Awkwardness is hard to avoid when living with roommates. Especially if you don’t know each other well enough.
But, deciding when to move out or ask your roommates to move out can be particularly uncomfortable.
Redditor Throwaway172638302 encountered this very issue with their roommates. So they turned to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit for moral judgment.
They asked:
“AITA for evicting my roommates?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I’m living in a four bed house with three others.”
“I’m good friends with one of them ‘Jamal’ but the other two moved in at different times and keep different schedules so I don’t know them too well.”
“Anyway, a couple of months ago, our landlord tells us he’s looking to sell the house as him and his family are staying abroad permanently. As it happens, I was looking to buy a house and was approved for a mortgage and was viewing properties when I heard the news.”
“Because I liked the house, I messaged my landlord and asked him how much and when I found it was only just outside my budget (like 7k) I showed interest and 2 months down the line the house is mine.”
“Now, seeing as I owned the house, I served my two roommates notice that they had to vacate their rooms.”
OP tried to be as accommodating as possible.
“Where I am right now because of the pandemic, the notice period is 4 months, which I think is a very reasonable amount of time to arrange new accommodations.”
“I also told them they could have all their deposit back if there was no further damage and I’d be happy to provide good references.”
“Jamal I’ve not given notice to because he’s a good friend of mine and I think it’d be nice to carry on staying together.”
“Now, I think I’ve been reasonable but the other two haven’t taken it well saying how I’m out of line and I’m a ‘class traitor.’”
“However I don’t think it’s unreasonable to decide who lives in my house.”
“If it makes a difference, I did ask a lawyer friend of mine for advice and legally speaking at least I’m in the clear.”
Redditors gave their opinions on the situation by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors agreed OP was not the a**hole.
“NTA – If the house was sold to some random stranger, you’d all be on the street anyway.”
“I’m guessing the roommates were hoping to get a discount on rent now that you own the place because you’re buds.” ~ evelbug
“I’m going with NTA this is your house that you bought with your own money. You have given them plenty of time to find other accommodations and told them you would recommend them to the new landlord.”
“I am not a landlord nor a tenant but I agree this is a reasonable request. You have known your friend longer than them and have a good relationship with him so that is why he gets to stay.” ~ Flossy1384
“‘Class traitor’ is a bit of a weird one to pull.”
“Morally/ethically speaking I think you’re clear as 4 months is generally considered reasonable (maybe even substantial) notice. You could go the extra mile and honor the original contract if it’s longer if you want.”
“I’d personally consider that morally virtuous but not an imperative. (ie: it’s not immoral to give 4 months notice.)”
“So really, I’m going NTA.”
“I obviously don’t know what the rental market is like in your area and how easy it would be for them to find a new place. From the sounds of it you’ve given fair notice though and their ‘class traitor’ response sounds like white noise unless there are considerations you didn’t put in your original post (I have no idea what they would be.)”
“If at the end of the 4 months they are legitimately struggling to find places then maybe consider extending if you’re approaching this from an ethical standpoint rather than a legal one.”
“However that’s ‘whats’ and ‘ifs’ and can’t see how this wouldn’t be an NTA situation as written.” ~ Mr_Ham_Man80
It is OP’s house.
“NTA. What were they expecting was going to happen if the landlord had sold the place to someone else?” ~ supermouse35
“Since no one has asked this. Was their lease up yet? Or was it like a month to month thing?”
“I don’t know where you’re from but where I’m from it is very common for house to be bought in the middle of a lease and the new owners must let you live there at the previous landlords price until the lease is up.”
“But there are also month to month leases where as long as you pay rent you can live there indefinitely, but both tenant and landlord are free to give notice to vacate at any time. And I know some places the new owner can evict immediately upon taking possession of the property regardless of how much time is left on the lease.” ~ Mundane_Marsupial_61
“I also wonder when the “original” lease with the former owner would be up. While I def say NTA (your house, your right to use as desired), I know that most rental properties are sold as rental properties – not private residences.”
“Whichever means most new owners are happy to have rent paying tenants already in property. The new owners also don’t start making changes (rate changes or not renewing a lease) until the end of the current lease.”
“However, again & like so many others have already said – your property, your rules and 4 months seems pretty darn generous. Not to mention that if that’s what’s legally required, and that’s what you’ve offered them, it’s now a ‘them problem.’” ~ MannyMoSTL
“Different from a house, but I lived in a condo for two years and then the owner decided to sell it. She asked me first if I wanted it; I didn’t.”
“But she gave me notice and also told me she’d tell the new owner I was a great tenant if they wanted to continue to let me live there (I ended up moving out when my lease was up, before she found a buyer).”
“I have to assume this was a month-to-month situation, because if a lease transferred, I think OP would have to both wait for the lease to be coming to an end, and also give them the notice to move out on top of it.” ~ heartsinthebyline
OP has the right to pick who lives in their house.