Last year, I rented a house, mainly for convenience, without considering other factors. When I moved in, I discovered various issues, but due to the constraints of the rental contract, I could only wait quietly.

I found that the biggest problem was the humidity; many times it was even more humid than the weather outside. Additionally, sunlight was blocked, with only a brief period of sunlight at noon.

You might think that such a house would have a very low rent, but in fact, it is not cheap at all; I won't specify how much. When renting, the room came with a washing machine and refrigerator, and I couldn't tell how long they had been there from the outside, but one incident made me realize it had been over a decade.

When I used the washing machine, there was always a trickle of water on the floor, which I didn't pay much attention to until one day it was no longer a trickle but a pool of water flowing out, and that’s when I realized the washing machine was broken.

Since the washing machine was broken, it needed to be repaired, so I contacted the landlord and sent her screenshots of the photos, asking if the washing machine was still under warranty and if she could call the service provider to come and fix it.

The landlord received the screenshots and responded, saying, "Okay, I will ask."

Three days passed without any news, and after another two days, there was still no response. I then asked if she had contacted the manufacturer. The landlord replied that she had not.

It seemed the landlord didn't take it seriously at all. Reluctantly, I contacted the local repair center based on the washing machine's brand. After checking the serial number, they told me that this washing machine was over a decade old, and that model was no longer in production. If they were to come for repairs, there would be some fees, which I would need to negotiate with the repair technician.

After receiving this information, I contacted the landlord again and provided her with these details. After receiving the information, she responded that repairs were possible, but if it exceeded one hundred yuan, she would not be willing to pay, and since the washing machine was in use by me, I should at least share the repair costs equally.

She also added that washing machines are very cheap now, and one can buy a new one for three to five hundred yuan during home appliance sales, so there was no need to repair it if it cost more than one hundred yuan.

I didn't expect the landlord to say this. Initially, I had already reported the issue to her, but she handled it passively. When I inquired, she said she hadn't contacted anyone yet, and now she was being so stingy about the repair costs.

Later, I sent the chat records with the landlord to the repair technician who had not yet arrived. The technician asked if I planned to repair it. If there were no issues after inspection, there would still be a fifty yuan service fee. However, from the video I sent, it seemed the drain pipe was broken, and replacing the drain pipe wouldn't cost much; the total cost would just be a little over one hundred yuan.

When I updated the landlord on the situation, she seemed a bit panicked and said that the manufacturer would charge a lot. I replied that it was most likely just a pipe issue, which should be cheap, right?

The landlord continued to say that I didn't understand these things and that it would definitely be expensive. She repeatedly emphasized that she couldn't cover the fifty yuan service fee if there were no issues.

Later, the washing machine repair technician arrived, and I went downstairs to bring the Haier technician into the room. He moved the washing machine slightly, laid it down gently, and after checking, told me that the connection at the drain pipe had cracked, which was a sign of aging, and the washing machine was already eleven years old. He then stood the washing machine upright, opened the lid, and pointed to various connections inside, saying that there were small cracks appearing, indicating problems, but currently, these areas were not leaking.

I said that those areas didn't need to be replaced; we just needed to fix the leaking part.

The technician then took a hose from his bag, removed the old hose connected to the washing machine, and installed a new hose.

After the installation, he restarted the washing machine to check for leaks, and after testing and inspection, he confirmed that the problem was resolved.

At this point, the technician told me that this location was considered out of the service area, and according to our regulations, an additional charge of one hundred yuan would apply. However, seeing how stingy the landlord was, he waived that fee and charged me a total of one hundred and twenty-five yuan.

The technician added that he had never seen such a stingy landlord before; in other places he repaired, landlords would directly transfer the payment to him, but this landlord was too stingy.

After the repair was completed, the technician issued a repair certificate, stating that any quality issues in this regard could be replaced for free within three months.

Since I had previously added him on WeChat, I transferred the repair fee to him via WeChat. He then left after going downstairs.

After the technician left, I took a screenshot of the transfer and the repair receipt and sent it to the landlord. The landlord then confirmed again, "I can transfer you half, right?"

I replied, "Half is fine."

She tried to explain the legitimacy of her reasoning, but I interrupted her, saying there was no need for an explanation; just follow the agreement, and you can transfer me twelve point five yuan on WeChat.

The landlord agreed. However, she did not transfer it promptly, saying she was busy at the moment and would transfer it when she was free. It wasn't until twenty-four hours later that she finally transferred the money.

Although this matter was resolved, I still felt that the landlord had issues with how she handled things. No wonder she had previously had serious conflicts with tenants. At the same time, I understood why she chose to come at night when signing the tripartite contract; the main reason was that she didn't want to take time off work, thinking it was a waste of money. Even on weekends, she was unwilling to participate in handling matters and always made excuses about being busy with other things.

During this time, she made various excuses to avoid issues like clogged drains and air conditioning cleaning. If she needed to find someone to repair the clogged drain, she would only share the costs with me. As for air conditioning cleaning, she had no intention of covering any expenses; she was truly a penny-pincher.

After living there for a while, I gradually learned more about the house. This house should belong to the category of housing reform houses, which can be purchased at a very low price by eligible individuals after the reform.

Based on the inspection date of the water meter in the room, I roughly deduced that it was a housing reform house from 2009. Additionally, the water meter had malfunctioned after more than a decade, spinning much faster than normal. I reported this to the landlord, but she continued to handle it passively. Eventually, I had to report it to the water company and call 1234, which finally resolved the issue. The water company replaced the faulty water meter, and the water usage returned to normal.

From the total water usage recorded by the water meter, I inferred that the actual rental period of the landlord's house was not very long, which also indicated that it was not easy for her to rent it out. She was using an intermediary like Beike to publish the rental information. I usually don't rent through intermediaries; it was mainly my wife who contacted them. After this incident, I confirmed one thing: aside from the contract being legitimate, everything else was problematic. Therefore, if renting a house, it is essential to check from multiple angles, including communicating with the landlord, to obtain more information, rather than just dealing with the intermediary and only meeting the landlord after the deal is done, as that poses a significant risk.