Nasty rental situation with sister in law, help!

General
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My husband & I had an agreement made with his sister to rent to own her old house. We were over the mood excited and grateful for that opportunity! We lived there for 2.5 years & we always paid our rent up 6 months in advance because that's how she wanted it. Everything was fine! We were very comfortable and everything was very smooth. Until one day, on our sons 5th birthday she told my husband that we had 30 days to be out of the house because she was moving back into it. We were heartbroken to say the very least and to top it all of 30 days from then our 4th baby was due to be born. Very very very stressful time. Fast forward, we move out & I gave birth 2 days later. I was so thankful he didn't come any sooner & that we had a place to live because man, it was HARD. Mentally & physically. She told everyone that we destroyed the house & we absolutely DID NOT. I work from home as a child care taker which means my house had to stay clean and liveable at all times so her accusations are impossible. What makes me even more upset is that whenever we moved in that house she had left SO MUCH stuff and messes all through out the house. For example, piles of dog poop, trash, moldy nasty food in the fridge, clothes, old tvs, just junk EVERYWHERE and I cleaned it all without any hard feelings at all because hey, she was blessing us with this amazing house and i was so thankful for her and she knew that.. Here we are, one year later and she never moved into the house. It has sat there empty all this time & she has never once apologized to us or even congratulated us on her new nephew. We haven't heard from her or seen her at all since hearing about her accusations of destroying the house. I have spent way too much time hurt over this and have cried countless tears just not able to comprehend how she or anyone could do this to someone especially family and her 4 nephews!! I understand it was her house all along but we had an agreement and we had already invested $20,000 into buying this house from her for her to just kick us out for literally no reason? I'm mad!!
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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. Nasty rental situation with sister in law, help!

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Did you have anything in writing?

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if this was a verbal agreement, you were paying rent :tipping_hand_woman:

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Was there a contract? Did she she serve you with an actual eviction notice? If you just left without an eviction notice, thatā€™s on you. If there is a contract in place, file a lawsuit against her.

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Is it a written agreement? If so id sue her for breech of contract

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Take her to court if you have paper proof

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What are the laws in your area? In some placesā€¦30 days notice is all thatā€™s required. If she has no proof you destroyed the house, take her to court for slander. If you have move in/move out photos, thatā€™s ideal. Honestly Iā€™d consider those ties broken.

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Lawsuit. Sheā€™ll be reimbursing me for rent & emotional distress as well.

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Didnā€™t you have a contract

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Always have those kind of agreements in writing, no matter who the deal is with. If you have a written agreement, take her ass to court. If not, Iā€™m agreed there is nothing that can be done

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This is why 1. Never rent/buy from family. 2. ALWAYS GET A CONTRACT AND HAVE IT NOTARIZED. Sorry hunā€¦that just sucks

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Yall should not have moved out &taken ot to court. Thatā€™s alot of money to be out of when you were expecting to keep it in the end.

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Lol this is why you should never do business with family.

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Contracts, contracts, contractsā€¦bet they took out a loan against the houseā€¦

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If you had a written contract, you would win in court. Just saying.

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I think this is a very big lesson to learn. Cut her off completely. Why has your husband not said something to her? Sheā€™s toxic and I wouldnā€™t allow my children around considering she took their home away.

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There was a time when you trusted your family

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Try just letting it go and leaving it up to our Lordā€¦ pray for her, forgive her and accept this pain and count it as a lesson that will become your blessing. You would been more hurt if she had you stay any longerā€¦ wish I could help. Iā€™m praying :pray:

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If you truly had a written agreement you would be talking to a lawyer and going to court not asking Facebook. Best of luck.

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You can choose yr friends but not your relativesp.

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ALWAYS get it in writingā€¦

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It was a written agreement that means thatā€™s legally binding she broke a contract you can now sue her and get the money back and if youā€™re that hurt over it I would fight to get my money back the judge may also instead of just giving you your money back tell her she has to move out of the house that yā€™all paid and bought for the house

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Did she at least return the 6 months of advance rent you had paid

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Agreement not a contract! Lesson learned move on with your life.

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You probably paid the loan off and now she has a basic free house

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Take her to court. You can prove you lived there. Itā€™s your word against hers and l think a judge would believe you and itā€™s still sitting empty. Iā€™m sure you could find people to testify for you also . What a nasty person to put you out when you are ready to deliver a baby . :angry:

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Take her to court and get some of your $ back. Hopefully yā€™all had it written up. Cut your losses and move on

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I know you think with family you donā€™t need something written down but you do I myself have learned the hard way and itā€™s so upsetting that family has treated you that way. Iā€™m so sorry.

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So you have a contract or receipts

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Thatā€™s why rent to own sucks No matter what they can kick you out at any time and there is nothing you can do about it. Iā€™m sorry that sucks so much hope it turns out better in the end

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Say this prayer. God bless and keep herā€¦ far away from me!

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Well, me? I wouldnā€™t have done business like that because itā€™s family and family always turns to drama trauma. However, considering the damage is done, I would beat her as* since it is family :woman_shrugging: JS

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You didnt have to move, you paid on time?

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I am so sorry she did that to yā€™all. Best thing i can say never ever involve family in a living situation. My husband put my mils name on his house and land before we met. The house was not liveable when we moved in so we stayed at his dads rental. We got kicked out of there literally in the middle of the night. I was 6 months pregnant. We had nowhere to go. Sleeping on peoples floors until we could fix his house up. Once we moved in we lived there 10 years. We came to south texas to visit him. He was working here. Every intention of going back home. We let his mom stay there. Only 6 weeks she said. Its been over 3 years and she just barely left. She trashed it. Moved my bil and his psycho destructive twins in. Put goats in the house. When she did finally leave it was completely trashed. She had 4 other places to live up there but refused to leave our house. Now shes been out about 6 months and shes selling it. There is nothing we can do to stop her. Her name is on everything. I have never had good experiences when living with family. She also never sees her grandkids. Straight up said she hates me and them. So we dont talk. I hope wherever yā€™all found to go is better and brings you more peace. She owes you a huge apology. She is very clearly in the wrong here. Some people are just mean and spiteful. Family or no

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Did you have legal documents for all of this? If so, take her to court.

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Did you have it in writing? If so, take her to court.

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It be your own family most of the time.

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Let it go! Go on with your life and enjoy your boys, a building donā€™t make a home the love in it does. I totally get how you feel. Been there in your shoes. Good luck and never look back. Congrats on your new son.

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Go to a lawyer. Verbal agreements are legal and binding.

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Did you have an actual, written contract?? Because if so - first, she never could have made you move, and second - she owes the money back.

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Did you have any sort of written agreement stating you were renting to own? If so, I would see about taking her to court of this.
That is a lot of money to have invested to basically lost

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Forget her some people not worth the stress and heartache

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Prayers for forgiveness

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It sucks Iā€™m sure but unless you had some kind of written agreement like others have said thereā€™s not much you can do. Also, you said itā€™s a year later so Iā€™m curious exactly what kind of help you are seeking? If you all havenā€™t spoken with her since then I would just continue on with that and keep the drama out of your lives. Who cares what sheā€™s said about you, those that know you will know the truth.

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If you had it in writing or receipts I would of taken her to court over that situation

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Always have paperwork and get it notorized so itā€™s an official document. Even if itā€™s family, donā€™t trust it. You have to cover your own a$$

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If you did not have a contract, you didnā€™t have a legally binding agreement. You had a month to month rent. If you DID have a written contract, then I would take it to a lawyer and see what options you have. I would want any money I invested under the agreement back if she violated the contract. If you didnā€™t have a contract, lesson learned.

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Take her to court or cut all ties

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If you had any kind of rent agreement I would take her to court for all that money back

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Did you get it in writing- then time to take her to court. This is about YOUR family and YOUR agreement

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Itā€™s over. You know what kind of person she is now. Just let it go , donā€™t let her take anymore of your thoughts. Enjoy your new house and congratulations on the baby.

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I donā€™t care if itā€™s your own momā€¦.always always always get a contract!!!

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Your feelings are valid! However, holding onto this pain and anger will not serve you and will only continue to hurt. I suggest to have a ā€œfuneralā€ for the feelings of hope, and home that died with that house. Write your feelings out, bury or burn them, and try to find your peace and make a vision board for new beginnings. Continue to keep the boundaries between your sister in law and next time make sure you protect yourself with a legally binding contract.

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Did you have a rent to own contract and proof of payments. If so take her to court

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Yep itā€™s tough going but u need to think of yourself and ur own wee family. It will take a while to let the hurt and anger go but u will get there. Her lost.
Regarding the money end of it maybe speak to a solicitor and c if anything can be done. She dont care about yous in any shape or form. She doen wrong and she should be the 1 to make the 1st move if she ever wants to put things right but itā€™s been this long so dont c it happening. She will need u before yous will need her.
A lovely house is going to waste and it will cause her more money to keep it in good repair if she dont sell it

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This is how I would handle the situation but thatā€™s just me.

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Sounds like something my sister would do

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Wait you paid 6 months in advance only for her to give you 30 days to vacate? So, uh, did she give you 5 months of rent money back?? Consider yourself lucky that sheā€™s not in your life anymore. She sounds like trash.

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So sorry this has happened but There has gotta be more to the story why would she just randomly decided to kick youā€™s out especially being heavily pregnant with her nephews/niece .?

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I thought rent to own was a legal thing and both parties would be have to be held accountable?

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Check your state laws, some states hold verbal contacts just as firm as written.

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You paid her rent 6 mos ahead she owes you a refund first off and in some states a verbal agreement is legally binding

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If it was in any form of contract you can sue her for the money

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I would court,if u had things in writing

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Thereā€™s no mention of what the womanā€™s brother, the complainantā€™s husband has said or done about the situation.

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Always have a signed contract,even with family,a lawyer would write one so everything is legal

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I would definitely get some legal advice, then once thatā€™s sorted lose all contact with her, nobody needs people like that in their lives family or not!!

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I hope since you paid ahead in rent that you got money back also that you took photos of the place when you leftā€“I would take her to court for the money if you didnā€™t get it back. She would also have to have photos proving you destroyed the place.

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Everyone faces judgement day and Eternity there afterā€¦

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You know the tv show court show youā€™d win take her thereā€¦

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Save your money, buy your own beautiful home, cut your losses and move on! She sounds like a bitter betty!

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Get those contracts in writing even from family in this day and age

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But hope you learned you can NEVER trust family

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If you signed a contract (which family or not I hope you did!) then she legally canā€™t evict you.

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Take her ass to court. Do not let her get away with YOUR MONEY

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Itā€™s hard on all family if you deal with family members itā€™s wrong but and you will loss money and cry a lot of tears and can never go home again but turn the other cheek one day karma will repay her you might not see it but she has to face god one day

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If you have any paperwork stating that you were renting to own. You can probably sue for wrongful eviction. That is if she served you a legal eviction at all

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Count your blessing sheā€™s out of the picture!! I know family member that does worst things to her own parentsā€¦financially and emotionally yet the parents never have hard feeling towards the daughter. Congratulation on your new baby!! Your family is all you need :blush:

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Just out of nowhere and for no reason? Hmmm, either there is more to this OR YOU GOTTA GO TO COURT!.. PERIOD!

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Didnā€™t you have a written contract??? An oral contract is worth the paper it is written on (worthless).

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Cut your losses and know there is a better place out there for you. Forgive her so you can let go of any burden it has on you.

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Did you have any type of contract? If so I would take her to court for it or the money.

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Anything in writing? Verbal agreements mean nothing.

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Let it go. It will do you good to move on and not fret over it anymore. Focus on your kiddos and be there for family and friends that have your back.:slightly_smiling_face:

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In a rent to own you should be able to get your money back or the house. Take her ass to court

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Never. Ever. Do business with family. And if you do business with friends, get it in writing!!!

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Iā€™m assuming because you were dealing with family there is no proof of renting to own or how much put into the house. Heartbreaking lesson to learn but never trust anyone to that extent, always cover your tracks for your protection.

Iā€™m really sorry there is no reasonable explanation or closure to that chapter. Nothing can cover that pain but time and learning a hard lesson.

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You and hubby both need to be mad but if it has been this long of time she isnā€™t ever going to apologize so let it go she isnā€™t worth the stress.

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Sheā€™s not worth your tears. Cut her out and move on. Family doesnā€™t equally healthy.

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Iā€™m sorry but did u not have legal paperwork drawn up 4 this? I also bought a house rent 2 own from my mother but I had an attorney draw up the legal papers and she had her attorney separate that house from her estate so no childish nonsense could occur. Never do legal business with anybody and especially relatives without legal paperwork!! Iā€™m so sorry this happened 2 u.

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If you have written agreements court might be your answer.

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Sounds normal when you do business with family. Nothing new. :woman_shrugging:t4:

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Was there a written agreement

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Rent to own is never good. You could take her to court. You have a verbal contract.

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I would contact her, meet her for coffee. Ask her straight up. Whatā€™s up? Itā€™s either gonna clear some airā€¦ or it could be a huge drama but then you know you tried rightā€¦

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well if u have any documentation of u guys doing rent to own an evidence of payments then u can beat her in court iā€™d start there cuz that is B.S an she is straight trash in my eyes!!

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I can tell
You as a realtor that rent to own is not good. Always have a lawyer write up a contract if you are going to go this route bc in the end you have no leg to stand on otherwise

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All you people saying to let it go can yall invest 20,000 dollars, lose it and then let it go.

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Sue her ass, thatā€™s 20k . petty ass family member. I would trash that place so she can actually have a reason to talkā€¦