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Yesterday the Times spotted a new trend: The rent party, which is when a deadbeat tenant refuses to accept that he's living beyond his means and won't move back in with his parents like a real man, so he decides to leech off his friends by inviting them to a "party" and charging them money for admission. Instead of sitting these moochers down and having a sober chat about their extravagant lifestyles, all the friends in the article play along and cough up—except for one brave woman who refused to be shaken down for the $6 charge to "party" in a New Jersey basement. But over in Williamsburg, destitute men's wear salesman Daniel Marks brags that his last rent party went so well ($400) that he'll throw one every month—at least until he bleeds everyone dry: "I don’t think I’ve tapped out my friends." If these parties really are the new craze—the concept dates back at least as far as 1920s Harlem—and this isn't just some manufactured trend article, you'll probably want to know how you can get a piece of the action. Here's an instructional video on how you can effectively make your party parasitical; it's not as easy as you think!
Desperate Times Call For Desperate Rent Parties
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Nice JDS, I love the vitriol oozing from this post. I always wondered what "rent party" throwers do the following month. I had a "friend" I hadn't spoken to in about 2 years call me out of the blue for rent money once. I haven't spoken to her since.
Pretty sure I'd tell anyone who tried this to fuck off
People should't enable their friend's douchebag-ery.
Microtransactions are all the rage nowadays, so I'm charging 20 people a quarter each to attend the "buy my lunch today" party.
If you have enough idiot friends to pay a cover charge to visit your place then go for it. My guess is these people aren't really friends: associates, contacts, sycophants, hangers-on, acquaintances perhaps.
That's pretty hilarious. You'd think it would only work once or twice, and then everybody would be sick of house parties to pay their friends' rent. I wouldn't go near such a party, but I can think of lots of lame people who would. Some people really are just brainless and don't think twice about paying admission to a party they'd normally get in to for free.
Did the hipster grifter make a cameo appearance at any of these rent parties?
Are these B.Y.O. rent parties? Because THAT would be tacky.
I'd rather have a friend get me an interview.
though money is nice but a friend can only give you so much before that well runs dry. I'm tired of just going to the park. (or other "free" events)
I don't know. $6 sounds cheap to me. If I go to a party I usually bring something like a bottle or two of wine, some decent beer, plus something from a bakery or whatever. If I could just pay $6 and not bring anything, I'd be coming out ahead.
Of course, if it is BYO, as JCB said, THAT would suck.
When I lived in Harlem, some of the best parties I went to were rent parties. There were many reasons why a tenant might need a hand, and I hope that the people passing judgement in the comments above never find themselves having to choose between paying the rent or taking a sick kid to the doctor's office, or paying for a parent's funeral... Judge not, kiddies: it could happen to you.
i don't care if people charge to go to a party at their house, but it doesn't seem super efficient if you also have to provide drinks and stuff. but i -do- have a problem with a girl who refuses to pay to see bands play, a la the new brunswick basement show, because seriously, why should bands work for you for free? yeah.
Whatever happened to street hustling for rent? What a bunch of stuck up snobs!