Imagine moving in with a family member to help them out, but you don’t own the house. If the family member seemed completely ungrateful for everything you did to help them, would you continue helping, or would you look for another place to live?

In this story, one man is in this situation, and he is now at the point where he wants to move out. Keep reading to see how it went from good to bad to unlivable.

I’m a renter? Understood

My mom and I moved in to my grandma’s house when I was 5. My godmother already lived with my grandma so she was also part of the household.

Firstly, my aunt has never done anything with her life. She liked to say she had to take care of my grandma but my grandma was a feisty old Mexican lady who happily handled everything herself all the way until she got cancer in her very last year of life.

She used my grandma as a crutch to never get a job or really any source of income ever.

My mom and grandma paid for this house every year and kept it up and running.

As a young adult, he helped his grandma a lot.

Fast forward to me being 22.

My mom died of cancer. We knew my grandma wouldn’t be able to afford the house herself so my wife and I stood to help because we felt bad leaving right after my mom died.

So for 2-3 years we handled the house taxes, the electricity bill, when the air conditioner broke we paid to fix that, and I also gave my grandma my old car when I got a new one so my aunt could take her to her doctor appointments and whatnot.

I did all of this because I was taught to be there for my family by my mom.

Then, he helped his aunt.

After those 2-3 years, my grandma died. So now it was only our income and my aunt needing to be supported by us.

Again, this is how I was taught family takes care of each other.

We felt bad leaving my aunt after my grandma died so we stayed again. Bought food for her, cooked for her, I even handled all the dishes and house cleaning. I mowed the lawn, I handled any insect issues the house was having, even gave her our recyclables so she could have at least a little money for stuff.

Eventually, he had to speak up.

So it finally gets to a point where I confront her and say “look, my mom helped pay for this house, now I am too. My wife and I want to HELP you (notice I said help and not take the house away from you) make the house nice again. We want to get new carpet, fix the broken windows, etc.”

“For this though, we’d need you to co-own the house with us. We aren’t gonna put our money into it just for you to sell it and we end up screwed over. Or also, if you just happened to die young, the house would just go to the bank (that’s a whole other long story but it’s what will happen).”

She of course said no but only because she wants the house to herself and I’m her ownership. She’s very very greedy and selfish like that about everything.

The argument continued.

So we end up arguing and I say how we stayed because we cared and wanted to help. We want to continue helping however we can’t just blindly funnel money into YOUR home when we need to make sure our living situation is secure.

During said argument, I say how we’ve been nothing but caring and don’t want to take the house. We just want to work with her.

Again no.

The aunt was completely ungrateful.

So I start to get frustrated and I say how can you be like this to me especially when both my mother and I have paid for this house. We put more into than she ever has. I don’t feel owed, but I feel that us working together and owning the house together would be fair since she doesn’t even pay for any of it.

I said how we stayed after grandma died to help her.

Her exact words were “well you should have just left.”

That hurt a lot because all that was just for nothing. Not even appreciation.

The aunt’s words got even worse.

Fast forward to another argument and I bring up how I feel it was wrong of her to take advantage of my mom the way she did (there’s way more context to that than above but again, whole other long story).

When I say I think it was wrong, her words were “well take it up with your mother.”

That broke me because I was super close to my mom and she had only been dead for like 2 years so it was still very painful.

That was my breaking point.

He no longer wanted to help her.

I could not help somebody this selfish and hurtful.

I told her that was awful of her to say that. That this house is ours just as much as it is hers.

She says “Christian, you guys are renters.”

Cue malicious compliance:

He decided not to do anything extra.

I say “oh, we’re RENTERS?” Ok. So I started going by doing exactly what me and my grandmother agreed upon when we moved in.

I paid the electric bill and the house taxes. That’s it.

Mowing the lawn? Sorry wasn’t part of my “lease”. Handling the insect infestation? Nope, land lords issue. Cleaning your dishes and the 800 pictures you have on the walls filled with dust? Yeah, not my problem.

My wife and I care for ourselves now.

The living situation is getting BAD!

Her house is going more and more to ruin.

Windows have broken more, the air conditioning broke again, the shower broke, water heater broke and damaged the living room and walls, termites in ALL the wood.

All, not my problems.

My wife and I are currently in the process of finding a place and moving out. We might not even tell her when we do move and just up and leave, letting her sit in her own filth. I mean, it’s not in my lease that I need to give a notice?

I feel bad that the grandmother’s house is in complete disrepair due to the selfish aunt, but OP is doing the right thing by no longer enabling her. She really doesn’t deserve notice when he moves out.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person offers some advice.

This was a horribly cruel thing for the aunt to say.

His family probably won’t be on his side.

Maybe a lawyer could help.

It’s hard to want to help someone when they’re cruel and ungrateful.

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