Woman asks if she's wrong to sue alcoholic sister who owes her $500.
It's hard to have a family member that isn't well, especially if they owe you money. When this woman wants to sue her alcoholic sister for not paying her back, she takes to the popular Reddit forum to ask:
'AITA for threatening to sue my sister over $500?'
Hi. I'm needing an impartial opinion here. My sister is a single mom with two kids. And she lives out of a trailer with them. She has a good job that's within walking distance of her home. And she's a good mom to her kids. Problem is that she drinks booze like a fish. And lately it's gotten even worse.
She borrowed money from me in the past and promised to pay it back. But has only given me $100 when she owed me $600 and tried to say she paid me. I said she made a PAYMENT, that's all.
And she still owes me $500. Meanwhile she's going out drinking whenever she can, taking her kids out to drink often, and buying lots of booze. All of that stuff isn't a life necessity. But now that my sister is almost 40, I think she's entering mid-life crisis mode.
Finally I confronted her about how I've given her multiple chances to pay me back, and she's spending money on booze and eating out like water. She yelled at me that she's not changing the way she does things just because she owes me money. So I said that either she pays me back, or I'll take her to small claims court because she still owes me $500.
She had the nerve to try and say she paid me again. But I reminded her she paid only $100, and still owes $500. Then I threatened to not only sue her, but also never drive her anywhere again.
She likes having my help as a designated driver. Or using my truck to haul things. Both of which I threatened to not do again until she pays me. She went off on me, but I held my ground and told her that she needs to get her head out of her ass and get her finances on order before walking away and telling her she either needs to start making more $100 payments, or pay it off all at once.
She yelled at me a few more times, but I didn't take the bait and kept walking.I thought I was in the right. But my mother called me up over yelling at my sister. She changed her tone a bit when I explained what actually happened.
And agrees my sister needs to cut back. But she still thinks I'm a jerk for doing what I did. So here I am to ask about it. AITA for threatening my sister with small claims court over $500 she refuses to pay back?
Let's see what Reddit had to say.
persephonetaylor writes:
NTA. I'm sure there has to be more brewing beneath the surface here, and it boiled down to her refusing to hear what you were saying. A person can only take so much before they snap, and for you it seems it's not even really about the money, it's about the lack of accountability.
She borrows money, your vehicle, and your time, and doesn't respect your boundaries you're attempting to establish.
quacklikeme disagrees:
YTA. OP sucks for judging sis for going out to eat and thinking she should overhaul her life in order to pay them back. All of the description of sis’s home life and how she “drinks like a fish” is irrelevant set up to try to make us biased against her from the get-go.
galacticnull brings this point up:
NTA. I don't think this would hold up in court without proof. Do you have a bank statement or text messages confirming you gave her $600 and it was a clear loan and not a gift? Do you have proof she paid you $100 and when that was, and that she has been refusing to pay the rest? If it was all verbal I don't think you'd have much luck in court.