'Anxious' tenant begs for advice after landlord sets her a candlelit dinner

A tenant whose landlord set a candlelit dinner for her has appealed for advice after growing “increasingly uncomfortable” with the living arrangement.

The renter took to Reddit to canvas opinions, explaining the lease started off perfectly fine, but very quickly her interactions with the home’s owner have “started feeling off”.

The Canadian tenant wanted advice on whether she was overthinking the situation, or should act on her instincts.

Comments on the thread urged her to leave – with haste.

She said her landlord is a middle-aged widower who came across as kind and well-mannered in the early days of her moving in.

However, within a week he had unexpectedly laid out a candlelit dinner for her and knocked her bedroom door repeatedly, late at night.

“Things escalated on the sixth day when he ordered takeout food for me,” she wrote on the thread.

“When I went downstairs, I found the living room filled with candles and two cups of coffee set out. He had left the food in the kitchen, but I declined to join him because the whole setup felt uncomfortable.

“The next night, he knocked on my door twice at midnight but left when I didn’t answer.”

She said she now feels uneasy walking past him in the living room, where he spends most of his time, to get to her bedroom.

There is another tenant in the property, but he leases the basement and uses a separate entrance, so the woman said she rarely interacts with him.

She said she feels anxious as the only female in the house and rarely leaves her bedroom.

One response to the post said: “Always trust your gut! It’s hard when you’re young because you don’t want upset anyone but you are right. This sounds totally off.”

Another commented: “Your safety and comfort is more important and if you’re feeling uneasy in your own home then that would be the first sign to leave.

“Maybe I’m being paranoid now but also check your room to see if there’s any cameras.”

The renter said she found CCTV videos of the living room and exterior of the property on recording equipment in the basement, which has compelled her to investigate whether there are cameras in her bedroom.

She said some work colleagues told her she had over-analysed the situation, but the Reddit response, which was overwhelmingly of alarm and concern, confirmed to her she should leave.