Mother-In-Law Tells Couple To Pay More Rent Or Move Out, But Her Son Thinks Leaving A Month Early Would Be Cruel
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Being grateful for someone’s help doesn’t mean you have to keep doing whatever they ask.
One woman is struggling with that very thing after her mother-in-law told her and her partner to pay a lot more rent or move out.
They decided to leave in January, but then his mom asked them to take on an unpaid tax bill and fix up her furniture to sell.
Now, she’s found a place she loves, but they’ll lose it unless they start renting it in December.
While she wants to take it, her partner says leaving a month early would be cruel to his mom because she’d miss out on their rent.
Read on to see what you think about her wanting to move sooner.
AITA for wanting to move out 1 month early?
My MIL rented us a flat 2 years ago. At the time, we were in a difficult situation and needed somewhere urgently. MIL teaches Pilates classes and sells Utility Warehouse. She hasn’t had a regular job since her 20s.
The 2-bed rent is estimated to be £1,600/month. We have 1 room for £800 a month. My partner’s brother has the other and pays £500 but often misses rent (doesn’t believe in “government jobs”). She idealizes this son and often calls him a grafter, hardworking, independent, etc.
Shortly after moving in, she got it valued and mortgaged it to buy land (previously, it was mortgage-free). She lives in a caravan (by choice) and has a camper van, which she wanted to put on the land. We took on the flat in a rough state and have been slowly doing it up.
Suddenly, her MIL issued them an ultimatum.
My MIL recently reached out to say the flat is costing her more than £2,000 a month out of pocket, so she needs us to either pay this amount or leave.
Initially, she said she got a huge discount on the electricity/Wi-Fi bills (due to her role with Utility Warehouse), so she doesn’t need us to cover any bills. So I have always sent an extra £50 but never paid bills formally. We looked around and decided we would move out and agreed that we would be out in January.
Here is the issue: It transpires that she never paid council tax (she said as we were sharing the flat, she’d be happy to pay it), and she wants us to put the £1,200 debt in our name. She has also reached out to my partner’s father, saying we hadn’t been paying enough and asking him for money to support us.
The only problem is that she found the perfect place and needs to move sooner than later.
She is now also asking us to repair, refinish, and sell all of the (old and dated) furniture on her behalf before leaving.
I have now found the perfect place, but it is in high demand. If I don’t agree to rent it from the 1st of December by the end of the week, we will lose it.
My partner feels I am being unreasonable to want to rent it (we live in a highly competitive rental area) and that it would be cruel to leave his mom without rent until she finds new tenants. Bearing in mind, his mother is not even willing to help prepare the flat for new tenants and wants us to do it.
We both work 10-hour days, and she works 2–3 hours/day. Would it be evil to leave the current flat in December?
AITA?
Yikes. That’s quite the predicament that she’s in.
Let’s check out what the fine folks over at Reddit think about it.
As this reader explains, that’s not a renter’s responsibility.
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For this person, it would be better to eat the cost of the final month.
This person suggests turning it around on her.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman whose family wants her to spend way too much time redoing paintings to make them match.
And here’s someone who would definitely move in December.
His mom told them to pay more or leave, so she can’t be surprised that they found somewhere else.
Sure, they agreed on January. But passing up a good place just to keep her happy could leave them struggling to find another one.
At this point, her partner needs to talk to his mom about her expectations rather than making his wife feel bad for wanting to move.
And before they agree to cover any tax bill or fix up the furniture, they need to sort out what they actually agreed to pay and do.
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