Houseshares – while necessary in many situations – are pretty weird things.

You’re living with strangers, not people you chose to live with, but a complete luck of the draw.

You could be with people who turn out to be your best friends, or others who end up being an absolute nightmare.

That’s what the guy in this story found out when his role as house ambassador in a sixteen-person houseshare led him to a truly awkward situation.

Read on to find out how his new housemate potentially put all sixteen lives in danger.

AITA for reporting my housemate to the landlord and asking them to move her out for leaving a hot iron on?

I am a 26-year-old man living in a 16-person shared house.

I’m the house ambassador, which basically means I coordinate stuff with the landlord, flag any issues, try to keep peace, etc. Not a fun job when no one listens.

We’ve had one housemate (a 27-year-old woman, let’s call her Maddie) living with us for around five months.

She’s completely reclusive, which would be fine if she wasn’t creating actual issues for the rest of us. She never says hi, never answers group messages, ignores everything. But that’s her choice I guess.

Let’s see how this reclusive housemate situation got worse.

The issue is, she also doesn’t clean after herself. Like at all.

She leaves rotting takeout food in the fridge, leaves her laundry to create mildew in the common machines, sometimes for weeks.

Her cupboard is full of expired and moldy stuff, and even after multiple messages asking her to clean it up (nicely at first), she just ignores us.

We’ve had moth problems and bad smells in the kitchen because of her cupboards.

People clean up after her constantly. It’s become kind of normalized, but it’s not fair.

And there was more to the situation that met the eye.

Now, when she first moved in, she had a black eye and we were concerned and tried creating a safe inviting space for her.

She wouldn’t talk to anyone.

I actually messaged the landlord because several housemates expressed worry about her mental state, saying they didn’t feel safe in the house and were worried she was at risk because she wouldn’t leave her room for days at a time.

Her door kept having multiple empty wine bottles constantly build up, and we had to clean it because of the flies. She didn’t answer any of that either, and basically ghosted all communication.

I know mental health is private but when you live with 15 other people and they feel uneasy, it’s not nothing.

After that, the situation continued to deteriorate.

Yesterday night she left the iron plugged in and hot in the laundry room. Like hot. The iron was left right by the door.

It was on for god knows how long, and she wasn’t even in the room.

We know this because she was the only person who logged in to use the laundry room yesterday. Anywasy, I unplugged it.

That room is right by the staircase and wood paneling — and if it had caught fire, that’s 16 lives at risk in a place with one narrow exit.

Let’s see how he responded to the clear negligence.

So I sent a harsh message in the group chat calling it out without naming her. I also reported it to the landlord and told them that we no longer want her in the house (unanimously all 15 people).

Not as a punishment — but because it’s clear she doesn’t want to live with others, and she’s not making even basic efforts to live responsibly in a shared space.

She doesn’t talk to us, she ignores safety issues, and she won’t respond to any feedback. And at this point, I don’t think we can keep looking the other way.

Now the landlord said they’re talking to her and might move her out and I do feel bad for being harsh in the group chat, even if I didn’t name her and I feel bad that I asked the landlord to move her out.

AITA?

This guy has tried with his housemate, it’s clear that everyone else has too, but to no avail.

His message wasn’t hateful, it was one of concern – in fact, all of his actions have been out of concern, firstly for the new housemate, and then for the other fifteen people.

It’s clear he’s taking his role seriously, and has nothing to feel guilty for.

Let’s see what Reddit had to say about this.

This person agreed that he was being totally responsible.

While others pointed out that while she clearly needed help, he’d done all he could.

Meanwhile, this Redditor advised him from experience.

She needs help.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.