First time poster, so hello nice to meet everyone. I (24M) and my girlfriend (24F) were originally renting from a family member until our pipes exploded and sent an inch of standing water into the living room and kitchen of our old home. Unfortunately, our couch, stove, and most ground-level accessories didn't make it. We live in a more rural area, so suffice to say options are few and far between and what is available is egregiously overpriced especially if you have animals. We have two cats which we adore and have had for years so there's definitely no rehoming them.
Anyway, out of options and pretty panicked we jumped at the offer from my girlfriend's sister to move in because stepping on wet floor sucks and so does not having running water. We discussed terms like rent, boundaries, space, etc. We worked out a deal where my gf and I pay less than 500 monthly with the condition we take care of most of the household chores and groceries. I'm sure some of you can see where this is going.
We were prepared for our pets to meet, but what we didn't expect was the capacity of animals they were hoarding in this two bedroom two bath. Eight cats, a dog, a gerbil, and trash fucking everywhere. Needless to say space is next to none and most of our belongings went into storage and what furniture we did bring is no thoroughly soaked in animal excrement by the end of day one. I rationalized that at least it's a roof to sleep under. We got to work making the place look somewhat decent, however all the work we do is very quickly undone. We bought a very large baby gate to keep our cats seperate and its been working thus far, but all the other cats are so aggressive and loud that sleeping is nigh impossible. In short, since we took up ALL the chores and not just our share, our roommates have taken it upon themselves to buy as much random bullshit as possible and not clean up after any of their animals and, in fact, get fucking more animals since we've arrived. On top of that, the poor thing had a UTI and sprayed so much blood all over the floor that the house smelled like iron, ammonia, and the inside of a doritos bag while looking like a crime scene. It's repulsive. Even then, the real problem in this situation is how "particular" my girlfriends sister is. She loses her mind when things aren't done the exact way she wants and takes it out on us. We routinely wake up to her screaming at her husband and her animals, and usually at us for "doing too much laundry," "doing dishes wrong," "sweeping wrong," and throwing away her garbage like wrappers, boxes, and feces covered knick knacks that have been festering with crystalized cat pee. Yes, it crystalizes when left alone for too long.
It's been driving a wedge between my girlfriend and I, in all honesty. We still love each other dearly but as I'm sure one can assume, being subject to these conditions does a number on one's mental health. What's worse is that her sister has decided that she doesn't like me for this or that reason and is now trying to pressure my gf into breaking up with me. Her sister and I never had the best relationship, mainly due to my scrutiny of how she treated the person I love. This has led to mass attacks against my character, reputation, and not to mention one more additional thing to worry about in the grand scheme of things especially since she won't say a word of it to my face. They wait until I'm at work or getting groceries and go to work on my gf while I'm not there. This has led to us doing chores and errands in pairs as to avoid having to deal with it. I share the office space where I write this with her husband who, to no one's surprise, has taken her side and decided that I simply am the scum of the earth. When we originally moved in, I thanked him profusely for allowing me to use this space and just for giving us a place to stay in total, and I thought we were on friendly terms so much so as playing pokemon and other TCG's together once or twice a week but that's all up in smoke now.
We had an agreement worked out last summer with an apartment complex that we were assured would accept our animals and at a fair price, but recently they decided to implement a pet policy that immediately disqualified us from moving in which has thrown a bus-sized wrench into our plans. After months of deep cleaning with bleach twice a week, and enduring constant verbal abuse from two lazy adult-children, we're now scrambling to find literally anything so much so to considering if taking a loan to fix our old home in collaboration with our landlord is the move. That said, we're also just considering uprooting and moving in with friends out of state which in all honesty doesn't sound half bad. Even though I'd much rather hang out for a few and get to know their living styles, I doubt it can be worse than this disgusting, bio-hazardous hovel where we currently reside.
If you've made it this far, thanks. I just needed a place to vent before I go scream into a pillow for a few hours. Cheers.
TLDR: My gf and I are stuck living with her sister in her hoarder house because our last house's pipes blew up and flooded the place. Now were subject to gaslighting, narcissism, and unglodly amounts of animal excrement with little prospects for other places to move in our range.