I (38F) own a 3 bed apartment, which I currently live in. I rent one of the rooms out to a good friend (37F) of mine. We will call her ‘Betty’.

Betty and I have been friends for over 12 years now and I have worked hard to buy my own apartment. Betty was struggling a few years back and needed a place to stay. I offered her to move in with me. At this point she had no job, so I didn’t charge her rent for the first 3 months, whilst she was finding a job and earning an income.

Fast forward 4 years and Betty has done great within her job, where she now earns a fantastic salary!

Whilst I am careful with my money and have no debts, the cost of living has gone up and my mortgage payments have also shot up! I explained this to Betty and she mentioned if I needed to up the rent, she completely understands. I looked through some figures and realised that I would need to do this as it would help me a lot with the increased mortgage payments.

I spoke with Betty a couple of days later and mentioned that I will be increasing the rent but only by $50 a month. She has gone ballistic and called me greedy, saying I should not be increasing the rent. (Note here she said days ago about if I needed to increase it’s fine!)

I got so frustrated at this and told her if she wasn’t happy with this then she can pack her things and leave. I only charge her $350 a month anyway so she can crack on with trying to find somewhere for that price.

AITH if I look to get legal advice on where I stand if she refuses to pay the increase or refuses to move out?