A TikToker claimed the landlord of his luxury apartment is refusing to renew his lease after he made videos exposing broken utilities, stained walls, and bats
Screenshot/TikTok - @donnyskipper1
- A TikToker went viral exposing the less-than-stellar standards of his luxury apartment complex.
- He took viewers on a tour of the building's many issues, including broken utilities and even bats found around the property.
- Since posting his TikToks, he said he received notice that he would not be able to renew his lease.
A TikToker has gone viral with videos showing off his "luxury" apartment complex and exposing its not-so-luxurious issues, like malfunctioning doors and elevators and bats found around the premises. Shortly after his videos went viral, he said he received a notice from his landlord that he would not be able to renew his lease, suspecting his TikToks played a role in that decision.
Donny Skipper told Insider he's now in the process of finding a new place for him, his wife, and his toddler before May, when they'll need to leave.
Skipper began making videos about his building issues in February. He lives in a complex called The Lofts at Harmony Mills, located in Cohoes, New York, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Albany. He moved in during the height of the pandemic and initially thought it was his dream apartment.
In the first video, which has over two million views, Skipper vlogged himself walking around the building and pointed out several malfunctioning features.
The TikToker showed that the front door was finicky, an elevator was out of service, and random water spills were on the ground. At one point, he showed a bat hanging in an elevator and one flying around a hallway.
"I love the bats that live in my luxurious apartment," Skipper said sarcastically. "They're so awesome and they keep things very luxurious."
In further videos, he detailed even more issues, like random "decorative" splatters on the walls, mysterious stains on the ceilings, nails that were sticking out of the ground, and parts of a roof that appeared to be falling off.
Skipper said he contacted the building's office about the roof after he noticed other tenants inspecting it as well and thought it could become a serious safety hazard.
"This section of roof that I'm noticing looks very bad condition and is right above my apartment," he said he wrote in an email, which he showed in the video. "Is this something to be concerned about? What was the nature of this inspection?" According to Skipper, he received a response from management that stated that there was nothing to be concerned about.
Commenters on Skippers' videos have been outraged on his behalf, with many people saying they never trust the word "luxury" when they're shopping for apartments because standards often do not live up to the branding.
"Landlords throw the word luxury on their listings and just raise the price for nothing," one person wrote; "One of my friends lives in a 'luxury' apartment and it's the biggest joke ever. It's dated and just looks normal, not luxury at all," another added.
Some users were particularly startled by the presence of bats in the building. They were so unexpected that people have started making jokes about them.
"Honestly the bats are a selling point for me," one user said.
In a video posted in late February, Skipper claimed that his corporate landlord was ending his lease because of the TikToks he made about the building.
"Holy potato sauce, they're telling me they won't renew my lease just because I made some TikToks saying that there's some things that they gotta get fixed at this place," Skipper said, showing a red envelope with a letter he said he received from the landlord.
Skipper provided Insider with a copy of that notice. While it did state that management has "elected to not renew [his] tenancy at the end of the current term," it did not provide a reason.
Lofts at Harmony Mills did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. The TikToker, however, believes his videos played a role in management's decision.
"Now we have to find a new place in a very short time frame," Skipper told Insider. "Anyone who follows my channel knows that I have a family – a wife and a toddler – and this corporation is forcing us out of our home. All I did was speak up about unsafe conditions."
The Lofts at Harmony Mills currently has a 3.1-star rating on Google, with several one-star reviews that date back years before Skipper's videos. People who claimed to be residents have posted complaints about a host of issues, like packages disappearing and the amenities being in terrible condition.