She ghosted me for 2 months. I paid her rent, warned her, and still — she never came back. Now she’s furious I gave away her grandmother’s wedding dress.
She stopped paying rent and vanished. So I did what I had to do. Now she says I ruined her life.
In a now-viral AITA post, a 22-year-old woman explained how her living situation with her roommate (24F) spiraled from bad to legally complicated. The issue? After months of missed rent, ignored texts, and empty promises — the OP (original poster) cleared out her roommate’s abandoned room… and accidentally donated a priceless family heirloom.
Let’s break it down.
The roommate started slacking… hard.
In the beginning, they were friends. But that didn’t last long.
The roommate, according to OP, struggled to handle basic responsibilities:
- Rarely buying essentials like dish soap or toilet paper
- Avoiding chores like taking out trash or doing dishes
- Consistently paying bills and rent late
“I felt bad at first,” OP wrote, “but I quickly got frustrated and became short with her.”
Despite the tension, they stayed under the same roof. Until things got worse.
Then she disappeared. No warning, no rent.
By May, OP hadn’t seen her roommate in two weeks. Concerned and trying to be responsible, she reached out. No answer.
Eventually, OP got in touch with the roommate’s mom, who managed to get her daughter to text back. That’s when the bomb dropped:
“She said she was staying with her boyfriend’s family ‘for now’ and didn’t think she should pay rent for somewhere she’s not staying.”
Yeah.
OP asked if that meant she was moving out. But again — silence.
No rent. No response. No plan.
With bills due, OP had to cover the full rent alone. Feeling abandoned, she kept texting and urging her roommate to come get her stuff. The roommate never replied, but her mom kept saying, “She’ll handle it.”
“She never did,” OP wrote.
By July — two months after the roommate left — OP decided it was time. With the help of friends, she boxed everything up. Most of it went to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. The landlord changed the locks, and OP moved on.
Then she came back. Furious.
Out of nowhere, the roommate showed up at the apartment.
She was shocked to find the locks changed and even more shocked when OP told her she no longer lived there — she’d been taken off the lease and hadn’t paid rent in months.
“She started crying and said she had nowhere else to go,” OP shared. “I felt really bad.”
But when the roommate asked to grab her things, OP broke the news:
“I donated everything unless it looked precious or expensive. I didn’t know the wedding dress was important.”
That’s when the roommate completely broke down. Turns out, she had stored her late grandmother’s wedding dress — a cherished family heirloom — in a special box. And it was gone.
She called OP a monster. Threatened to call the police. And sobbed uncontrollably.
Was OP wrong? Or just fed up?
Reddit had thoughts.
What Reddit Thinks
NTA. Most users agreed: OP did everything right by the book. She paid the rent, gave multiple warnings, and made it clear she would get rid of her roommate’s things if they weren’t claimed.
Top comment:
“She abandoned the place, ghosted you for 2 months, and never paid rent. You’re not a mind reader. NTA.”
Another added:
“The heirloom is tragic, but that’s on her. She ignored every message and even let her mom lie for her. You warned her multiple times.”
Some users did express sympathy for the roommate’s loss — especially over something as irreplaceable as a wedding dress. But even then, they said it didn’t excuse her lack of communication or responsibility.
“You didn’t do it out of spite. You were trying to move forward with your life after being left to clean up her mess.”
A sad ending — but a preventable one
This story has layers: Ghosting. Financial pressure. And a deep emotional loss over a family heirloom.
But it also highlights a simple truth: If you stop paying rent, ignore your roommate for two months, and make no plan to return — don’t be surprised when they move on.
So what do you think?
Was OP right to donate everything — including the wedding dress?
Or should she have waited a little longer?
Sound Off in the Comments
Would you have donated the items? Do you think she should’ve kept the dress?
Let’s talk about it.