Woman Backed for Kicking Her Brother, His Wife and Three Kids Out of Home

A woman who kicked out her brother and his family from her apartment is being supported by one of the the most infamous forums on Reddit.

Posting to the r/AmITheA**hole subreddit, u/maidbaial earned over 8,400 upvotes and 500 comments for writing "AITA: for kicking my brother and his family out of my flat after they wrecked my roommates things".

In the post, u/maidbaial says that she and her roommate have a standing deal that either can have family stay in their apartment, as long as it's cleared with the other beforehand. Her brother requested that he, his wife and their three small children—aged 4, 7 and 9—crash with them due to financial trouble. She agreed, with the proviso that they leave after two weeks because her roommate had family coming for a visit then.

She says that she went over the apartment's three rules for any visitor staying with them: Don't go into her roommate's room, don't go in to her room and don't take anything without asking.

Things were fine for the first few days, u/maidbaial says. But after the initial calm, her roommate said someone went into her room. In a later comment, u/maidbaial said that they didn't have locks on their doors because, until now, they didn't need them.

Her brother's family was reminded of the rules, and everything seemed to be OK.

The next day, though, it was not OK.

"My friend walks in crying," u/maidbaial wrote. "I ask what's wrong and she explains that someone went into her room again and [wrecked] her painting she was doing and had also smashed some pictures frames and it looks like someone was climbing around on her desk."

She called her brother and told him and his family to return home immediately. When they arrive, u/maidbaial told them to pack up and leave.

"They both look at me shocked and I tell them 'we set rules and your kids ignored them you should have taken control of your kids and now you need to leave,'" she wrote. "I show them what the kids had done and again I tell them to get out of my flat."

In a later comment, she said that paint was visible on the kids' clothing, making it clear who the culprits were.

She said that though they left "without a fight," her brother told her family members, who now are calling her out, upset that she kicked her brother's family out.

In a comment to Newsweek, she clarified that though she's still getting criticism, the situation with her brother is resolved.

"We now have locks for everyone going on at me and we have now decided when anyone come over to the apartment to get them to sign a contract," u/maidbaial told Newsweek. "We have also got my brother to pay for all the damage even though my family are still calling me an a**hole about the whole situation."

One of the hazards of having people over is that they might make a mess or break things. There's not many options for seeking redress if the visitor doesn't agree to pay for damages, according to Lawyers.com. If they won't pay for it, the site recommends looking into whether homeowner's insurance will cover the damages. Otherwise, the only other option, beside letting it go, is to file either criminal charges or a lawsuit against the visitor.

Redditors roundly backed u/maidbaial for kicking out her brother and his family.

"[Not the A**hole] - this is an obvious answer, he f***ed up with telling his kids after the first and final warning. there was clear rules set and for the kids to do that s***ty of a thing?? nah," u/Wild-Ad-2219 wrote in the top-voted comment with over 10,000 upvotes.

"I cannot understand people who are this happy to f*** around with scissors on their own safety net. If me and my wife and three kids were made homeless and somebody let me stay at their house, I would be so terrified of upsetting them or wearing out my welcome. If my kids did something like this, I'd be apologising on my hands and knees before the host has even finished explaining. How do they have the gall to do this when they're literally relying on these people?" u/BritishHobo wrote.

"You both went above and beyond by trying to help them out and set out ground rules and they chose to ignore them, so they've only got themselves to blame for no longer being able to stay in your home," u/G8RTOAD wrote. "As for the extended family tell them to either house your brother, SIL and their 3 kids and don't whinge to you when their stuff gets damaged by them."

Update 4/28/2022, 4:30 p.m.: This article has been updated to include comment from u/maidbaial.