Having a rental property can be a great source of income, but you must take it seriously to ensure you are making money.

What happens if you let a friend stay there at a discounted rate to help them get on their feet, then they never leave?

This landlord is finding out, and her friend is making things worse by not wanting to let her inspect the home for potential repairs.

Check it out and see what you think.

AITA for possibly shaming an old friend by inspecting her house?

I own a small cottage that I am currently renting to an old friend.

That is very nice.

I charge her a deeply discounted rate with the understanding that she would only be staying for a year or so while getting back on her feet after losing a job and fighting an alcohol relapse.

Just as an aside. Not especially relevant to this incident.

They are clearly just taking advantage at this point.

She and her son (16) have lived in the house for three years now, which is ok but starting to irk me because she has no job and no plan to leave.

Her kid is in local school and she seems like she’s put down roots.

I haven’t paid much attention to the upkeep of my cottage because I’ve been distracted with other life stuff.

But, while she’s lived there I’ve replaced the washer/dryer and fridge.

Both broke.

I drove by the house a few weeks ago and noticed that some of the shingles were coming off of the siding and the front stairs looked like there was some rot.

It is important to keep up on this type of maintenance.

I texted my friend and asked if I could inspect the house with my handyman so that we could check on everything and repair any damage or get ahead of other things that might be falling apart.

She agreed to a day and time.

I show up with the carpenter and we say hello and start to walk around outside.

After finding a few issues (I’m using my phone to snap photos to remind d myself what needs fixing) we go inside and test the some appliances and generally poke around looking for any leaks or signs of trouble elsewhere.

We were being quiet and respectful.

Old friend comes downstairs and I can immediately tell that she is really upset.

Wow, what’s with the attitude.

She tries to contain her anger but gruffly asks “what are you even looking for?”

I said I’m looking for things to fix.

I’ve deferred maintenance for a long time and I don’t want my expensive asset to fall apart.

Her vibe was super uptight and angry and I was really taken aback.

The handyman sensed tension and tried to change the subject to ask if the renter has noticed anything amiss in the house that needs fixing.

She defensively answers no.

I felt pretty defensive too at this point.

And this is where I let my feelings get in the way perhaps.

She has every reason to be frustrated.

I felt resentful that she has lived in my house for a long time while paying very little.

I think my body language and tone hinted at that frustration.

But in my defense I was calm and really didn’t say much at all.

Old friend gets very flustered and emotional and says she needs to leave.

She busts out the door and we were left feeling like we did something wrong.

The handyman (who is also a friend) turned to me and said “I don’t like the way she just spoke to you”.

I was glad to have a witness who observed the heat coming off of her.

I’ve been so upset about this interaction and can’t stop thinking I’ve done something to shame or embarrass her?

Did I insult her by inspecting my house?

Did I invade her privacy?

Did I make her feel unwelcome?

I know you guys can’t answer these questions because you weren’t there.

I guess I want to know what you think about my side and what I might do to smooth things over?

Or was old friend in the wrong?

AITA?

If anything, you were doing her a favor by making sure things were fixed up.

Let’s see what the people in the comments think.

Sometimes doing business with friends is trouble.

Here is a good question.

Here is someone who thinks it is time to push the tenant out.

This comment says that she has the right to inspect the property.

This person thinks the tenant should be grateful.

I think it is time to start the eviction process.

Her welcome has definitely been overstayed.

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.