A couple of landlords sparked quite a backlash after making a video in which they suggested people should tip their landlords.
Content creators and real estate investors Kevin Shippee and Matthew Totroreillo, or @twoguystakeonrealestate as they’re known on TikTok, regularly share tips and advice on how to make money by investing in property. You can see the clip that caused the drama here:
Their usual content includes handy advice on how to get into the world of real estate investing, but one recent tongue-in-cheek clip managed to invoke a fair bit of anger from fellow TikTok users who didn’t realise it was a joke.
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In the clip, which sees the pair playing the role of landlord and tenant, Shippee and Totoreillo joked that when it comes time to collect their rents they give tenants the option to leave a tip - and suggest there could be a penalty for those who don’t.
In the clip, the duo explain: "So you'll tip a barista who pours overpriced coffee into a cup, but not the guy who's on call 24/7 to make sure you have a safe home?
"You'll tip an extra 25 percent for somebody to carry you a basket of chicken wings, but you won't tip someone who responds for after hours emergency calls?
"Well, I guess when its time for your lease renewal I'm gonna make sure gratuity is included in your rent."
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As you can imagine, the clip managed to enrage just about everyone who saw it, with one person commenting: "Gratuity for a landlord doing his legal obligation is frankly absurd and likely illegal."
Another said: “I’ll tip $5 to someone making $7 an hour instead of tipping any amount of money to someone making $1000+ just off of me”
While a third added: “Tipping 15% on $1,800 rent is close to $300. Versus a $1 tip on a $7 coffee. And that tip goes to the barista, not the property owner. Greedy.”
In fact, there was such a backlash that the pair made a second clip in which they pointed out that it was satire and that they don’t actually expect their tenants to pay them a tip every time the rent is due.
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In the follow-up, the duo make it clear that ‘as long as you pay your rent remotely on time and don’t destroy the place, you’re good in my book, dude’. Well, I'm glad we cleared that up.
Claire Reid