34-year-old landlord changes the locks to keep his 32-year-old brother/tenant out of his place despite not fixing brother's broken shower: 'I’m treating him like a tenant instead of family'

Imagine having your older sibling be your landlord.

Most siblings squabble over mostly insignificant phenomena, from different accounts of stories from the past to passive-aggressive exchanges with one another about family matters. Siblings are bound to have conflict in some capacity. So why would two grown siblings willingly agree to incorporate a landlord-tenant power dynamic into the picture? After all, it's already difficult enough for siblings to get along 100% of the time. Why would you make that relationship even more complex than it already is?

This 34-year-old was the landlord of his building. His brother, who was just two years younger than him, lived in the apartment directly below him. When a plumbing issue made it so that the younger brother was temporarily unable to use his own shower due to ongoing water pressure issues, the older brother was "generous" enough to give his younger brother a spare key to his apartment so that he could bathe while repairs were being made.

The next day, the older brother came home to discover that a stranger had been using his personal shower. He learned that the stranger was his brother's new girlfriend. This became a pattern, even the older brother expressed a sense of discomfort regarding the fact that a total stranger was using his bathroom without permission. The younger brother returned that comment with the truth that his bathroom still had not been fixed. None of this would be happening if those plumbing issues were resolved immediately. 

At this point, the older brother decided to change the locks on his younger brother. Now, neither of them can agree on who is more in the wrong.