My Roommate Ruined My Insulin And It Cost $670 To Replace And She Won’t Pay For It!

Location: North Carolina Hey so I’m in a situation where I rented a room with this lady Ash 40 F and she has ruined my insulin and she won’t pay for it.

I 25 F found Ash on FB marketplace a few months ago and rented a room with a shared bathroom in a 3br/2bath apt. She initially told me that she had 2 children 11/14 that would come visit twice a week and there is one other renter in the other room. Since then at least one of her children has been there every day being loud and Fortnite or whatever teenage boys do, yelling at people in the game in the living room. There has also been so much foot traffic of her friends, family and their pets at all hours of the day and overnight. I have felt uncomfortable with the revolving door of people so I’ve done my best to stay elsewhere only sleeping there 2 weeks out of the month max. The shared bathroom between myself and the other renter is also the guest bathroom and we are responsible for cleaning in rotation every week. She told me I’m not cleaning enough even though I clean at least twice a month despite me not being there most of the time.

Getting to what the real problem is… I am T1D and I have insulin that needs to be refrigerated until use so I have it in an open top lunch pale at the bottom shelf of the fridge. Because there are always people in the living area I never feel comfortable to cook so I usually eat out. All I keep in the fridge next to my lunch pale on the bottom shelf is cran-pineapple juice for when my blood sugar is low, milk, ranch, and ketchup. This past September I was out of town from the 6th to the 24th. This past Sunday I was running low on insulin and went to get more out of the fridge only to find my lunch pale on top of the fridge and completely room temp if not warm.

I texted Ash letting her if she knew why my bag was taken out and that I had meds in there I can now not use. She said slimy purple stuff had spilled in the bag and she took it out to clean it and forgot to lmk. At this point I had already been tired of my belongings not being respected so I made plans to move out around mid October and because it was the 29th atp I decided to let her know and ask her to help me replace my insulin as I had at least 2 months worth of insulin left. I estimated it would be around 450 to replace and told her so. She responded the next day that if I moved out that same day she can return my deposit of 250 and that the bag had a bad smell and that’s why she couldn’t leave it in the fridge. I replied that I made plans to move around the 14th and that she is still responsible for ruining the insulin, trying to come up with a compromise I told if she lets me stay the 14 days no charge I will pay for the insulin myself and cover the difference. She agreed and I left for work.

About an hour into my shift she texts me that she can not wait the 14 days and she wants me out as soon as possible also saying “You're blaming me for something that didn't happen, since I always clean the refrigerator. It's you. I kept grape juice in there and it got stained. I cleaned it and forgot to let you know that your bag was left out, since my refrigerator is dirty because of that smelly bag.”(direct from text) She went on to say it was not entirely her fault and she never liked me staying there because I didn’t clean the shared areas. So I rushed home from work hoping my stuff isn’t out on the curb. I have a convo with her where I admit I got a bit emotional, she kept talking in circles about how I never clean out the fridge or the bathroom. She also tried to say that it must have been my juice that spilled in my bag which doesn’t make any sense. I try to convey the seriousness of what she has done to my meds and let her know the least she can do is let me stay 2 more weeks. But she decides she wants me out then and there, so I grab my important things from the room and let her know I’d be back in the morning for the rest of my things.

The next day I went to get new meds bc obviously I need them and I pay out of pocket, they ended up costing 670 I go back to the apartment w a UHaul my brother and my bf and we move all my stuff and I leave her the receipts sending her a text letting her I cleaned up and cleared out and that I left the bill for the meds on the counter and she could pay me back in a week if she could. She goes on to repeat this wasn’t her fault so she’s not paying the whole thing and that she wants to pay the pharmacy directly. I remind her that it is her fault that she took it out of the fridge and did not inform me. She goes on to rant and deflect and send me photos of inside my room she had taken the night before and screenshots of our messages.

It is worth noting that this was an illegal sublease, and Ash is not on the lease either. I paid her via Zelle/ cash, and most if not all of our convos were had over text so I have receipts.