AITA For Evicting my roommate/tenant after she ate my snacks and my roommates snacks?

In a bustling city apartment, the hum of a shared fridge hides a brewing conflict. A 26-year-old landlord, renting rooms to students, welcomes a new tenant—a 20-year-old woman who seems like a perfect fit. But soon, frozen pizzas and snacks vanish, and tensions rise. After catching her red-handed and issuing warnings, he demands payment for a stolen lunch and serves a 30-day eviction notice. Her plea? She’s broke and now forced to drop out of college.

This isn’t just about a slice of pizza—it’s about trust, boundaries, and tough choices. Her tears and a roommate’s plea for leniency leave him questioning, but was he too harsh? As the Reddit crowd weighs in, this story of communal living gone sour will have you picking sides—dive in and decide who’s in the right.

‘AITA For Evicting my roommate/tenant after she ate my snacks and my roommates snacks?’

So I figured I'd ask after seeing a hotdog related post, this happened several months ago. I am 26M the girl in question is 20F also this is a throwaway if that is relevant. I own a large Apartment in the middle of a city with a lot of students,

I divided the apartment in to 4 large rooms with their own little 'living rooms' and bathrooms, a large communal kitchen/lounge area and a washer/dryer room in order to rent it out, prime location, loads of privacy compared to other places = profit.

I use one of the rooms myself when I am in the city for work which is usually a few months a year and live the rest of my time in a house on the other side of the country. I recently had a roommate/tenant leave because he flunked out, I was sad to see him go as he was a cool dude, clean, payed on time, friendly and we have become good friends.

It wasn't long until I found someone else who wanted to rent, I explained to her how this goes, the main fridge has 4 shelves and the freezer has 4 compartments(my own handywork lol) so the upper one is mine one below one roommate and so on all clearly marked.

Now since she moved in s**t went missing, first my frozen pizza, I saw her eating it the day before unknowing it was mine, when I found out I confronted her, she denied it, I told her I saw her eat it and that I wouldn't tolerate lying and to make sure it didn't happen again.

A week later both other roommates told me their food kept dissapearing and suspected her, again I confronted her, again went over who's shelve was who's and so on and told her this was her final warning, she laughed it off.

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I got home the other day and caught her eating my lunch for the day after at midnight, I told her in no uncertain terms she was to cough up 20 bucks right this instance for me to buy lunch the day after, she started complaining she didn't have it but eventually she relented and paid up.

Well the next morning I served her a 30 day eviction notice, she started crying saying she'd have to drop out as she could never find another place on such short notice and begged me to stay, saying she was broke which is why she was stealing food.

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I told her not my problem and I warned her a-plenty even a roommate weighed in that I should give her another chance.. She did have to quit college and move back home or so I was told, Am I TA?

Shared living thrives on mutual respect, and this landlord’s eviction of a food-stealing tenant underscores the cost of broken trust. The tenant’s repeated theft, despite clear warnings and designated fridge spaces, violated house rules and strained roommate relations. Her claim of poverty explains but doesn’t excuse her actions, especially after lying and laughing off confrontations. The landlord’s decision, while harsh in outcome, protected his other tenants and property.

This reflects a broader issue: 54% of shared housing residents report conflicts over personal property, per a 2023 Journal of Urban Studies. Dr. Susan Heitler, a conflict resolution expert, notes, “Clear rules and consequences are vital in shared spaces to maintain fairness”. The tenant’s failure to seek help—like food pantries—escalated the situation, while the landlord’s warnings gave her ample chance to change.

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Advice: In future, the landlord could set written house rules upfront and suggest resources for struggling tenants. A mediation session before eviction might have clarified options.

Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:

Reddit’s cooking up takes hotter than a stolen pizza. Here’s what the community dished out, with some spicy opinions on tenants and consequences:

Jason_Wolfe - NTA, her sob story doesn't concern me, if she was that worried about having to quit college she would have stopped stealing.

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Audginator - NTA at all. You told her it wouldn't be tolerated and yet she persisted. If she was honestly that broke, she could have communicated with you and the other roommate/tenants instead of being a thief. You sound like an awesome landlord

and I have a feeling if she hadn't been a sneaky liar thief that you would have been more willing to cooperate with her. However, I dont believe that she was too broke to afford ramen. Ramen is cheap as hell, yeah it gets boring after a while but if its starve to death or eat ramen every day, then you eat ramen every day.

wedragonsarereal - NTA people are always sorry when they get chaught

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notdeadpool - NTA - you were very clear and she continually pushed her luck. Well done for looking after your other renters who had their stuff stolen.

[Reddit User] - NTA - theft is theft, smaller thefts indicate a disregard for your property that could prove to be something much bigger in the long run. Best to get shut of her quick time.

teresajs - NTA. If you didn't evict her, your good tenants probably would have left. If she was stealing just $10 of food a day, that would add up to over $3500 in theft a year. She should have spied for food stamps or gone to the food pantry if she truly couldn't afford to buy food.

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weadahbabyeetsaboy - NTA. Sounds like she’s going through a rough time, and that sucks. However, you had an agreement which she broke after receiving multiple warnings.

deathleprchaun - NTA, its called the consequences of your own actions. Had the opposite thing where i was renting from someone who kept stealing my food and 'borrowing' video game controllers and the like. I moved out and it went to s**t for him cause his next tenant sucked. Im for all being nice and understanding but comes a point when you gotta do whats best for you

[Reddit User] - Why are you even asking?? And why are all these monsters supporting you?????? YTA ! There is no doubt about it! You forced someone to drop out all because she ate your pizza?????????????????? How is this even a debate?

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loudent2 - Look, if you're starving and steal a loaf of bread I'm probably going to give you a pass.. However, in this case 1. She clearly had enough money the last time because she coughed up $20. When I was broke I could turn 20 bucks into like 30 meals (3 ramens for a buck, although it's probably more expensive now).

2. She was lying about it, not only lying but she was trying her hand at gaslighting and I am not down with that. 3. She could have at least asked. I'm sure some people would maybe share some staples. But she didn't even bother doing that, just stole things. 4. Who's to know if it would stop at food? She can't afford clothes, or jewelry so she' entitled to take yours.. NTA

These Redditors are slicing through the drama, but do their calls for eviction overlook the tenant’s struggles, or are they on point?

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This apartment showdown leaves us munching on a big question: when does theft justify eviction? The landlord’s stand against a food-stealing tenant protected his space, but her college dropout story tugs at the heart. Was he right to enforce the rules, or should he have given her one more chance? Share your thoughts—what would you do with a sneaky roommate? Let’s dive into this shared-living saga and sort it out!

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