Rich Man Evicts Brother and His Family from His Rental House: Here’s Why

“O’Brother O’Brother, what have you done?
O’Brother O’Brother, you can’t escape the one
O’Brother O’Brother, have you not learned?
O’Brother O’Brother, you could’ve waited your turn

O’Brother O’Brother, what did you do?
O’Brother O’Brother, listen to what I tell you
O’Brother O’Brother, did you not care?
O’Brother O’Brother, life just isn’t fair

O’Brother O’Brother, do you want to die?
O’Brother O’Brother, I’m not here to lie
O’Brother O’Brother, do you love me?
O’Brother O’Brother, don’t you believe

O’Brother O’Brother, what has the world come to?
O’Brother O’Brother, what can we possibly do?
O’Brother O’Brother, Just know I love you” — From the poem, O’Brother, by Triauna Hall

And yet, when you have a self-serving brother, love and kindness may prove not enough. This lesson a successful man has learned the hard way after lending a hand to his brother in need. He ended up being slandered and blamed by some members of their family for his brother’s soon-to-be homeless situation.

With the username u/FollowingFit3032, he shared this sad story of their brotherhood on Reddit’s r/AmItheA–hole forum: “A few years ago, my brother needed help. I let him move into one of my rental properties, and we did it all legal. Lease agreement and everything. Because I was renting to him at a breakeven point, we agreed that he was responsible for all the maintenance of the house and yard.”

OP admitted that the house was old, but it was a solid structure on a vast tract of land. However, since his brother has a big family, the hot water tank was inadequate for them. He called up OP to get a new one installed, to which OP agreed.

But it marked the beginning of a bitter conflict between them because his brother charged the costs of the hot water tank and installation on the rent.

According to OP, he called up his brother to remind him of their agreement, but his brother answered him with arrogance: “He said he wasn’t making improvements to my property for free. I said that the old hot water tank was fine and he made the decision to replace it. Big argument, and I didn’t want to fight, so I said that he was not allowed to make any further changes to the house without my explicit agreement. So he stopped doing maintenance as a protest.”

Then came another demand from his brother for the installation of another breaker and more outlets since the current wiring was not enough for all of his family’s electronic devices and appliances. However, OP replied that he could not afford it since he has not been gaining any profit from the house.

What happened next? OP wrote, “He started getting bitchy about it, and the rent started getting paid late. I tried talking to him, but he said that he had to buy some stuff for the house and he was low on cash.”

After experiencing all these headaches, OP decided to just sell the house. Yes, it was old, but it had a prime location in the city where developers race to buy properties on sale to convert them into multi-family units.

And since OP is acquainted with many developers, it didn’t even take him a week to sell the house.

But, of course, OP’s decision was met with bitterness by his arrogant sibling. He further related in the post, “My brother found out when he was served with an eviction notice. He called me to ask WTF. So I told him that the house was causing me headaches and I had an opportunity to make some money and I took it. He said I should have offered him a chance decision to buy it. I said that he was having trouble making rent. How was he going to qualify for a mortgage. He said I’m an asshole and that he has the money; he was waiting to make me an offer. I asked him if he had money why he was late on his rent.”

After that conversation, OP’s brother started to slander him among members of their family. A few of them sided with him, accusing OP of being an AH. What did OP do? He wrote, “I offered all of them a chance to clear his debt to me if they wanted to share their opinion. None of them took me up on the offer.”

As for OP’s parents, they clearly understood him and even remarked that he shouldn’t have rented his old house to his brother. OP feels deep sympathy for his brother’s wife and four kids, but he realizes that he can’t go on supporting such a brother with the disgusting attitude of a spoilt brat.