History Main / CrankyLandlord

* In early ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' comics, a RunningGag was that Walter Collins, the owner of the Baxter Building, had thought renting his upper floors to a superhero team would be good publicity, but quickly realised he DidntThinkItThrough and was constantly looking for reasons to evict them so his building would stop being attacked by supervillains. Eventually, Reed just bought the building from him.

* ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFour1994'': Lavinia Forbes is the Baxter Building landlady, and considers the FF a bunch of troublemakers who burn stuff, break stuff, perform weird experiments and attract supervillains. She considers Sue to be the least problematic, but would happily chuck them all out if she could prove they'd actually violated the terms of the lease.

* ''Manga/YouAreBeingSummonedAzazel'': Kanetomo, Akutabe's landlady, just barges into his apartment when he is late on his payments by a single day (even if by her admission Akutabe has always paid on time; Rinko tells her that she will be paid, just not right now, and Kanetomo growls out a "that's what they always say!") and ransacks the place to get the payment immediately, stealing all of the money in Rinko's purse (Rinko protests but Kanetomo gets in her face [[NightmareFace with a scary visage of her own]] and says "this is my building and I can do whatever I want!". She also is upset that Rinko only has 3000 yen on her person, but she pockets them all the same), [[EnemyEatsYourLunch the snacks everybody was saving, and drinks their tea]] before leaving yelling that they better get the money ASAP. Azazel and the other demons [[EveryoneHasStandards find her extremely rude]].

* ''Manga/YouAreBeingSummonedAzazel'': Kanetomo, Akutabe's landlady, just barges into his apartment when he is late on his payments by a single day (even if by her admission Akutabe has always paid on time; Rinko tells her that she will be paid, just not right now, and Kanemoto growls out a "that's what they always say!") and ransacks the place to get the payment immediately, stealing all of the money in Rinko's purse (Rinko protests but Kanetomo gets in her face [[NightmareFace with a scary visage of her own]] and says "this is my building and I can do whatever I want!". She also is upset that Rinko only has 3000 yen on her person, but she pockets them all the same), [[EnemyEatsYourLunch the snacks everybody was saving, and drinks their tea]] before leaving yelling that they better get the money ASAP. Azazel and the other demons [[EveryoneHasStandards find her extremely rude]].

* ''Manga/YouAreBeingSummonedAzazel'': Kanetomo, Akutabe's landlady, just barges into his apartment when he is late on his payments by a single day (even if by her admission Akutabe has always paid on time; Rinko tells her that she will be paid, just not right now, and Kanemoto growls out a "that's what they always say!") and ransacks the place to get the payment immediately, stealing all of the money in Rinko's purse (Rinko protests but Kanemoto gets in her face with a scary visage of her own and says "this is my building and I can do whatever I want!". She also is upset that Rinko only has 3000 yen on her person, but she pockets them all the same), [[EnemyEatsYourLunch the snacks everybody was saving, and drinks their tea]] before leaving yelling that they better get the money ASAP. Azazel and the other demons [[EveryoneHasStandards find her extremely rude]].

* ''Manga/YouAreBeingSummonedAzazel'': Kanetomo, Akutabe's landlady, just barges into his apartment when he is late on his payments by a single day (even if by her admission Akutabe has always paid on time; Rinko tells her that she will be paid, just not right now, and Kanemoto growls out a "that's what they always say!") and ransacks the place to get the payment immediately, stealing all of the money in Rinko's purse (Rinko protests but Kanemoto gets in her face with a scary visage of her own and says "this is my building and I can do whatever I want!". She also is upset that Rinko only has 3000 yen on her person, but she pockets them all the same), [[EnemyEatsYourLunch the snacks everybody was saving, and drinks their tea]] before leaving yelling that they better get the money ASAP. Azazel and the other demons [[EveryoneHasStandards find her extremely rude]].

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Night Terrors" features a landlord as scary as anything else the Doctor sees that night.

* ''Series/HoratioHornblower'': In "Loyalty", Mrs Mason is Hornblower's Cranky Landlady. She's nervous when he owns her rent as officers starve on half-pay and is displeased that he goes to to play cards. Even though he actually usually earns some money because he's a mathematical genius and skilled whist player. When he brings his friend Mr Bush, she grunts whether he has money to pay her. Her daughter Maria (not very pretty and on her way to become an OldMaid) is crazy about him, which Mrs Mason doesn't like either, because her husband was a sailor and died at service, and she might be angry at Hornblower because he's not interested in Maria romantically and considers her just a friend.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': Time-travelers Picard and company take up residence in a boarding house in 1890s San Francisco in the "Time's Arrow" two-parter. When their landlady Mrs. Carmichael irately demands the long-overdue rent, Picard distracts her by offering her a role in his "acting troupe's" upcoming play ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream''.

** In "Act Break", Maury Winkler and Harry's obnoxious landlord demands the two months rent that they owe him on their office and threatens to evict them if he doesn't get it soon. He also enjoys mocking them because almost all of their 17 plays closed after one performance.
** In "The Mind of Simon Foster", the title character's landlord threatens to throw him out of his apartment if he does not pay his overdue rent by the next day. This forces Simon to accept the pawnbroker Mr. Quint's offer to [[TransferableMemory buy his memory of his high school graduation]]. When Simon pays the $625 that he owes, the landlord proves himself to be corrupt as he illegally demands the next month's rent in advance. He tells Simon that if he goes to the Housing Commission to complain, he could find that his apartment has been given to someone else due to a "clerical error" when he returns.

* Eulice [[ShoutOut Deville]] of ''Webcomic/{{Menage A 3}} ''. When Gary introduces his new roommates, she ignores their pleasantries and shouts, "JOBS!?" She can detect a deadbeat tenant a mile away. She once tracked Gary across the city and found him hiding in a restaurant broom closet. She reacts to [[ComicStrip/{{Blondie}} Mr. Dithers firing Dagwood yet again]] with an EvilLaugh.

* The ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse has Scrooge to his nephew Donald, forcing him to do a number of ridiculous jobs and chores or be evicted. {{Justified|Trope}} in that Donald, being often jobless, tends to be behind of months or even years with the rent alongside other debts (stories where Donald manage to pay off all his debts present it as a rare occurrence and have Scrooge surprised by it).
* Averted in, of all places, ''ComicBook/SinCity''. Dwight and Wallace's landlady was actually pretty sweet and wanted both men to get a nice girlfriend.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': Peter Parker's second apartment, the one for much of the [[TheSeventies 1970s]] and [[TheEighties 1980s]], has a nasty landlady named Mamie Muggins. She was cranky, judgmental, and quick to issue threats. Though sometimes she showed a softer side, helping to furnish an apartment or being a protective aunt to her favorite niece.
* ''{{ComicBook/Sleepwalker}}'' had an unusual subversion in Morris and Ida Epstein, the owners of the apartment building Sleepwalker's human host Rick Sheridan lived in. Rick lived rent-free in his apartment in exchange for being the building janitor and superintendent, doing things like fixing leaks, painting rooms and cleaning up broken glass. Sleepwalker being trapped in Rick's mind hindered his ability to do his job, to the point where a frustrated Morris threatened to replace him and finally did. The subversion is that Morris actually had a justifiable reason for being upset with Rick and gave him multiple warnings before firing him, even as Ida kept defending him.

* ''ComicBook/Sleepwalker'' had an unusual subversion in Morris and Ida Epstein, the owners of the apartment building Sleepwalker's human host Rick Sheridan lived in. Rick lived rent-free in his apartment in exchange for being the building janitor and superintendent, doing things like fixing leaks, painting rooms and cleaning up broken glass. Sleepwalker being trapped in Rick's mind hindered his ability to do his job, to the point where a frustrated Morris threatened to replace him and finally did. The subversion is that Morris actually had a justifiable reason for being upset with Rick and gave him multiple warnings before firing him, even as Ida kept defending him.