Tenant refuses to pay roommate back after they cover her rent for months, roommate takes the money without asking: ‘Suddenly there were delays and excuses’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Mar 18, 2026 5:00 PM EDT

You can never know what you're signing yourself up to when you agree to share your living space with another person.

A roommate can be your best friend, or your worst enemy, and you won't be able to find out which of the two it will be before you actually move in. They can be the messiest people in the world, or they might keep your home as tidy and clean as possible. They can be responsible with bills, or they can be a pain whenever you remind them that rent is due. There is truly no way of knowing what you will get before it actually happens.

Most people find themselves going through at least a few of their worst enemies before they find a roommate they consider a best friend. As a young adult, it is basically a rite of passage to find yourself living with someone you cannot stand, or with someone who keeps giving you a headache over the rent, or anything else related to your shared living situation.

The roommates in the story below really thought they would be able to share a space without the drama, and boy, were they wrong. Their main problem was that they mixed their financial situations with each other, which any seasoned roommate can confirm is a horrible idea.

One roommate asked the second roommate to help her cover some of the rent for a few months, with a promise to pay them back after four months. The second roommate agreed, wanting to help if they could, and fully believing that when the time comes, they would get their money back without any issues.

As you can guess, the second roommate was wrong. When the agreed-upon period of time was up, the first roommate still refused to pay the money she owed the second roommate. She claimed that she "hates talking about money" and insisted that when she gets the money, she will give it back. But by that point, the second roommate realized the mistake they had made and decided to take matters into their own hands. One way or another, they were going to get their money back.

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  • Troubled Woman with past Due Bill
    via Pressmaster

    Troubled Woman with past Due Bill.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • AITA for taking back money my roommate owed me and telling her to handle the rent herself?

    I recently moved to Mexico for work. The first apartment they arranged for me was honestly a nightmare.
    via prisoner_no3
  • Almost every night around 2-3 AM I'd get woken up by loud music, neighbors, or even chickens outside.
    via prisoner_no3
  • After about four months of barely sleeping I decided I had to move. A coworker suggested I share a room with another girl from work.
    via prisoner_no3
  • I'll call her Amma. She's younger than me and works as a cleaner where I work.
    via prisoner_no3
  • We found a house where the owner rents rooms to several women and we agreed to share one.
    via prisoner_no3
  • The rent for our room is 8,000 pesos each (16,000 total). The owner also wanted a deposit equal to one month's rent (8,000 each), but I managed to negotiate paying it in installments of 2,000 per month for four months.
    via prisoner_no3
  • So for the first four months the total payment for the room was 20,000: 16,000 rent 4,000 deposit Amma told me she couldn't afford the full deposit amount and asked if I could help by covering 1,000 pesos a month for those four months.
    via prisoner_no3
  • She said starting in month five she'd start paying me back 1,000 pesos a month until it was paid off.
    via prisoner_no3
  • So basically she would owe me 4,000 total. I agreed. Because of our schedules she would send me the money electronically and I would withdraw it and pay the landlord.
    via prisoner_no3
  • For the first four months everything was fine. She sent 9,000 each month (8,000 rent + 1,000 deposit from her side) and I paid the landlord the full 20,000.
    via prisoner_no3
  • Then month five came, which is when she was supposed to start paying me back. I asked her to send the usual 9,000.
    via prisoner_no3
  • Hours went by and nothing. Later she told me she could only send 8,000 because she was waiting for her uncle to send the other 1,000.
    via prisoner_no3
  • Person holding jar labeled with rent
    via @felicia-manolaches-images

    Person holding jar labeled with rent

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • She sent the 8,000 right away, but the other 1,000 never came. When I asked again she told me to relax and said she hates talking about money.
    via prisoner_no3
  • That annoyed me because for four months she had no problem sending the full amount, but the moment it was time to start paying me back suddenly there were delays and excuses.
    via prisoner_no3
  • The next morning she sent me a "good morning" message apologizing with a cute sticker. At that point I was frustrated.
    via prisoner_no3
  • Since I had covered 1,000 pesos for her each month for four months, she owed me 4.000.
    via prisoner_no3
  • So I sent her back 4,000 from the 8,000 she had sent and kept the other 4,000, which is exactly what she owed me.
    via prisoner_no3
  • I also told her that from now on she can deal with the rent herself because I don't want to be involved with money between us anymore.
    via prisoner_no3
  • I didn't take extra money, just what she owed me. AITA?
    via prisoner_no3
  • kwyl nta but she's not gonna be paying her part of the rent. be careful. she might yet stick you with a bill.
    via kwyl
  • sarahwalka NTA..I hate When people say they hate to talk about money. I'd be like "yeah me too! so pay me and shut up"
    via sarahwalka
  • the_greek_italian NTA. She set the terms of the payback, so she cannot avoid it. You're not her personal bank card that she can use to make transactions.
    via the_greek_italian
  • danger_boat For the other people from the US reading this 1000 pesos is 55.71 - USD right now
    via danger_boat
  • Dangerous_Cow_7372 NTA you covered what you told her you would for the amount of time you said you would. You're lucky you even got your money back. I always tell people "never loan more than you're willing to donate" because 99% of the time you won't get it back Edit: save all your texts, screenshot all the times she's sent you money, get all your receipts, etc. in case she or the landlord try to come for you. You'll want all the proof of what you agreed to, what YOU paid and what she sent you
    via Dangerous_Cow_7372
  • forever-in-rainbow NTA! I think it's smart to let her deal with the rent herself.
    via forever-in-rainbow

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Tags

landlord bad roommates tenant friends rent deposit resident roommates money apartment
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