Buying your first home is supposed to be a mix of excitement, nerves, and endless Pinterest boards. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes, buying a house can feel like a real-life game of Monopoly, except you’re paying real money, and no one is handing out “Get Out of Jail Free” cards when things go wrong.
Between the inspection and paperwork, you expect a little chaos. But, what you don’t expect is a side of hostility. Yet, now and then, you meet sellers who seem to be auditioning for a show called World’s Pettiest People. And one Redditor found themselves in the middle of that episode.
More info: Reddit
Buying your first home is stressful enough, but dealing with petty sellers adds a whole new layer of mess to the situation
Image credits: Kindel Media / Pexels (not the actual photo)
One couple thought they’d finally won the home-buying game, only to meet sellers who refused to leave, hid the keys, and kept sending packages to their house
Image credits: Alena Darmel / Pexels (not the actual photo)
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After overstaying their welcome by 46 hours and dumping trash in the buyers’ yard, the sellers had packages delivered to the house and called the police on the buyer
Our Redditor finally closed on their dream home, ready to move in with their fiancé. The papers were signed, and the keys were theirs… technically. But hold the happy tears and the celebratory pizza. The former owners didn’t get the memo. Instead of vacating on time, they decided to hide the keys and hang out at the house they sold—for 46 hours post-closing. That’s almost two days of squatting where they had no legal right to be.
Once they finally gave the new buyers the keys, they left behind not just the house but also a yard full of junk. And just when our Redditor thought they’d seen the last of the nightmare sellers, Amazon packages started rolling in, all addressed to the former homeowners.
Being reasonable people, the new homeowners told them, via their real estate agent, that the packages would only be returned once the junk in the yard was removed. Sounds fair to me. But the ex-owners didn’t seem to think so. They called the police, of course.
After some advice from a lawyer friend, the new homeowners placed the packages on the porch, and the seller eventually retrieved them after being tired of waiting hours for a police escort. Crisis averted—or so they thought.
Two days later and—what do you know—yet another package mysteriously appears on the porch! I guess it’s “Finders Keepers” this time. Or is it? Well, technically, when a package is delivered to your address, it’s considered yours unless the rightful owner makes a claim.
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However, US law states that anyone who steals, knowingly receives, or opens someone else’s mail (including packages) can land in serious legal trouble. And, since the seller in our story did ask for their packages, there’s nothing our Redditor could do but return them, so holding them hostage was not really a good idea.
I don’t know about you, but I probably would have left the unwanted packages unsupervised on the front porch. After all, who says you have to guard packages addressed to someone else, especially when that someone is a rude and nasty person?
I get it, everyone has a bad day now and then, but when that bad day becomes a bad week or even a bad month, you may be dealing with a sociopath or psychopath. The pros say that—not me. According to them, hostile behavior may come from pathological anger, bullying, narcissistic rage, or other such disorders.
Whatever the reason, when dealing with hostile people, the key is to stay calm but assertive and to stay away from them as much as possible. Engaging in their drama only gives them what they want: a reaction. Instead, be polite, stick to the facts, and set boundaries like your peace of mind depends on it, because it really does. Oh, and don’t forget to document everything. You never know when you’ll need the receipts.
What’s your take on this story? What would you do if you were in the buyer’s shoes? Let us know in the comments!
Netizens are calling the sellers out for being not only petty but also downright hostile, advising the buyers to lawyer up
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
