AITA for refusing to pay my brother’s utility bill after he threatened to sue me over my own storage unit?

My brother has been using my apartment address for his mail for years, dumped boxes into my paid storage unit without permission, and even threatened to sue me for touching it — and now my parents want me to cover his unpaid $700 utilities.

My brother Liam (31M) lives in my parents’ second home an hour away but still uses my college apartment as his legal address. For two years I’ve been dealing with his bills, tax forms, and junk mail because he claims it’s “easier.” I let it slide out of love, even though it’s been annoying. A few months ago, I rented a small, expensive storage unit in my building’s basement for my art supplies. When Liam found out, he treated it like free real estate and filled about 60% of it with boxes of “important tax documents.” I told him he had two weeks to clear it because I had a large supply shipment coming.

I asked him — repeatedly — to remove his boxes, and he responded by saying he had “rights” to my storage and threatened to sue me if I touched his stuff.

When the deadline passed and his boxes were still there, I reminded him again — and that’s when he snapped. He said that because his mail comes to my address, he “technically has rights” to my storage unit. He even threatened to sue me for damaging “important property” if I touched anything. It was such a ridiculous escalation that I thought he was joking, but he wasn’t.

"If you touch my boxes, I’ll sue you for destroying my property."

Then, this week, I learned he hadn’t paid utilities at my parents’ second home for three months. My parents called asking me to pay the $700 bill to “help him out.” When Liam called afterward, I told him the truth — that after threatening to sue me over a storage unit I pay for, I wasn’t about to bail him out financially. My refusal apparently makes me the villain in the family drama.

"You threatened to sue me — I'm not giving you money."

Now my parents are calling me heartless and accusing me of letting him “freeze” over a “petty argument.” To them, $700 is just something I should pay to “keep the peace.” To me, it feels like the final straw after two years of being taken advantage of and disrespected.

🏠 The Aftermath

Liam still hasn’t moved his boxes from my storage unit, and he’s still using my address as his legal mailing address. Meanwhile, the utilities at the house remain unpaid, and my parents are furious that I’m not stepping in to fix it.

At my apartment: I’m stuck with a storage unit I can barely use because he took it over. At the house: he’s behind on bills and relying on guilt and family pressure to get someone else to pay them for him.

The conflict has exposed a huge imbalance — Liam expects support, space, and money, but the moment I set a boundary, he escalated to threats. My refusal has now become a family-wide drama centered on whether I’m “responsible” for helping him.

"I'm tired of being walked on."

The truth is, I’m not trying to punish him — I’m just no longer willing to bankroll someone who treats me like an enemy whenever I stand up for myself.

💭 Emotional Reflection

This isn’t just about a storage unit or a bill — it’s about entitlement and boundaries. Liam treats your space, your finances, and your goodwill as things he’s automatically owed, and the moment you push back, he escalates.

Could you pay the $700? Yes. Does that mean you should? Not when the person demanding it threatened legal action over a unit you pay for, and not when your boundaries are being ignored.

Reasonable people might say “family helps family,” but support can’t be one-way. Respect matters, and so does recognizing when someone is exploiting your kindness.

Here’s how the community might see it:

“If he thinks he has legal rights to your storage unit, he can use those ‘rights’ to pay his own bills.”

“He threatened to sue you — he doesn’t get to turn around and ask for money.”

“Your parents are enabling him. Setting boundaries isn’t heartless.”

Most would agree that your refusal is reasonable, and that Liam’s behavior — not your boundary — is what created this situation.

🌱 Final Thoughts

Sometimes the only way to stop being treated like a doormat is to stop acting like one. Your brother’s threats, entitlement, and expectations aren’t your responsibility to fix — especially not financially.

You’re allowed to draw a line and protect your space, your money, and your peace. Boundaries aren’t cruelty; they’re self-respect.

What do you think?
Would you have paid anyway, or held firm after the lawsuit threat? Share your thoughts below 👇