They Opened Their Home to a Friend Who Needed a Place to Stay. Now They’re Trying to Figure Out How to Say ‘Clean Up or Move Out
Pexels/Reddit
Having a friend move in can get awkward when you have to keep asking them to clean up after themselves.
One woman and her partner learned this after letting a friend move in when they needed somewhere else to live.
At first, they agreed to keep the shared spaces clean, but that hasn’t happened. In fact, the friend’s bathroom is the only one guests can use, and it’s also become a problem.
The friend asked for reminders, but the trash still overflows and the bathroom often smells bad, so the woman feels like she has to clean it herself whenever guests are coming over.
Now she’s tired of bringing it up and wonders if she should sit down with her friend or ask the landlord to step in.
Read on to see what you think she should do.
How can I bring these things up without being confrontational?
I (mid-20s F) and my partner (also 20s M) have allowed a friend to stay with us after they were unable to stay at their previous space.
We had agreed upon keeping common areas clean, being respectful of other tenants and their guests, being respectful of the quiet hours in the house, and generally being respectful of others’ space.
I’m struggling because we have had to bring up cleanliness multiple times.
Unfortunately, they make a mess in their room and the bathroom.
The individual cleans their room up maybe once every two months, and by the trash bag full.
Additionally, their bathroom is the only guest bathroom in the house, and they have asked us to “remind” them to clean it.
As the main tenants, my partner and I have found that things are getting out of hand.
The bathroom trash is constantly left overflowing, the sink is covered in yuck, and I have regularly walked into the bathroom to find it smelling like vomit or urine.
Now, she’s not sure the best way to handle it.
What would the best way to bring this up be?
Should I talk to our landlord about what the individual agreed to in the agreement and how the demands are not being met to have the landlord send a formal letter? Or should we try and sit them down and discuss it more in detail?
I don’t want to be too confrontational, but I’m also tired of my house smelling bad and feeling like I need to clean every time I have guests over because the guest bathroom is always filthy, even when it’s mentioned that we are having people over.
Yikes! Living with someone who has no concern for others like that is never easy.
Let’s see what sort of advice the fine folks over at Reddit had to offer.
Here’s someone who suggests just being upfront.
Here’s someone with similar thoughts.
Yet another person who thinks she needs to be direct.
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If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a tenant who is getting evicted because they refuse to let their landlord in whenever he wants.
And this person thinks it’s up to her, not the landlord.
She shouldn’t have to clean up every time someone comes over.
Since the reminders haven’t helped, she and her partner should sit down with their friend and explain what needs to change.
They can agree on a day to clean the bathroom each week, but it’s up to the friend to remember to do it.
If nothing changes after that, they should either ask the landlord what their options are or just tell the person to leave themselves.
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