Man Revokes Invite for Relatives to Stay at His Apartment After They Make a List of Demands Before Moving In

A 28-year-old man says what began as a simple favor for family quickly spiraled into an uncomfortable confrontation that forced him to draw a firm boundary.

In a Reddit post, the man explained that he lives alone in a modest but comfortable apartment — a space he takes pride in maintaining. He described himself as someone who values routine, privacy, and a generally low-drama lifestyle.

That balance was disrupted when his aunt and her adult son asked if they could stay with him for a couple of weeks while they searched for a new place to live.

“I agreed mostly out of guilt and family pressure,” he wrote, adding that the request was presented as temporary and straightforward. According to him, the plan was simple: they would sleep at his apartment and largely keep to themselves.

A few days later, however, his aunt called again — and this time, the conversation felt very different.

“She started talking about how we’d need to adjust some things so everyone feels comfortable,” he wrote. She suggested he move his work desk out of the living room so her son could use the space during the day. She also said he should stop having friends over in the evenings because they were early sleepers.

The list continued. He was told to avoid cooking certain foods due to smells and encouraged to follow their daily schedule so the apartment would feel “calm.” None of it, he noted, was framed as a request.

“It was all presented like obvious common sense,” he wrote.

At that point, he pushed back, telling his aunt the situation was starting to feel less like helping out and more like surrendering his home. She responded by saying that helping family requires compromise and accused him of being inflexible. When he explained that he had never agreed to change his lifestyle, she implied that he didn’t care enough about family.

After taking a day to think it over, he called her back and said he was no longer comfortable with the arrangement, suggesting she explore other options.

“She was upset and said I embarrassed her and put her in a bad position,” he wrote.

Since then, other relatives have reached out, telling him he overreacted. But from his perspective, the boundaries of his home had already been “negotiated away” before his aunt and cousin even arrived.

“I keep wondering if I should have just sucked it up for the sake of peace,” he admitted. “But I also feel like I dodged something bigger.”

After he shared the story online, hundreds of commenters weighed in.

“The other relatives are calling you because they don’t want to house your aunt and her son. Hold the line,” one person wrote.

Another added, “Once someone starts planning my daily life before even moving in, it stops feeling like help and starts feeling like losing my own space.”

A third commenter summed it up bluntly: “You made the right call. As a guest, you’re at the whim of the host — not the other way around. She had no position to make demands, and you were right to shut it down.”