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It’s nice when you have living arrangements sorted with family, but it can turn ugly really quickly.
Imagine having a family member offer to let you stay at their place a few nights a week for free. Would you be upset if they later changed their mind and asked you to pay part of the rent? Or would you think paying part of the rent was completely fair?
This woman thinks her sister’s demands are unfair. Let’s read the whole story to see why.
AITA for not paying my sister rent
I recently moved back to my hometown for a job. Because it is only for a year and the job doesn’t pay well enough to afford a place of my own I have been living with my parents for the past months.
I can work partially remotely but have to be at the office 2 days a week.
The commute is is 1.5 hours each way with public transport, so 3 hours a day plus delays usually (Germany) and it has been wearing me down for the past months.
The solution is simple.
At some point, my sister offered me to stay at her apartment for free on the days that I was going to the office, which would cut the commute down by half.
She hasn’t been living in her apartment for close to a year now and living with her boyfriend full-time so she told me that me staying there would be no problem.
In the beginning she told me that she was planning on keeping her place for the rest of the year because her and her boyfriend were looking for a new place to move in together but didn’t have the time or energy for a big move right now and that her furniture wouldn’t fit into their current place.
When I asked about paying her rent she told it was fine because she had to keep the place for the rest of the year either way.
It’s been a few weeks now of me going to her apartment every Sunday night and leaving Wednesday morning.
But it’s getting complicated.
I bring everything I need for the days and only keep a few items of clothing there just in case. I make sure to leave the place clean and don’t touch her things.
The place is also very small with basically just a kitchen, a table and a couch to sleep on.
Now she’s suddenly pressuring me to pay a third of the rent arguing that she is providing me a “mostly furnished apartment” to use whenever I want and that because of me she couldn’t live there now.
I would be fine with paying her something of course but even the days that I am using the apartment I am out of the house most of the day and basically just have dinner and go to bed so a third doesn’t sound fair to me.
AITA for not paying a third of her rent?
It’s annoying that her sister changed her mind about the rent. If she had originally asked her to pay part of the rent, it wouldn’t be an issue.
Here is what people are saying on Reddit.
I found that part of her argument laughable.
I think she’s allowed to change her mind. But they should negotiate.
Absolutely. It’s so important.
I’d offer more than just utilities.
For sure. But I doubt sis would be okay with that.
I wonder why her sister changed her mind.
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.