A San Francisco Bay Area landlord has triggered outrage after allegedly trying to charge tenants an extra $200 a month simply for working from home.
The furnished one-bedroom cottage was already listed at a steep rent of $3,250 per month. But the unusual “work-from-home fee” quickly became the real talking point after the listing surfaced on Reddit.
According to an SFGATE report, tenants who planned to use the property for remote work were expected to pay the additional monthly charge, taking the effective rent to $3,450.
The bizarre condition left social media users stunned, with many questioning why a tenant should be charged more for spending time inside a home they were already paying thousands of dollars to rent.
Several users mocked the listing, while others described the surcharge as another example of the extreme rental market in the Bay Area.
The listing soon went viral, attracting widespread criticism over what many saw as an unreasonable attempt to squeeze more money out of renters.
It has since disappeared from the market. However, it remains unclear whether the cottage was successfully rented or whether the landlord removed the listing following the backlash.
In a region already known for sky-high housing costs, the controversial fee appears to have crossed a line even for Bay Area renters.
