'My roommate is holding our wifi hostage': Woman demands roommate return wifi after feud

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 31, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

This is real pettiness. After a "big fight," these two roommates have stepped into new territory. 

U/uku_lady asked for legal advice for an interesting modern-day situation that there doesn't seem to be much precedence for. As she wrote, she lives with a man and his kid, who take up two rooms of the house. She lives in the other room, but since her roommate has more space, he pays a bit more in rent. That seems fair enough, but clearly the roommate doesn't feel that way. After the two got into a fight (the OP doesn't give a reason why…hmm…) the roommate took away the OP's wifi by changing the password on her. 

While it might seem like a petty and meaningless thing to do, it's actually petty and effective at ruining the OP's day. She can't use her laptop or watch TV, and shares that she's draining her data usage with no answer to the problem in sight. While it doesn't seem like there's any legal recourse for her, at least the commenters gave her som good advice about what to do: she needs to move out ASAP. 

Next, these random street artists couldn't resist vandalizing things, just a little tiny bit. 

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    via JJ Ying
  • 02
    Font - r/legaladvice Posted by u/uku_lady 1 day ago My roommate is holding our wifi hostage until I agree to renegotiate rent. OR
    via u/uku_lady
  • 03
    Font - So I got in a big fight with my roommate. We share a four bedroom house. He has the master room with bathroom, and has his child stay in one room, I stay in another and the other is an office. Because of how this is situated he has always paid $400 more than me in rent. Since our fight he has changed the wifi password and refuses to give me the new password until I agree to pay more rent.
    via u/uku_lady
  • 04
    Font - Essentially holding the wifi hostage and I cannot use my laptop, tv or anything that requires internet. I'm almost out of data on my phone. Is this legal? We are both on a lease but the lease does not specify how we split rent, that has always been spoken between us. I'm wondering if what he is doing is legal because I thought it was illegal to take away someone's access to wifi. The wifi is technically in his name but we have both paid equal part in it the entire time we have lived here.
    via u/uku_lady
  • 05
    Font - mughal71 18 hr. ago The majority of folks here are addressing the wifi issue but that isn't the problem. The real problem is that there's now a rift between you and your roommate over money and things can and likely will escalate. Wifi is likely the least of your potential concerns if you're in the same house with someone that is willing to screw you over to win in an argument.
    via u/mughal71
  • 06
    Font - What else could they do to you and your stuff if that person finds out you got your own wifi service? Mess up your clothes, your food, your transportation? If there's no way to debate this with him/her without it resorting to potshots, your alternate course of action is to GTFO of there as quickly and painlessly as possible
    via u/mughal71
  • 07
    Font - bigguysmalldog. 15 hr. ago This point here is the real important one. OP, this conflict is likely to just be the start of much worse. If you are month to month, it's time to find a new roommate & leave the situation entirely.
    via u/bigguysmalldog
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    Font - swollennode Technically, agreement 22 hr. ago if you have a verbal for sharing the internet and you've paid him for the month, he's legally required to allow you access, has he and you are in a legally binding contract. However, the fight to get your prorated money back or to force him to allow you to continue to use for the rest of the month is going to be a lot of effort for not a lot of money back. What you should do is get yourself either wireless or home internet and set it in your r
    via u/swollennode
  • 09
    Font - uku_lady OP 22 hr. ago I keep telling him that, but he says that the bill doesn't go through until AFTER our month of internet is up, and I only have paid him for last month and he won't take more money. But by that logic....neither of us have paid the bill yet...
    via u/uku_lady
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    Font - throw040913 - 1 day ago Can I legally force him to give our wifi back? Not easily. Obviously, the police won't help. You can take him to court, but that could take weeks or months, and is a judge going to order him to give you the password? Probably not. You can sue him for the cost of your data, perhaps. When does your lease end? 243 Share uku_lady OP 1 day ago It's month to month.
    via u/throw040913
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    Font - derspiny 1 day ago Quality Contributor Whose internet service provider account is it? 51 Share ... uku_lady OP 1 day ago . It's in his name but we have both paid the same amount on it. I would get one myself but there is only a spot for one modem in our house
    via u/derspiny
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    Font - Dulario 18 hr. ago Find a new place, he will bother you with something else when you get the new internet
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    Human body - DensePineapple - 19 hr. ago Reset the modem. The default password is on the back.
    via u/DensePineapple
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    Rectangle - Disastrous-Special30 22 hr. ago NAL your easiest and cheapest route is to set up your own Wi-Fi with your own router and stop contributing to his internet bill.
    via u/Disastrous-Special30
  • 15
    Font - swordsmithy 16 hr. ago . IANAL but couldn't you just say "okay I'll buy my own and you can pay the full bill yourself" and he'll realize that he's now paying the whole dang thing and give in?
    via u/swordsmithy
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    Font - . lustyforpeaches · 14 hr. ago I don't agree AT ALL with how he is handling this, he needs to grow up, but also, people aren't perfect. Maybe he's just psycho desperate for cash or squeezed or under some other type of financial pressure and isn't managing the comms well with you. I'm taking a stab in the dark and assuming that y'all are likely friends if you live with his kid, and it would be bad for both of you to cut ties? If that's true, maybe figuring out what's really going on or wha
    via u/lustyforpeaches
  • 17
    Font - 2 T bug-hunter . 1 day ago Quality Contributor Wait, are you paying the landlord, who then pays the bill, or are you paying your roommate, who then pays the bill? If you are paying the roommate, obviously stop paying. If you are paying the landlord, talk to the landlord. I thought it was illegal to take away someone's access to wifi. Congress has sadly yet to acknowledge that wifi is the base of the pyramid in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. If you have physical access to the router, the har
    via u/bug-hunter
  • 18
    Font - uku_lady OP 23 hr. ago Sorry for the phrasing I realize it was awkward. I pay my roommate for the internet but I pay landlord for the rent and he has receipts for how we have always split rent, for proof of what I have always paid for rent
    via u/uku_lady
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    Font - aiRobotLawyer. 23 hr. ago Did you two ever discuss you paying for wifi? Flesh out that one for us 12 Share uku_lady OP 23 hr. ago We've always said we would evenly split everything except for rent. Including wifi
    via u/uku_lady

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opinion Legal Woes legal wifi advice roommates
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