'I left him $4.86 and a note saying he now owes people who can collect' : Petty revenge ensues when leech roommate attempts to leave friend with debt that may lead to eviction

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Mar 8, 2023 10:00 AM EST

Roommate situations can get muddled and messy real fast, especially when matters concerning money are involved. You'd think you could trust a friend in that regard, but don't be so quick to assume… people can unpleasantly surprise you, as made obvious in this tale of petty revenge. One man told his 'roommate horror story' to r/pettyrevenge, which took place many years ago. While in college, he rented out a room in the summer at a friend's apartment in Colorado. He wasn't aware that this 'friend' was planning on taking a vacation, which meant he wasn't even going to be present, leaving OP with an additional roommate that OP didn't know of.

This same 'friend' also conveniently didn't pay his section of rent for the month… leaving the two to deal with a total mess. This roommate told OP that this was actually normal behavior of said 'friend', which sounded in other words like, 'We're doomed to pay his section'. Now, most of us have had the 'pleasure' of living with a roommate in our lives… or two, or three… and I myself have had multiple run-ins with people I'd rather wipe clean from my memory. But this really takes the cake.

OP realized that he (and his roomie) actually had an upper hand in the whole shpiel, as neither his name nor his friend's roomies were in the contract. He took this opportunity to play a game of sweet, petty revenge that ultimately withheld his 'friend' from getting away with it. Scroll down to read the entire detailed version of events.

For more stories like this, check out this dude who beat spam callers at their own game.

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  • 01
    Motor vehicle - "MOOCHING ROOMMATE FORGETS THAT ALL THE BILLS ARE IN HIS NAME... GAME ON."
    via maroongrad
  • 02
    Font - r/pettyrevenge Posted by u/maroongrad 20 hours ago 2 S c Roommate? Meet your biggest misidentification of a viim…...
    via u/maroongrad
  • 03
    Font - Way back in college, I had a friend out in Colorado whose roommate was moving out, and who needed to rent the other room out for the summer. I wanted to get out-of-state for the summer, so, win! Called ahead to a chain restaurant I'd worked at before in my own state, got a job from the recommendation from my previous manager, made sure my car was in good shape, and took out an $800 loan for emergency cash just-in-case (about $1600
    via u/maroongrad
  • 04
    Font - nowadays). Drove out there to discover that my friend (now called AH) was leaving for a two-week vacation the next day and I'd be alone in the apartment with his current roommate, a guy I barely knew. I figured it was a combination of him knowing the roomie was trustworthy and just forgetting to mention it because he was busy planning the vacation, taking finals, etc. The roomie and I were fine together, really nice guy, really sweet fiancee, we had no problems at
    via u/maroongrad
  • 05
    Font - all. But, I went to pay my share of the rent for the month. Roomie had paid his quarter, I was paying my half...and AH hadn't paid HIS section before leaving AND was behind from the previous month! There was a really good shot we'd be evicted before he got back to pay it. Once again, I figured that since he'd left the day after his last class finished, it was just an oversight. I hadn't been warned by the roomie that this was NOT accidental but as soon as he found out,
    via u/maroongrad
  • 06
    Font - he let me know that this was NORMAL for AH...and I'd never get the money back. Well, I had car problems. Nothing terrible but it ate up the remainder of the emergency cash between repair and towing. I picked up a second job and was working something like 70 hours a week, with 5 hours off each night and a couple each afternoon. I was trying very hard to pay bills now that my safety cushion was gone. AH came back to no job, as he'd not bothered to
    via u/maroongrad
  • 07
    Font - tell them he was going to be gone for two weeks instead of starting immediately and he got replaced. He contacted another person we were both friends with and she moved out there with us. That helped, but for several weeks I was exhausted. Those two hours each afternoon? AH would play his euphonium in the hallway outside the bedrooms.
    via u/maroongrad
  • 08
    Font - Weeks go on. I'm exhausted, he's spending money right and left (took his boyfriend to Denver for the opening of Independence Day and stayed overnight in a nice hotel, dropped a load of money at RenFest, went to Estes Park, you name it) and hasn't repaid a cent of the $400+. He's also borrowed $500 from another mutual friend that I knew couldn't afford it (I saw the check out on the cabinet) and sucked money from the newest roomie. She'd decided AH could do no wrong and I was ridiculous, s
    via u/maroongrad
  • 09
    Font - Last day I'm there. I haven't talked to either of them for a few weeks; not hard when I'm almost never home except to sleep. They don't know which day I'm leaving. Sold all the little things I'd bought for the room (inflatable mattress, cheap thrift store table and lamp, fan, etc.) to a coworker, packed up, and was ready to go early the next morning with the last of my rent and bills to pay. Wait.
    via u/maroongrad
  • 10
    Font - All those bills are in HIS NAME. We have no written contract, either. They are due the first of the next month, which is tomorrow. I took the amount I owed in bills, subtracted what he owed me, and left him $4.86 and a note that "now he owes people who can collect." I am the only person who ever got their money back from him. I don't know how he came up with the equivalent of a thousand or more current dollars in 24 hours, but I bet it was interesting!!! Wish I'd been there to see his fac
    via u/maroongrad
  • 11
    Font - saveyboy 15 hr. ago I'd wager he had the money. Sounds like the kinda guy that spends other peoples money while keeping theirs tucked away. 1.6k Reply Share Outspoken Person 7 years. +1 - 10 hr. ago I paid for all entertainment and meals out for seven years for my "broke" friend while she got her PhD.
    via u/saveyboy, u/OutspokenPerson
  • 12
    Font - She invested most of her stipend. Which she could do by eating her roommates' food, mooching off me, and accepting help from her elderly mother (mother of 10). After graduation, she gleefully told me she'd saved $70k. Reply Share 675 8 hr. ago This is when you let any spouse of the roommate know their old ways. "You're getting with a person." sl 199 Reply Share
    via u/OutspokenPerson
  • 13
    Font - ncarreon7 14 hr. ago I just went through something similar. I was paying rent to basically pad my (no longer) friend's boyfriend's pockets. I technically owe $34 still, but I've since blocked him and will never speak to either of them again for the way they both treated me while living there. Reply Share 36
    via u/ncarreon7
  • 14
    Font - Kookabanus 9 hr. ago Ah the joys of share housing. I once had a housemate like AH. Always "broke" when it comes to rent yet seems to be able to eat out and go clubbing on Saturday night. We essentially had to shake him down each pay day to get the rent and bills out of him. Almost got arrested once because we physically escorted him to the ATM and made him give us the owed rent. Fortunately the police officer had once shared house and understood what it was like. 36 Reply Share
    via u/Kookabanus
  • 15
    Font - OnlyPaperListens +1.14 hr. ago Isn't rent paid ahead, not in retrospect? Meaning you wouldn't have owed for a month that started after you were gone, anyway? 471 Reply Share BigTickEnergE. 36 min. ago Maybe OP was being nice because he was bouncing early? I had the opportunity to move into an awesome place but the problem was it coincided with my last month at the current place. So me and the other roommate moving to the new place prepaid a month at the old place so we wouldn't screw our
    via u/OnlyPaperListens, u/BigTickEnergE
  • 16
    Font - Stigbritt 19 hr. ago Do you wanna borrow a few line breaks from me? 166 Reply Share indeterminate 19 hr. ago OP is being terribly economical with them. They obviously have some insider information about the upcoming line break shortage 89 Reply Share
    via u/Stigbritt, u/indeterminate_

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Tags

FAILS humor landlord apartment-contract lease owe-money petty revenge debt horrible-roommate entitled rent-money payback rude summer vacation college student
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