hands email declaring that to foster collaboration, all remote exceptions were revoked. Everyone had to report to the office full-time starting Monday. I emailed him directly to explain my situation. I live three hours away from headquarters. This was a setup approved by my former director years ago. I pointed out my performance reviews and asked if we could compromise on a hybrid schedule. He replied, The mandate applies to everyone. You're expected to perform your duties from the office starting Monday. I was furious, but then I remembered my employment contract. I dug up the original remote work addendum that I signed back in 2020. It stated, The employee agrees to perform all official duties from the designated primary office space. Any change to the employee's primary office location must be submitted in writing and approved by HR. Right below that was the form that I filled out in 2020 formally changing my designated primary office location from headquarters to my home. HR had signed off on it, stamp and all. My home was officially reclassified as my company-approved office location. Technically, my home office was the office. So on Monday morning, I didn't get in my car. At 8.54am, I walked 10 feet from my bedroom to my desk, booted up my rig, and logged into Slack. At 9.17am, the VP messaged me. You around? We have a standard 9am start today. Yep, I'm logged in and good to go. I mean at headquarters. I stop by the fourth floor and your desk is empty. Oh, I'm working from the office today. What? What office? My official primary office location on record is such-and-such address, my home. Per my 2020 HR agreement, this is my designated workspace. The VP doesn't respond for a minute, then replies, That's not how this works, OP. This policy means headquarters. You need to be here tomorrow. I'm just following the written contract on file. I attached the signed location form here so that you can have it. He didn't reply after that. Around 3pm, I got a mass automated email from HR with the subject line, Update regarding remote work designations. The body was standard dry corporate speak, saying they were currently reviewing all legacy remote contracts, and that existing designated locations would remain valid pending individual review. Translation, the VP ran to HR to complain, HR took one look at my contract, realized forced location would trigger a mess of legal headaches and stipend requirements, and told him to