In many science fiction or fantasy books, the heroes often face the so-called "lesser evil principle." For example, when a good guy does something bad—but it is justified by the plot—because otherwise, good cannot win. In particular, if you remember the Harry Potter books, the protagonist performed a bunch of unforgivable curses—but was never actually punished for it...
Okay, we are not talking about that now, although the lesser evil principle is also relevant for this very real story from user Huhy, whose sister, sick and tired of living with a flatmate who was a slob, ended up literally stealing her part of the rental deposit. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
More info: Mumsnet
The author of the post has a sister who was unlucky enough to share an apartment with a very sloppy student
Image credits: Vision plug / Pexels (not the actual photo)
That woman was 100% a slob, ruining nearly everything in her room and turning it into a complete pigsty
Image credits: Huhy
Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
After the semester was over, the landlord contacted the sister and told her he could return only £400 (~$512) of their deposit
Image credits: Huhy
Image credits: omar essa / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The women had an agreement to split the deposit equally, but the sister decided to take it all since it was due to the flatmate's mess
Image credits: Huhy
Image credits: SHVETS production / Pexels (not the actual photo)
She suggested this option to the flatmate, but she refused to agree—so, the sister lied to the landlord and took the money
Image credits: Huhy
Now, the flatmate is livid over the situation and asks the author to get involved
So, let's tell this in order—the Original Poster (OP) has a sister who recently graduated from a university in London. In her last year, she lived in the same apartment with an international student with whom she had previously been friends. However, as it turned out, sharing a roof with her was a major strategic mistake...
Sometimes, to convey the scale of the mess that some tenants make in rented apartments, we draw comparisons with a pigsty, but this is definitely not the case. Believe me, almost any pigsty would be a model of cleanliness and order compared to this student's room! The author herself visited her sister more than once and could see for themselves.
But now, the final exams have passed, the dissertation is done—and the students are leaving for home. The author's sister was contacted by the landlord, who was also horrified by the mess in her neighbor's room and, noting that the carpet and bed in the flatmate's room were ruined, said that he would return only £400 (~$512) of their deposit. The sister, however—considering that this would be unfair to her—decided to take the rest for herself.
She texted the flatmate about it, but the flatmate didn't agree—instead demanding to split the deposit in half. But the OP's sister, having contacted the landlord, lied and said that the flatmate allegedly agreed to give her all the money. The landlord did so—and once her ex-friend found out about the situation, she wrote to the author asking them to step in.
It's not that she was desperate for money—she comes from a very well-off family, it's just that the messy flatmate believed that justice should be restored. And now the original poster, who is also not thrilled with their sister's deed, is wondering what to do...
Image credits: Kaboompics.com / Pexels (not the actual photo)
"No matter how sloppy this woman's flatmate is, what she did is technically theft. Yes, veiled as a search for justice, but nevertheless," says Irina Matveeva, a psychologist and certified NLP specialist who Bored Panda asked for a comment on this situation. "So she deceived two people at once—the landlord and the flatmate."
"In all fairness, she should have given the other woman half of the money and perhaps demanded compensation from her. Or started bargaining with her even before the landlord transferred the money to her. But now, unfortunately, this looks like a criminal act, and nothing more. And to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if the police get involved here," Irina summarizes.
People in the comments also note en masse that, first, the author's sister actually committed theft, and second, she deceived the landlord. And they don't even know which of the two flatmates actually behaved worse here. "Your sister's flatmate sounds grim. Your sister sounds grim. But stealing is worse than being a slob in my opinion," one of the responders wrote.
However, many commenters also believe that the original poster has absolutely no business getting involved here, because, in fact, this is a problem between just two people—the sister and her flatmate. "Whilst I don't approve of theft, this has nothing to do with you," another person added quite reasonably. And what do you, our dear readers, think about this described situation? How would you act if you were the author?
People in the comments said that the flatmate was a real slob, but the sister's deed is actually theft—so it's way uglier
