AITA for making my SIL pay above average rent for one bedroom?

A person recounts their decision to charge their sister-in-law (SIL) $800 for one bedroom in their home, following a difficult history where the SIL charged them exorbitantly while offering minimal space during their time of need. Now, with roles reversed, the arrangement has sparked controversy within the family.

‘ AITA for making my SIL pay above average rent for one bedroom?’

I am 100% being petty here but curious if I am actually wrong. Most of my husbands family think I am being childish and “need to let the past go”, as my SIL can’t afford this but her behavior toward us in the past makes me feel this is warranted.
2 years ago my house burnt to the ground after being struck by lightening. Thankfully it was during the day so our 3 kids were at school and my husband and I were at work.

We lost everything but we were safe. It took almost 11 months for the insurance to pay out. The insurance covered 1 month worth of hotel stays but after that we were made to fend for ourselves and the only option we had was to move in with my SIL. She tells us we can have her spare room and her office space, since she used neither of the rooms and her stipulations was we needed to purchase all of our own food and pay her $100 a week. By week 3 all of that changed.

She then decides we need to pay her $250 a week and we can only use one room. So all 5 of us were crammed in to the smallest room she had, which was the size of a glorified closet space and didn’t even fit a twin bed and a small dresser (so we lived out of trash bags and slept on the floor) for close to $1000 a month some months and still had to purchase all of our own food, despite her claiming my children on her foodstamps.

She also had no bills outside of her land tax ($450 a year), electric and heating oil (which she hardly ever filled). So we were essentially paying her so she could do leisure activities. It was the worst 8 months of my life. 3 months ago my grandmother decided that she wanted to go to assisted living after a fall and transferred the deed of her house to me and basically said it was mine now. It is a 5 bedroom farmhouse.

My boys insist on sharing a room so we have 2 extra bedrooms. Well, my SIL lost her house last month due to not paying her land tax for several years and asked if her and her step daughter could stay with us until they get enough money to move down south. I said sure, 1 bedroom, $800 a month and you have to buy and cook all your food separately because my daughter is vegan.

She looked at me like I had 10 heads and said that she and her step daughter should not be made to share a room when there are 2 extra rooms and stated she cannot afford a rent of $800 while purchasing all of her own food on top of it. I said “neither could we but we managed to cram 5 people in to a glorified closet space while you were getting $1000 and foodstamps. Take it or leave it.” She decided to leave. Again, I am being told I am childish. AITA?

Here’s what people had to say to OP:

[Reddit User] −  NTA. It’s $250/month for the room and $750/month for you having to see her stupid face every day. You’re giving her an 80% discount on the rent because she’s family.

Alienne8r −  Wow I was really going the other way when I read the title but yeah you are NTA. You simply treated you SIL how she treated you. Not worse and not better. If she thinks it’s unfair then it shows she knew what she did was wrong first. S**ew anybody who says you should accommodate. Best thing ever that she left. Enjoy your farm house!

KTB1962 −  Childish and petty as hell? Oh yeah. But also NTA. Tell your SIL and everyone else that you reap what you sow. IMO, you’re being extremely generous in requesting that she pay $200 less than what you paid for 1 room. This is also a good one for r/pettyrevenge.

IFeelNothingness −  NTA. Love the sweet sweet smell of karma in the morning.

StarDMC26 −  NTA. You stated that you had 5 people crammed in a room and she managed to moan and complaint sharing one with her step daughter… She seems like s free loader and shouldn’t be enabled to just mooch off others and float by. Where is her husband/step daughters dad? Did she not once apologize to you for the cramming you in a small room and upcharging you? $800 a month is basically the price of a room rental in most places.. You are NTA at all.

Lux–Ray −  NTA. Classic double standards here. So it’s ok for her to extort you when you need help in an emergency situation, but it’s not ok for you to charge her that much because she lost her house because of her being unreliable? Absolutely not. While I must say it is petty, she had it coming.. S**ew her.

Ginboy32 −  Love it, you Rock. Don’t back down you know Karma is a b**ch and your SIL just got served. Tell the family they can let her live with them. also make sure they know 5 of you lived in a bedroom and paid $1,000 a month plus food while she received food stamps for your kids.

Ginger17a −  NTA seems like what goes around comes around. She took advantage and didn’t like it when it came back on her. Guess she should have saved the money she charged you so she could pay her taxes. She got 8k from you. She had plenty of money to pay taxes for many years and chose not to. That’s on her.

stickydebater −  NTA:Omg I don’t understand how some people can be so dumb? Why wouldn’t she have just paid the annual land tax and kept her free housing?

[Reddit User] −  NTA. I came into this fully thinking I was going to say YTA since you started off by saying you were being petty and knew it lol.. but nope. NTA. She really fucked you and your family in your time of need.