24-year-old gets sued for $4800 after not paying rent for 6 months, neglecting pet sitting duties, and bad mouthing former roommates,: 'Despite claiming she had no money, she was frequently going out'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jun 25, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

Almost anybody who has lived with other people has a story of a roommate who was horrible to live with, some of which are a lot more hair-raising than others. The fact is, everybody has different ideas of what is an acceptable standard of living, and some people are always going to see those they live with as resources to use as opposed to equals that they share a home with.

There is even more potential for things to be tense and high-stakes if one of the roommates is also the individual to whom everybody else pays rent. On either end, it is easy for the privileges of this arrangement to be misused, with upsetting consequences. It is important for everybody to be careful who they share their home with, but that is especially true when the matter of money is so intimately involved with whatever arrangement is going on.

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  • 01

    AITA for suing my (now former) friend?

    I (28f) am filing this week to sue my now ex-friend, Veronica (24f) About 7 months ago Veronica asked to move in with me and my boyfriend, who owns a 5 bed/3 bath house. We've known each other for a few years and had grown close-she even introduced herself to others as my “bff”. My bf has rented out rooms before and since we had a vacancy we agreed to let her move in. There was no written lease, but we agreed via text that she'd pay $800/month (utilities included) for a bedroom and private bath.
    via laz0rra
  • 02
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    via Sayla Brown

  • One couple found this out the hard way when they agreed to let a friend rent one of their spare rooms with no written lease. For 6 months, she paid very little rent while spending a lot of money elsewhere and bouncing between jobs. As well as this, she insisted on pet sitting when they went on a three-week trip and then proceeded to neglect the animals in her care.

    Some time after this incident, she moved out without telling her former roommates and proceeded to badmouth them to other people. In retaliation, the couple decided to sue her for the unpaid rent, but they had somewhat of a guilty conscience.

  • 03
    We had a 3-week Europe trip planned for years and Veronica offered to care for my pets while we were away -despite me originally going to hire a pet-sitter. I'm a zookeeper and take pet care seriously. I left clear instructions, supplies, and $100 cash for reptile food, asking her to keep receipts. She sent regular updates while we were gone making it seem like everything was fine. But when we got back at 3 a.m., I was devastated. ALL my reptiles had no water, most of my fish were de_d, the tank
    via laz0rra
  • 04
    After that, she avoided me completely-only coming home late at night and staying in her room. Then one day I came home from work to find she had moved out without saying anything to me or my bf. She blocked me on all social media. We were shocked, but let it go, UNTIL I got a call from a friend (who had only met her once) saying Veronica had messaged him AND my manager long rants calling me "evil" and saying she "saw the light" and needed to cut me off. I'm 4 months pregnant, and she even told m
    via laz0rra
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    via Huy Phan
  • 06

    Commenters were adamant that they were doing the right thing.

    Delicate_Fury NTA. I believe this is called consequences. She doesn't get to screw you over and get away Scot free and then badmouth you.
    via Delicate_Fury
  • 07
    valkyrieway NTA, although I would never have let someone move in who didn't have a job to begin with. This person is a taker and a user.
    via valkyrieway
  • 08
    scotth NTA. Sue away, also count your blessings she removed herself from your life.
    via sc0tth
  • 09
    candycoatedcoward NTA. I recommend a sweep of the house to see if anything else is damaged or missing, and changing (rekeying) all the locks.
    via candycoatedcoward
  • 10
    anniebananie122 NTA, sue her! Also you should have made her sign a lease
    via anniebananie122
  • 11
    Riker Omega_Three Who cares what anyone else thinks? It's literally none of their business Stop sharing your personal issues with all your friends. Just file the suit and move on with your life NTA
    via Riker_Omega_Three
  • 12
    NTA terrika_has_spoken Next time don't "help people out" unless it is contractual. Get everything in writing. If your bf sues her for the rent, you can sue her for the defamation if you can get proof and the money from the pet sitting fiasco.
    via terrika_has_spoken
  • 13
    BluePopple NTA, as soon as she sent your manager a message she was threatening your employment. You have to take that seriously.
    via BluePopple
  • 14
    DemonKane512 NTA, she deserves to be sued for $8,000 for the unpaid rent and physical damages, but emotional damages too
    via DemonKane512
  • 15
    the_greengrace NTA. Pretty clear case. The only shade of AH here is you should never have even considered "letting it go" and you probably should have thought twice about leaving her responsible for your pets. I'm sure you already feel guilty, hate to add insult to injury, but don't ignore your intuition next time. I wish you good fortune in the wars to come.
    via the_greengrace
  • 16
    1962Michael NTA. Clearly Veronica is a "taker." The reason she has a history of renting rooms is probably that proper landlords check things like lease history. It's much easier to take advantage of "friends" and then preemptively trash them when bugging out. She knew her days were numbered, so she avoided you until she could find a new place before bolting. As for the pet sitting, I'm sorry for your loss. In retrospect it would have been good to have her care for your pets. for a week before yo
    via 1962Michael
  • 17
    Arya Stark1313 If you have no lease or any sort of written contract, I don't think you have a leg to stand on. Maybe learn this life lesson and move on. NTA, but kinda dumb IMO
    via AryaStark1313
  • 18
    chicagok8 I'm just going to say that you are extremely lucky that she moved out on her own and you don't have to go through a legal eviction process. That alone is probably worth anything you'd get by suing (which seems to be a long shot with no lease, but I'm not a lawyer.) Also change your locks immediately if you haven't already.
    via chicagok8
  • 19
    Beautiful-Party-4415 ESH. I'm honestly shocked at the lack of common sense here, especially at 28. Mixing friendship and money is a well-known recipe for disaster, and letting a friend move in without a lease or written agreement was a major misstep. Even if you try to sue, you may not get anywhere-there's no proof beyond your word that you didn't simply offer a friend a place to stay rent-free while she got back on her feet. You watched her cycle through seven jobs, fail to pay the rent she sup
    via Beautiful-Party-4415
  • 20
    There were multiple red flags showing she couldn't be trusted to follow through on anything, and leaving your animals with her was negligent. Honestly, Without a rental agreement or clear documentation, there's a very real chance you'll just end up spending more money on a lawyer and get nothing in return. Not to mention what a stupid idea it is to get into a lawsuit while pregnant, like who needs that stress? You sound like a mistake factory. I would accept that you made some serious mistakes h
    via Beautiful-Party-4415
  • 21
    Paula_Intermountain From now on your BF should have tenants sign a contract. Without a contract you might not get the money you deserve. Contracts protect both the landlord and the tenant. Veronica is a user. And typical of users is biting the hands that feed them. She's only struggling financially because she has chosen to do so. Given how she treated your animals, I strongly suspect she was fired from those jobs. I'm so sorry about what she did to your animals. There is no excuse for animal ab
    via Paula_Intermountain

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bad roommates psycho roommate roommates entitled people aita pets house suing friends rent reddit thread Reddit money
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