AITA for Evicting My Brother After 5 Months of Freeloading?

Some people treat “just a couple weeks” like it’s a magical spell that turns into months, then somehow into a permanent lifestyle choice. This one started with a breakup and a favor, and it ended with a lock change, a text, and a whole lot of family drama.

The cast is simple but messy: OP, 24, letting his 27-year-old brother move into his one-bedroom apartment back in October after a breakup, with promises to help with rent that never materialized. Instead, the brother eats OP’s food, drives OP’s car without asking, leaves his stuff everywhere, and escalates to full chaos when he hosts six friends for drinking and loud music, even hanging out on the kitchen counter and wrecking furniture with spilled beer and burned coffee-table damage.

Now OP’s wondering if he really went too far, or if his brother finally pushed things past “brotherly” limits.

Original Post

So I (24M) let my brother (27M) stay at my apartment “for a couple weeks” after he broke up with his gf. That was… like October.

It’s now March. At first it was chill.

I figured, ok, he needs a place, whatever. He said he’d help with rent when he got a job.

Never happened. Eats my food, drives my car without asking, leaves his s**t everywhere.

I bit my tongue a lot. Last week I got home early and he had like 6 friends over.

My 1 bedroom. They were drinking, loud music, dude was literally on my kitchen counter??

Spilled beer on my couch, burned my coffee table. I lost it.

Told him it’s not okay. He laughed, said I was “acting like a landlord not a brother.” Yesterday I changed the lock.

Texted him he can come grab his stuff but he’s not staying anymore. Mom is calling me saying I embarrassed him and “family doesn’t do that.” I feel kinda bad but also… it’s my place.

I’ve been too nice for months. AITA?

Update: Okay, I should’ve thought to include this in the original post as it’s pretty important (especially seeing some of the replies) but my mom’s in an assisted living facility for health reasons, so having him stay with her wasn’t an option. Sorry for not thinking to mention that earlier, and thanks to everyone who has already replied!

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This is also like the fight over whether to keep or split mom’s jewelry among siblings.

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When months of “I’ll pay rent when I get a job” turned into zero rent and constant mess, OP’s patience started running out fast.

Then the kitchen counter incident, the six friends, and the beer on the couch made it impossible to pretend this was still “temporary.”

After OP got home early and saw the chaos firsthand, the brother’s joke about OP “acting like a landlord” landed like a slap.

With mom calling it “embarrassing” and OP replying that mom’s in assisted living so he couldn’t offload him there, the lock change became the breaking point.

What do you think about this situation? Let us know in the comments.

Nobody wants to live in their own apartment like it’s a free party venue.

For another family blowup, read about whether someone should exclude their in-laws from their child’s birthday party.