Woman Dropped 'Freeloading' Brother Off at Aunt's House Without Permission

A woman claimed in a now-viral post that she recently dropped her "freeloading" older brother off at their aunt's house without discussing it first.

Posting to Reddit's "Am I The A**hole" forum on Sunday under the username u/Relative_Potential92, the woman said that her older brother moved in with her after losing his job.

So far, the post has received more than 24,000 upvotes and over 1,200 comments.

"My older brother is...a bit of a bum. It's mean to say but it's true. He can never hang onto a job for longer than a couple [of] years max and when he inevitably loses whatever job he had he starts mooching off family and friends until he can find another job months later," the woman wrote.

When it comes to creating and setting financial boundaries with family members, psychologist and podcast host Dr. Julie Gurner reminded Martha Stewart readers that "any pattern [they] set, is a pattern that others might anticipate will be repeated."

"This means that if you do help out a family member with their finances, they may expect more help in the future and so may others in the family. So, make sure to establish clearly defined rules about money with your loved ones," the website advised.

Speaking to Real Simple, personal finance advisor Lynette Khalfani-Cox added that when it comes to enabling loved ones' "destructive behavior," a person should ask themselves: "If the banks won't lend them money, why should [I]?"

"No person's love and acceptance and close ties to their family members should have to be dependent upon the person's ability or willingness to provide financial support to the other party," Khalfani-Cox concluded.

Though u/Relative_Potential92 has described her brother's "mooching" as a pattern, the family still supports him whenever he inevitably loses another job.

After his most recent job loss, the woman's brother asked to stay with their parents but they didn't have room. So, the family begged the woman to help her older brother out. She agreed, but their time together was a "nightmare."

"He's a slob. He NEVER washes dishes, never washes his clothes, and eats pretty much whatever he wants. I guess since I'm his little sister he figured he could ignore me saying to get his s**t together," she said. She added that he ran up her bills.

"Well after six months I told him he had to go," she continued.

Her brother called the family to tell them that he'd been told to leave his sister's home. This prompted an angry phone call from their aunt, who accused the woman of "abandoning" her brother.

"I let her talk and finally said she was right, helping family was important and I'm glad she showed me that," the woman recalled.

Shortly after, the woman helped her brother pack his belongings and dropped him off at her aunt's house. Her aunt allegedly called the woman and called her a "c**t," and the two haven't spoken since.

The woman worried that she'd been wrong to drop her brother off at her aunt's house without her aunt's permission. But Redditors were quick to jump to her defense.

"NTA [not the a**hole]. Congratulations, you did exactly what Reddit always advises people in your situation! 'If they think helping family is so important, they can take care of [freeloading relative].' Good job for being kind enough to give him a chance and for being strong enough to boot him out when you were fed up," wrote u/QueenOfStolenHearts.

More than 24,000 Redditors upvoted u/QueenOfStolenHearts's comment in agreement.

"NTA. I like your style. It's easy to criticize without having to offer help. Auntie is in for a rude awakening," said u/Hot_Aside_4637.

"NTA—This is precisely how you deal with people telling you what to do, while not doing anything themselves. I applaud you!" added u/Top-Meringue5255.