Cross posting hopefully for a bit more traffic.
Bit of a messy one, but here goes. My best friend (let’s call him X) rented a house from my sister’s husband’s sister because she was moving in with her partner. She told them not to bring their own furniture because she didn’t want to take hers with her, so they got rid of things like fridges, sofas, beds, etc., assuming they’d be there for a couple of years.
Fast forward six months, she splits with her boyfriend and decides she wants the house back immediately. X and his partner tried to negotiate a reasonable timeline and said they could be out in 12 weeks. X works abroad and wasn’t even in the country at the time. Landlord refused and demanded they leave in three weeks or she'd issue proceedings. They said she’d have to take them to court because finding somewhere in three weeks and replacing everything they’d gotten rid of just wasn’t possible.
Court date was today. Landlord turns up with her solicitor and her dad for support. X, meanwhile, had to go alone. Then my BIL (who is married to my sister but has no real stake in this) randomly turns up and starts swearing at him. This is someone who has been on holiday with X, spent Christmas with him, and knows we’re really close—so it feels very personal and unnecessary.
To make matters worse, BIL and the landlord were sat in the waiting room on loudspeaker to my sister, slagging off X in the actual court waiting room. He slammed the door on my friend and blocked his exit to leave the court, and swore at him again.
This was just a procedural issue that could have been dealt with in a straightforward way, but BIL has now made it personal and escalated things unnecessarily.
Now X is devastated, saying he never wants to see them again and doesn’t even feel comfortable around my family anymore. My toxic mother is, of course, taking BIL’s side and telling me I should support my sister because ‘family is family’. When I pointed out BIL didn’t have to get involved, she just trotted out some nonsense about how he and SIL’s sister are ‘really close’.
I’m absolutely furious. This was already a difficult enough situation without BIL inserting himself and making it worse. I feel like I should say something, but I also know it’ll just cause more drama. AIBU to think he should have just stayed out of it? And WIBU to call him out?