An Australian property renter has revealed the uncomfortable predicament she is facing after her housemate refused to move out unless both of the other tenants do the same.
The woman explained she is currently living in a property with two other people, although she does not get along with one of them. While they were once good friends, she said she and the second housemate are growing increasingly frustrated with the third.
With the lease contract due to expire soon, the pair decided it was time to reconsider their living arrangement and asked the third to find somewhere else to live. However, they were met with an unexpected response: the housemate refused to move out unless they all agreed to leave.
The Unbearable Housemate
In a recent Reddit thread, the woman wrote: "Myself (22) and my good roommate (21) (GR, for short) are at our wits end with our bad roommate (22) (BR). It's worth mentioning that all of us were pretty good friends before this."
She said while the tenant has not done anything eviction-worthy yet, her everyday acts are making her unbearable to live with. "Bad roommate (BR) has never quite passed into the realm of eviction-worth offences, but they have been performing all the classic acts - not cleaning after themselves, paying rent and bills late, and not performing agreed upon chores," she explained.
"That isn't the difficult part. The difficulty comes when we have to practically mother them into getting anything done, reminding them over and over and over."
She added that when they do pester her to get things done, she complains about the housemates not spending enough time with her. "They basically complain we're being bad friends for nagging and not spending time with them or caring about 'their life,'" she said.
"This is all from the person who we are basically subsidising the cost of living because they don't pay for shared house supplies or for the full size of their room?"
An Unreasonable Demand
"It took a while for me and GR to decide to ask BR to leave but we finally put our feet down and they have basically attempted to dodge all blame, and turn it back on us," she wrote. "They refuse to move since they still believe on some level that we can still be friends and love living with us - because obviously we're suckers who just roll over and do everything for them. BR says the only way it's fair is if we all move out. Which I think, just on a mathematical level, makes no sense."
The woman said she has considered her options but believes there is no legal ground for them to force the other roommate to leave. "What can we do? Legally, I don't think there's anything we can do unless they decide to move on their own," she wrote. "A mediator might help by being a third party, I guess. I'm at the point where I'd pay BR just to leave. Or is that kind of thing illegal?"
Online Advice and Shared Experiences
Commenters responded with suggestions, while others shared their own horror housemate experiences. One person said: "I had house mates like that in my early twenties. To get them out, we pretended we were moving out as well. We even packed up our stuff and hid it in the shed. When they left, we unpacked and then ghosted them."
Another person shared: "When I was in this situation, my agent told me I should have just told him and he would have kicked the problem tenant out. Have you tried talking to the property manager? That guy had several noise complaints, though, so maybe it's different if your friend hasn't technically done anything wrong."
A third suggested: "Tell the property manager that you want to end the lease with the three of you and start a new one with just the two of you. The property manager will help you sort that out."
Others offered more unconventional advice. "The only thing I can think of is to make it more uncomfortable for them to stay living there," wrote a fourth. "Think of things you can do that don't include them - cook only for yourselves, take the shampoo out of the shower when you're finished and same with toilet paper. Pick up their clothes laying in shared space and put them in the broom cupboard."
However, some commenters admitted the roommate may have legal standing to stay. "If you're all on the lease, they have as much right to stay as you do," one wrote. "Unfortunately, you and GR should find another place and move."
