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A mom has sparked controversy on TikTok after making her 18-year-old daughter sign a legally binding lease agreement in order to stay in the family home.
An Oklahoma mom of six posting under the username c_d_g has racked up over 1.7 million views with the lease, filming her teen daughter signing the official document. Her daughter currently works and is heading to college to study, but will pay a monthly rent of $100, including all bills and groceries.
"When your 18-year-old decided to stay at home," she wrote on-screen, with "Hard Knock Life" from the musical Annie playing in the background.
The lease is a year-long legal agreement from May 2022 to May 2023, with rent payable on the first of each month, according to the document, titled a "residential lease agreement." It was described as a "teaching moment" by the mom, who said it was simply preparing her daughter for the future and "setting up for success."
"The tenant shall vacate the premises upon termination of the Agreement, unless the landlord and tenant have agreed to extend this agreement or have signed a new lease agreement," reads one part of the document.
"My parenting and support also doesn't stop at 18...and my love isn't conditional. Setting my kids up to be successful when they move out is the point," she confirmed in a comment.
According to other videos posted by the family, the lease agreement is an official "legal document" that they can use as proof of renter history for her children when they do eventually decide to move out. Of her six children, three have already moved out, including a daughter who is just only slightly older than the one featured in the video.
The daughter who signed into the at-home lease agreement shared in a video to the same TikTok account that the decision was "hard" and "complicated" for her to understand, but that she came to realize it was preparing her for the real world and making her "responsible."
In a video, the mom explained that her own parents did not set her up for her success, and left her unprepared for the world as a single teen mom at 16.
Despite her reasoning, the "legal" lease agreement sparked divisive views online, with some users expressing concern while others were left in support of the initiative.
"I'll be doing this, but the 'rent' will just go into a savings account for when they get their own place," wrote one user.
"Why y'all complaining? That thing said $100 a month rent. Compare that to $2k rent out there, she has it easy," added another.
One user reasoned further: "this is valid if you put the money away in savings for your kid to use for an actual down payment on something or for college, otherwise...I don't know."
Others tiptoed even further onto the "against" side, writing: "My mom started making me pay rent the second I turned 18. I always said I would never do that to my kids. Not cool."
"My parents did this and we no longer talk" Good luck I guess," added another.
One user wrote: "Why do people think 18 is an adult? We are still kids, why are we paying rent?"
Newsweek has contacted the mom for comment.
