Five years ago DP (now DH), went to work abroad. I was a single mum to DD. We went to spend the summer holidays with him (I'm a teacher). I was renting a little flat in a nice part of London. I was also a total total doormat.
Meanwhile a friend of mine (we were all mid twenties at this point), had moved to London to be with her boyfriend. He dumped her and she was staying with a series of friends on their sofas etc. Her kids lived with their dad in Luton and she needed somewhere to take them for her access weekends.
She asked if she could stay in my flat, paying me £500pm rent, while I was abroad, so her kids could have somewhere safe to be and she wouldn't have to keep imposing on friends.
I said yes with some misgivings. Part of the agreement was that my bedroom would be locked (she would have DD's double bedroom and the sofabed when her DCs were over).
When DD and I got back, the bin was full of maggots and there were carrier bags of chicken bones and other food rubbish piled up next to it, also maggoty. The flat was totally filthy with stamps (the rubber type), on the walls and woodwork. My bedroom door was still locked but all my clothes had been gone through a couple of dresses smelt very distinctly of her (she smoked). My dressing-gown cord had been used as wrist restraints when she'd had a guy over (I found out from him later, it was still tied to the bed). There were mice in the flat.
I'm a bit shit at confrontation but let my friend know that I was really miffed. She cried and apologised and begged me not to throw her out as she didn't have anywhere else to go. So she stayed in DD's room for another week, during which time we were broken into. The insurance wouldn't pay out as she'd left the window unlocked and they'd got in that way.
I got really upset with her and she went off on a huge rant, saying she'd lost her laptop too and who did I think I was charging her for staying somewhere when it wasn't costing me anything.
I asked her to leave, she left (but left all her stuff and all the kids' stuff behind, it took up most of DD's room). She'd left me two cheques for £500 - they both bounced. I contacted her to tell her this and she said she was sorry and she'd pay me back as soon as she could.
The next week I was putting DD's clothes back in her chest of drawers and found three pills (ecstasy), in a little plastic bag.
My friend went back to Luton, went on the dole and got a council flat. After repeated emails were ignored I told her I was moving and her stuff would be out on the street unless she came to collect it; she and her new boyfriend came to collect it and she said "I owe you almost a thousand pounds!", and said she'd pay me back £10 a week out of her benefits. She emailed me to ask for my bank details but nothing further transpired.
A couple of years ago she added me on facebook and I added her back out of curiosity really.
Last year she moved in with a guy and got a job with the local council.
Today she posted about getting a morgage and how she and this guy had a 30% deposit so why wasn't the rate better.
I messaged her saying "great to hear you're buying a place, does this mean you're going to pay me back?"
It was unreasonable, wasn't it.
She's replied now and I am too scared to open it!