A young woman was burdened with the care of her nephew, who is five years her junior, and when he moved in with her as an adult, he refused to pay his share of rent. The woman responded by taking drastic measures, leaving their family displeased and divided.
A 25-year-old woman contacted Reddit users for advice in the following situation. She revealed that she and her 20-year-old nephew grew up together, and she took care of him throughout her childhood and teenage years.
Despite the five-year age difference, she still cares for him and never really minded. The original poster (OP) explained that, to her, he is family and she even let him live with her. However, growing up, OP’s nephew would steal her things or not give them back, and when he did, they were ruined or damaged.
Instead of getting into trouble, he got off scot-free, while OP was blamed instead because she was the oldest. Seeing that he had a rough childhood, she had to let him do whatever he wished. However, the Reddit user wasn’t pleased to do that because she’d raised him the best way she could, seeing she was a teenager then.
OP recalled having to clean and cook for her nephew, which upset her, but that was in the past. Now, as an adult, she has her apartment, and seeing as she needed assistance paying her rent, her nephew offered to live with him and pay his share.
His college was ten minutes away from her apartment, and his previous residence was 40 minutes by car, so he moved in with her. OP’s nephew initially started paying his share of the rent before slowly stopping. She confronted him about it, but he never paid.
He told her that since she is his aunt and older, she has to pay for everything, which aggravated her. She knew she hadn’t raised him to be that way and then discovered he was doing things he shouldn’t be doing. OP also found out he had been stealing money from her room, adding:
“He doesn’t give money for anything. He just goes to school and stays in my apartment rent free and I can’t support both of us.”
The Reddit user told her nephew’s mother and her own about his failure to pay rent, and all they said was that she should support him and give him money since she’s his aunt. OP confessed she doesn’t have the cash and can barely afford rent.
She couldn’t understand why they wanted her to give him the money he’d squandered. Instead, she told him to get a job, or he couldn’t live with her. He responded by threatening to kick her out of her apartment, so she snapped and did it to him!
OP threw his clothes out and told him never to return! Most of their family aren’t talking to the young aunt because they’re angry, but her cousins still keep in contact. She concluded her post by asking if she was in the wrong for her actions.
“Your mom and aunt don’t want to deal with him either.”
The Reddit user updated her post later, thanking the platform’s users for being “brutally honest” with her. She revealed that she’s the youngest of her siblings and admitted that letting her nephew move in with her wasn’t a good idea.
OP said she initially felt she couldn’t leave him without a place to stay because she raised him. She believed him when he said he’d pay but ended up leaving his things in the lobby. No one in the family wants to take him in, and OP refused to take him back, opting to be done with them all instead.
She expressed how she gave up everything for him and couldn’t believe that this was how he was paying her back. The young woman hoped he learned through this experience that she would not always be there to save him. She also vowed to make a police report against him.
Reddit users shared their opinions, with one person writing, “NTA. Your nephew’s behavior deserves — demands! — consequences. He is breaking way too many rules for you to be a [expletive] for kicking him out. (1) He’s not paying the rent he agreed to. (2) He’s doing thing[s] she’s not supposed to. (3) He’s stealing money from your room?!!! (4) He threatened to kick you out of your own apartment?!!! Honestly, he not only deserves to be kicked out, but in fact, it would be a bad lesson for his future if you didn’t.”
Responding to the previous comment, someone else added, “Yeah, he needs to learn that actions have consequences before he goes out in to [sic] the world and finds out real bad.”
While another noted, “Not only deserves to be kicked out, but deserves a swift kick in the [expletive] on the way out!”
“NTA. Your mom and aunt don’t want to deal with him either. So they’re trying to guilt you into taking responsibility for him and supporting him financially. Don’t give in!” observed another reader.
“NTA. Change the locks of your apartment ASAP. Such an entitled brat may try to sneak in again,” advised someone else.
“NTA. DON’T give him money, don’t let him live with you. Send him back to all these AHs, let our [sic] mom or his mlm take him in,” suggested another Reddit user.
OP was absolved of guilt by readers who felt the young woman’s other family members were taking advantage of her. Most urged her to stand her ground and refuse to budge if her nephew’s family tried getting her to give him money.
