Rent can be expensive, and in today’s story, one college student’s friends don’t think she should charge them rent since she owns the house they all live in.
However, charging rent is her way of earning money while in school.
Let’s see how the story unfolds…
AITA for not telling my friends I am technically our landlord?
So I (18f) am very lucky in that I have two very hardworking parents that are successful and love me.
We aren’t mega-wealthy but we are very comfortable as my parents are extremely smart financially.
We own multiple houses as part of our real estate portfolio that we rent out for extra income.
I recently started college, and as a present for working hard and getting into my dream school my parents gifted me one of our houses that is near my college.
I was going to inherit them all anyway but I really appreciated their gesture.
Where I live real estate law is a little tricky and we would have to pay significant taxes to officially transfer the house to me, so we decided to have my parents own it legally for now.
She didn’t tell her roommates that she owns the house.
The house is pretty big with 4 floors (including a fully furnished basement) and a roomy attic, and since it is near my school, I decided to look for roommates so I could start earning money early.
So far I have two roommates, who we’ll call Sasha (18f) and Bea (19f) who also go to my school.
We have been living together for a couple months now (they moved in around August) and we are all pretty good friends, and very compatible roommates.
This is where I might be the jerk.
I didn’t want to tell them that I own the house as I thought it might create a weird dynamic between us, and I didn’t want them to view me any differently.
Her roommates found out she’s not paying rent.
We split the bills and rent, with me technically paying nothing.
Since my father legally owns the house and we have different surnames (I took my mother’s last name) they have no idea I own the house or that my dad just sends the money back to me.
Sasha recently found the money my dad sent back while I was at class and told Bea, and they cornered me about it a few days ago.
Her roommates don’t think she should charge them rent.
I told them everything, and they’re mad at me for hiding this from them and think I’m not only in the wrong for keeping it a secret but for making them pay rent in the first place.
The house’s mortgage has already been paid off, so the rent goes entirely into my pocket.
I responded by saying that they shouldn’t have gone through my mail in the first place, and that it was illegal, which I’ll admit was kind of a low blow.
We weren’t friends when they moved in, and the whole point of me wanting roommates was so that I could earn extra cash, so I don’t see why I should let them reside for free.
AITA here?
She should’ve been honest, but she should still charge them rent.
If they don’t like it, they can pay to live somewhere else.
Let’s see how Reddit reacted…
This reader thinks she should stop mailing money to her dad.
Another reader thinks she needs to be honest with herself and her roommates.
This person wouldn’t want to live with the landlord.
Another reader thinks the friends were wrong for snooping.
This reader points out how ridiculous it is of the friends to expect free rent.
Technically, the parents still own the house.
She could’ve just said from the beginning that it’s her parents’ house.
If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.