A TikTok creator is drawing attention to what she describes as a dispute over a New York City apartment and a subletter's GoFundMe campaign.
The woman, who goes by Kaylen or @kaylendoesstuff on TikTok, posted a video breaking down the NYC roommate drama that has captivated viewers and gotten people pretty involved, whether by commenting, resharing, or liking her video.
@kaylendoesstuff maybe let’s go back to Georgia ?roommates pov: @marlynlikethefish #storytime #nycroommates #sublet #nycroommatedrama
♬ original sound - Kaylen
TikToker Says Subletter Didn't Have Proof of Income
Kaylen begins her video by explaining that her best friend, Marlyn, has been the leaseholder on their apartment for the last three years. She says Marlyn’s roommate moved out at the end of April 2026 and found a subletter, whom she refers to as EK.
So EK is moving in in May, and the lease ends in June. Kaylen says Marlyn tells EK from the start that she’s not going to be signing a new lease with her and that she either has to leave or find a new place once the lease is up.
Marlyn later found out a place in Manhattan and tells EK she’s leaving.
That’s when EK, as Kaylen explains, “starts to crash out” because she doesn’t have a job. Instead, she sells keychains and doesn’t have the pay stubs or proof of income that many apartments and rental properties require in order to sign a lease.
That means when Marlyn leaves, she won’t have the documentation needed to stay on her own. So then Kaylen says EK started a GoFundMe and includes a screenshot in her video, calling her out for it because of how she referenced Marlyn in the fundraiser description.
In the screenshot of the GoFundMe, EK introduces herself and says she’s a “full time artist in NYC for over a year now and jumped through so many sublets trying to find home.”
She then goes on to explain that she moved into her current apartment “thinking I’d get to stay, but after a horribly traumatizing situation with my roommate, now turned into dealing with slummy landlords.” She adds that she’s “at my breaking point” and isn’t sure if she’s going to need to pay the entirety of rent for July on top of the security deposit, or if she’ll have to move in literally a week. At the time the screenshot was taken, she had reached $3,345 of her $5,000 goal.
If you’re living in NYC, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Harlem, and think you can survive there on selling key chains, you’re insane! NYC is hustle culture. People have a real job and side hustles to survive!!
— Here For THEE Comments 1 (@forthecomments1) July 1, 2026
Kaylen appears to have taken issue with EK’s reaction to Marlyn moving out and her GoFundMe description, where she calls the situation “traumatizing” and refers to her friend, the landlord, as “slummy,” which is why she made a reaction video breaking everything down.
She ends her video by saying her friend has been nothing but nice to EK, and that it’s not her fault she doesn’t have the documentation or proof of income to qualify for the apartment on her own.
She then offers some advice, saying she should get a job or go back to Georgia, where she originally moved from.
The video drew thousands of comments, with many users supporting Kaylen's account while others urged caution because only one side of the dispute had been shared.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the claims made in the TikTok video or the GoFundMe campaign, which are based solely on the participants' accounts shared online.
