Tenant refuses to let girlfriend terminate lease Online: ‘So selfish’

A Reddit user’s morality has been questioned.

In a viral post published on the r/AmITeA****** forums, Redditor u/nsdi-982 (aka the original poster or OP) said that despite her refusing to give her friend the lease on their apartment to resign from living with her ailing grandmother, leaving thousands of commenters deeply disappointed.

Captioned: “[Am I the a******] for not leaving mine [girlfriend] be removed from the lease?” the post has garnered nearly 8,000 upvotes and more than 3,000 comments since Nov. 8.

“My [girlfriend] and I lived together for 5 months and it was going well,” OP began. “But her grandma recently had a fall and needs care.”

The original poster went on to explain that her friend plans to move in with her grandmother and said she asked to be released from the couple’s lease before leaving.

The original poster also said they couldn’t afford to live alone and was quick to decline her friend’s request and suggestion that they find another roommate to help cover the costs in the meantime.

“I don’t want to live with a roommate anymore and have told her to keep paying for the apartment…since living with her grandma is free,” the OP wrote. “But she’s angry that I won’t cut her off the lease and … because I didn’t just find someone to live with.”

“But how is it fair that she’s living with her grandma rent-free while I’m stuck with a stranger[?]’ OP asked. “I told the landlord I wasn’t putting her out of the lease and she threatened to break up with me because of it.”

Like most contracts, real estate leases are not always easy to break. Several parties have agreed to certain terms and it is expected that those terms will be met.

But life doesn’t always stick to contractual obligations.

As soon as it becomes apparent that a person renting an apartment, house or other residence will have to leave it earlier than expected, it is imperative that the parties involved are fully aware of any signed early departure agreements.

“It’s best to double-check the lease for any early termination language,” said Sarah Cimarusti, senior writer at Move.org news week. “It may sound self-explanatory, but tenants often don’t know everything that is included in their lease.”

In scenarios such as that described in the original poster, when a tenant plans to terminate a multi-person lease, the exiting party must pay a certain amount of money to cover rent and utilities for a period of time to which they originally agreed.

And according to Cimarusti, departing parties can also be asked to help find their own replacement.

“Contract[s] can also ask the evicting tenant to help find a new roommate,” said Cimarusti news week.

“The landlord should be involved in this transition to avoid lease violations/evictions,” Cimarusti added. “Some landlords will be more flexible than others.”

However, the original poster made it clear that they have no interest whatsoever in living with a roommate and that they have told their landlord that they would not agree to their friend leaving the country free of charge.

Throughout the comments section of the viral post, many Redditors questioned the rejection of the original poster, citing — or suspecting — their morals.

“May the karma you radiate be reflected back to you,” wrote Redditor u/whatsmypassword73 in the top comment of the post, which received nearly 26,000 upvotes.

“She’ll literally help her grandma, she’ll work to protect her, and you call that rent-free?” they questioned. “Serious?”

Redditor u/Stan_Of_Cleeves, whose comment received almost 9,000 upvotes, offered a similar answer.

“It would be reasonable to expect her to pay her half of the rent until you find a roommate,” they wrote. “But pay half the rest of the year for an apartment she doesn’t live in? Just because you don’t like roommates? All because her grandmother had an emergency and needs care? Oops.”

“The price of yours [girlfriend] is a lot of mental and emotional drain,” commented Redditor u/ali_stardragon. “She does NOT need you to be petty or try to manipulate her into what you want.”

“You’ve probably already changed their minds about you for being so selfish,” chipped in Redditor u/TentaclesAndCupcakes, receiving more than 2,000 upvotes. “This relationship won’t last much longer.”

news week has contacted u/nsdi-982 for comment. We have not been able to verify the details of the case.