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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
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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)
Image credits: VegetableDay3991
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.
Image credits: Erik Mclean/ Pexels (not the actual photo)
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)
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What do you think ?
Pandaodboredem22 3 weeks ago
Definitely don't mess with packages that aren't yours. Move them to the front porch, better yet if you have a doorbell cam, report to Amazon as delivered to the wrong address then don't touch them. If Amazon picks them up great, if not you've C'dYA and tried and they can sit out in the rain until previous home owners pick them up. While it's not the same exact situation, I live on 123 N Main St, and some people must have moved into 123 S Main St but addressed their packages to 123 Main St, which got delivered to me. I contacted the senders/shippers and when they asked me to drop them off wherever I said no. They eventually got picked up, and the people learned to add the S to their address apparently with little effort from me.
Taibhse Sealgair 3 weeks ago
Just want to re-iterate: you are in no way responsible for "returning" the package to the delivery company. Once you contact them (which is a decent thing to do) they need to come and get it. We had something misdelivered to our house once. I called the delivery company, and they wanted ME to bring it to their closest office 45 minutes away. Hard NO. Told them to call their competitors to arrange a pick up. They then said just pitch it.
Load More Replies...
Traveling Lady Railfan 3 weeks ago
Last summer I had a package delivered to my door. It had my full address on it but not my name. I didn't know the person. With no phone number or anything on the box it took a little bit of doing but I was able to contact the package delivery, tell them that yes this is my address, but no this is not me, this is not my package, come pick it up. They did. The next day I got a letter in my mailbox from the person whose package this was who said that they had delivery confirmation that the package had been dropped off at this address; give it to them or else obviously I'm stealing it and they're going to involve the police. I called the package delivery number again, talk to a nice lady in customer service, read her the letter, and she said that the people had already been informed that their package had the wrong address and had been returned to sender (which in this case was the warehouse distribution center) and if they kept pestering me, they would be reported to police for harassment
Becky Samuel 3 weeks ago
I would be chasing the solicitors who arranged this sale because there should have been clauses about vacant possession and also about exactly what items are being left at the property. This is why you don't cheapnout on your legal representation.
Dave In MD 3 weeks ago
Amazon is not the USPS. Laws regarding tampering the mail does not apply. Contact Amazon and tell them that the person no longer lives there.
Ruth Watry 3 weeks ago
Have an attorney send them a letter giving them one week to schedule pickup from the backyard with police escort. As for the packages, I would put a big obnoxious sign in my yard stating "UPS - "name" does not live here anymore."
kath morgan 3 weeks ago
Take them to the post office/contact the courier and report them misdelivered. Don’t damage them, and don’t engage those people. If they do anything weird, make a police report.
Glen Ellyn 3 weeks ago
Not packages, but I sometimes get letters that aren't addressed to me. The ones that are for the previous owner I just toss - because he passed away in 2010! But there is also the occasional letter that should have gone to XXX Ave N instead of my XXX Ave S. I put them back in the mail with the S changed to N. More than once I've gotten them back again. I finally learned that I need to cross out the postal service's barcode that routes mail to me. Interesting that the last letter I got was from the Criminal Court in the county that borders mine (my city limits actually extend into three counties). I remembered to mark out the barcode on that one so I assume it got properly delivered.
deletemyaccount 3 weeks ago
When I bought my house I changed the locks before I moved any of my property inside and installed cameras within the first week.
FatBoySlim 3 weeks ago
If it lands on my doorstep, with my address on it, it’s mine unless I care to do otherwise.
Pandaodboredem22 3 weeks ago
Definitely don't mess with packages that aren't yours. Move them to the front porch, better yet if you have a doorbell cam, report to Amazon as delivered to the wrong address then don't touch them. If Amazon picks them up great, if not you've C'dYA and tried and they can sit out in the rain until previous home owners pick them up. While it's not the same exact situation, I live on 123 N Main St, and some people must have moved into 123 S Main St but addressed their packages to 123 Main St, which got delivered to me. I contacted the senders/shippers and when they asked me to drop them off wherever I said no. They eventually got picked up, and the people learned to add the S to their address apparently with little effort from me.
Taibhse Sealgair 3 weeks ago
Just want to re-iterate: you are in no way responsible for "returning" the package to the delivery company. Once you contact them (which is a decent thing to do) they need to come and get it. We had something misdelivered to our house once. I called the delivery company, and they wanted ME to bring it to their closest office 45 minutes away. Hard NO. Told them to call their competitors to arrange a pick up. They then said just pitch it.
Load More Replies... Traveling Lady Railfan 3 weeks ago
Last summer I had a package delivered to my door. It had my full address on it but not my name. I didn't know the person. With no phone number or anything on the box it took a little bit of doing but I was able to contact the package delivery, tell them that yes this is my address, but no this is not me, this is not my package, come pick it up. They did. The next day I got a letter in my mailbox from the person whose package this was who said that they had delivery confirmation that the package had been dropped off at this address; give it to them or else obviously I'm stealing it and they're going to involve the police. I called the package delivery number again, talk to a nice lady in customer service, read her the letter, and she said that the people had already been informed that their package had the wrong address and had been returned to sender (which in this case was the warehouse distribution center) and if they kept pestering me, they would be reported to police for harassment
Becky Samuel 3 weeks ago
I would be chasing the solicitors who arranged this sale because there should have been clauses about vacant possession and also about exactly what items are being left at the property. This is why you don't cheapnout on your legal representation.
Dave In MD 3 weeks ago
Amazon is not the USPS. Laws regarding tampering the mail does not apply. Contact Amazon and tell them that the person no longer lives there.
Ruth Watry 3 weeks ago
Have an attorney send them a letter giving them one week to schedule pickup from the backyard with police escort. As for the packages, I would put a big obnoxious sign in my yard stating "UPS - "name" does not live here anymore."
kath morgan 3 weeks ago
Take them to the post office/contact the courier and report them misdelivered. Don’t damage them, and don’t engage those people. If they do anything weird, make a police report.
Glen Ellyn 3 weeks ago
Not packages, but I sometimes get letters that aren't addressed to me. The ones that are for the previous owner I just toss - because he passed away in 2010! But there is also the occasional letter that should have gone to XXX Ave N instead of my XXX Ave S. I put them back in the mail with the S changed to N. More than once I've gotten them back again. I finally learned that I need to cross out the postal service's barcode that routes mail to me. Interesting that the last letter I got was from the Criminal Court in the county that borders mine (my city limits actually extend into three counties). I remembered to mark out the barcode on that one so I assume it got properly delivered.
deletemyaccount 3 weeks ago
When I bought my house I changed the locks before I moved any of my property inside and installed cameras within the first week.
FatBoySlim 3 weeks ago
If it lands on my doorstep, with my address on it, it’s mine unless I care to do otherwise.
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