'I got a bill [for] $1,776.08': 24-year-old gets back at ex-roommate for not paying apartment repair costs by canceling her phone plan

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jan 25, 2025 8:00 AM EST

Not every person has the power within them to be a decent roommate. One would think this was something everyone would grow accustomed to when sharing space with family members or classmates during the first 22 years of one's life, but apparently, one would be foolish to assume people have such maturity to learn and grow in that way.

In my experience, people learn how to be good roommates after college, when competing schedules and life responsibilities really start to take shape. Suddenly, you begin to grasp what kind of home environment suits you and what your boundaries are (as well as the boundaries of the people with whom you are sharing space). Oftentimes, those boundaries reveal themselves when someone crosses a line, as this woman's former roommate did many times. Check out the story of her roommate breakup as well as the backlash after she got her petty revenge.

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    Cheezburger Image 10458799616
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • This woman really went through it with her now former roommate, who used the fact that her name was not on their lease as an excuse to get out of paying for major apartment repairs that were largely a result of her own negligence. Honestly, the ex-roommate has a whole lot of nerve trying to avoid these responsibilities on a ridiculous technicality, especially after she was having trouble paying rent for an extended period of time. Imagine having the audacity to cause such a headache for one person after already being a terrible roommate to them.

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    I (F24) lived with my ex roommate (F24) for 3 years and it was great the first couple of years but this past year has been a nightmare.
    via Dry_Reception_622
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    In 2020, when she was moving in, she talked me out of putting her on the lease and honestly I should've said no to her moving in just for that but at the time we were best friends and I thought I could trust her.
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    At the beginning of 2023, she went to some classes and met a guy there. They had a thing together but there was a rule set in place stating you couldn't date within the class. They decided to date anyways on the down low
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    and then they got scared they were going to get caught so they ended things a couple months into it. Fast-forward to the time they both are graduating this class, the guy has a new gf that
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    attends. My ex roommate is infuriated by this and kept saying he was doing it to get at her. When really, he just got a new gf and she couldn't cope with that.
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    Fast-forward a little bit more and my ex roommate and this guy continued to hang out behind his gf's back to the point where they were dr g together one night at a bar and on the way home, he got pulled over and got a DO.
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    This is where it starts affecting me because she owed me rent right around the time this was going down. And instead of giving me rent, she spent $1000
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    bailing him out so his gf wouldn't find out. When I confronted her about not paying rent, she said I was just "throwing her mistakes back in her face" and she never ended up paying me back for rent.
    via Dry_Reception_622
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    Then she got in a wreck at some point and still owed quite a bit on her totaled car. She had GAP insurance but it was taking awhile to go through. Instead of waiting,
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    she decided to get into another car payment before the insurance company paid off her other car so she was paying on both cars and still struggling to pay me rent. I said something about that and she complained about how she needs a car and I suggested
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    asking her dad to use his since her dad works from home and uses her mom's car most of the time anyways. She got really mad over this and flipped out about how I think she's privileged or whatever.
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    At some point while we were arguing, she suggested moving out and I told her "ok. The lease is up in a few months. We can revisit this then and see if anything has changed." She liked
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    that so we stayed until the end of the lease and then we both decided this wasn't working and to go separate ways. She told me she found an apartment in the same complex.
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    Cheezburger Image 10458799872
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    She also kept asking to get a dog this past year and I kept saying no because I didn't think she could afford it and I wasn't going to pay for her to get a dog to tear the place up more. A couple days
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    before her move out date, she posted on her Snapchat story that she got a dog and didn't even tell me that she had this giant pitbull in the middle of our tiny apartment when I went to move some more of my stuff out. That infuriated me because she really couldn't wait two more days or warn me about the dog??
    via Dry_Reception_622
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    I told her what all we needed to replace to get my deposit back to which she replied over and over again: "that's what the security deposit is for". Since she moved in, she ruined all of the blinds
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    somehow, broke my bedroom window breaking in a couple of times when she locked herself out, tore up the kitchen floor and entry floor moving the dryer in,
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    tore up the wash room door because "it was in the way", poked several holes in the walls hanging things, and so much more.
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    When she finally moved out, I went to clean the place up a bit and spent 4 hours alone cleaning trash out of her room and cleaning out the fridge that she left packed full of gross food. I
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    also spent a whole day scrubbing the tub which she left full of gunk, and scrubbing all of the other surfaces. (I say she alone because it was getting so hard to live with her that I basically stayed with my bf most of this past year)
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    So I was going to put all of this behind me and move on, but I got a bill in the mail from our old apartment for $1776.08 and my security deposit covered $820 so I texted her yesterday and said "they sent me a bill for $956.08.
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    Are you able to send half?" To which she responded with a bunch of questions asking everything they charged us for and I answered and sent pictures of the documents with receipts
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    for everything. I knew in my gut she wasn't gonna pay anything but she straight up said: "Okay so looking at what all the deposit covered looks like damages and cleaning expenses other than the vinyl repair which was $520.86. I
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    don't feel like I am responsible for the utility fee or the carpet cleaning because that was on the lease as your responsibilities. You also told me you were going to get the carpets cleaned. So I'm will send half of the $520.86 for the vinyl replacement. I don't feel like I am responsible beyond that."
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    Basically saying screw you to me because her name wasn't on the lease. I also never told her I would get the carpets cleaned because I asked her to and she said "that's what the security deposits for." She sent me $260
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    and that's it for all of this. She moved in after I was already living there so that security deposit was mine alone and it's very frustrating that she just straight up didn't care to ruin this whole friendship over this.
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    So after she sent that, I felt defeated thinking I can't do anything about it until I remembered we have a phone plan together. So I looked up how much I owed on my phone ($400)
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    and in the policy it says if you cancel, you're still responsible for any fees on the phone. So I called them and canceled it and made sure to already remove my card
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    info and my autopay and told them to bill my ex roommate for it. Since it was under her name and she doesn't care, why should I? And that ensures that she cant contact me anymore either.
    via Dry_Reception_622

  • Members of the online community chimed in with their responses to this drama. Our hope is that this lady finds peace and drama-free living now that she is free of her roommate!

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    alk_adio_ost. Your petty revenge is awesome! This is an incredible story. Please, please, please take her to small claims court.
    via Dry_Reception_622
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    Just because "your name" is on a lease doesn't mean she isn't responsible for these expenses. She lived there. Filing is very easy and she will have the opportunity to settle before you go to court.
    via Dry_Reception_622
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    First, you write a letter - - you "wish to resolve this amicably" with an itemized list of what she owes you. Send certified Mail. Keep a copy. That will show the judge you tried to collect outside of court.
    via Dry_Reception_622
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    Second, when you file, be sure to include any expenses related to cleaning. up after her, the back rent, the texts, the deposit intel, the actual bill...all receipts.
    via Dry_Reception_622
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    Print them out. Put them in order of events and make it super easy for her, her parents, and the judge to come to the conclusion she owes you money.
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    Third, don't be scared. This is a legal process and financial issue. This makes it transactional, not personal. Keep reminding yourself she owes you money and that's all it is.
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    While being petty in the moment is fun, it's important you stick up for yourself. She has taken advantage of you, bu ied you, and abused you. You deserve an apology, but financial restitution will get you justice!
    via Dry_Reception_622

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Tags

landlord petty revenge psycho roommate petty entitled people karma roommates entitled people apartment
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