Dear Prudence,
I live in an apartment with very thin walls and try my hardest to be a good neighbor since the rent is low here and most of the building is elderly. My sister, her boyfriend, and his two kids came to stay with me because they were in-between housing. It was supposed to be for two weeks. They didn’t even make it six days. The kids screamed, slammed doors, and seemed incapable of not stomping. The minute I reminded them to be quiet, they looked at me, said okay, and went right back to acting like little banshees. Their father did nothing and acted annoyed when I asked him to control his kids.
Twice my neighbors came to me with complaints and twice I asked my sister and her boyfriend to please respect my space. They were staying here for free rather than going to a hotel. The third time the boyfriend got in my face and said kids make noise and I would just have to deal with it like everyone else. At this, I told my sister the arrangement was not working and they needed to go
My sister freaked out on me and started to scream at me. Then her boyfriend joined in and one of my neighbors called the cops. The end result was they all left and my landlord gave me a written warning that he wasn’t going to renew my lease because of the incident. I can’t afford to move out and I am utterly furious at my sister. She told me it serves me right. My life is an utter mess. What should I do?
—Disaster in Dallas