When you have a spare bedroom and live alone, it can be nice to have a roommate to help pay the bills or make some extra money.

What would you do if you had a great roommate, but one day he said he was going to be out of town for a bit, but then completely disappeared and didn’t reply to your texts or calls when rent was due?

That is what happened to the landlord in this story, so he finally took all the roommates things to sell them and found that they were very valuable.

Silver Threads

Several years back, I took on a roommate. Younger guy, about 25. (I was in my mid-50’s.)

This sounds like a good arrangement so far.

He worked at a local store on the night shift. As I am a quiet person, there was never a problem with him needing it to sleep during the day. I merely puttered about and kept noise to a minimum.

We were simply roommates, not best buds or anything. The room came with a queen sized mattress (but no frame, courtesy of an earlier roomie) and a desk. Anything else he wanted was up to him.

It is nice when a roommate situation works out so well.

Roomie took himself off the work each night, returning in the morning, and all was well in our world. Paid his rent and bills on time, which was a nice change from the run of bad roomies I had recently experienced.

About halfway through that second month, he just seemed a little…off. Nothing huge, just a general feeling of something being out of kilter.

While that’s unexpected, but no big deal.

The very next week, I hear him moving things around in his room. Then he pops out, carrying a duffel over his shoulder. He tells me some story about going to visit his ‘dying’ grandmother. Seems his cousin paid for the air ticket. Let’s me know that he’ll send the rent and bills money via a cash service when it is all due. Just let him know the totals.

Why would he just leave like that?

Week after that, I text him the totals. The next day, another text. Then voice mail. A message via social media. Yea, you guessed it…He’s done a runner.

Every day for 10 days I try to get in contact with this guy. Every text and message is left unread, every voice mail unanswered.

What else can he do?

I sent a final text…message…and voicemail and made it clear I was going to sell or donate anything I find in his room in 30 days.

30 days later…I open the room and it’s a treasure trove!! Older vinyl records, ’vintage’ handheld game systems, a couple of guitars and a whole bunch of silver coins!!

Wow! That worked out really well.

I literally got enough cash to have covered his rent/bills for another 3 months!!

The really petty revenge part…Several months later, I actually get a phone call from this nitwit.

He is shocked to find out I have 1. Moved to another state, 2. Not taken all his stuff with me and 3. Actually sold everything just like I told him I would do.

I hope he learned his lesson.

Seems he was convinced I was some moldy oldie who would happily store his stuff for months and just hand it all back whenever he got around to it. Nope.

I would love to know what this guy was thinking. If he wanted to move out, he should have just told him, I’m sure it wouldn’t have been an issue.

Read on to see what the people in the comments have to say about it.

How can they be surprised?

That worked out well.

For sure, I hope he kept some.

This is exactly it.

I guess this could be the case.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Every single time.

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.