'AITA for not telling my friends I am technically our landlord?' 'We aren't mega-wealthy but we're very comfortable.'

"AITA for not telling my friends I am technically our landlord?"

So I (18f) am very lucky in that I have two very hardworking parents that are successful and love me. We aren't mega-wealthy but we are very comfortable as my parents are extremely smart financially. We own multiple houses as part of our real estate portfolio that we rent out for extra income.

I recently started college and as a present for working hard and getting into my dream school my parents gifted me one of our houses that is near my college. I was going to inherit them all anyway but I really appreciated their gesture. Where I live real estate law is a little tricky and we would have to pay significant taxes to officially transfer the house to me so we decided to have my parents own it legally for now.

The house is pretty big with 4 floors (including a fully furnished basement) and a roomy attic and since it is near my school I decided to look for roommates so I could start earning money early. So far I have two roommates, who we'll call Sasha (18f) and Bea (19f) who also go to my school.

We have been living together for a couple months now (they moved in around August) and we are all pretty good friends, and very compatible roommates. This is where I might be the ahole. I didn't want to tell them that I own the house as I thought it might create a weird dynamic between us, and I didn't want them to view me any differently.

We split the bills and rent, with me technically paying nothing. Since my father legally owns the house and we have different surnames (I took my mother's last name) they have no idea I own the house or that my dad just sends the money back to me.

Sasha recently found the money my dad sent back while I was at class and told Bea, and they cornered me about it a few days ago. I told them everything and they're mad at me for hiding this from them and think I'm not only in the wrong for keeping it a secret but for making them pay rent in the first place.

The house's mortgage has already been paid off so the rent goes entirely into my pocket. I responded by saying that they shouldn't have gone through my mail in the first place and that it was illegal, which I'll admit was kind of a low blow.

We weren't friends when they moved in and the whole point of me wanting roommates was so that I could earn extra cash so I don't see why I should let them reside for free. AITA here?

Later, OP edited the post to include:

Edit 1: people in the comments were asking, basically we have a system where whoever is home brings all the mail in and puts it on the kitchen island. Bea brought the mail in but Sasha opened my mail before I got home.

My dad doesn't send me straight up cash lol, he mails two cheques, with the amount Sasha and Bea paid, and when Sasha saw the cheques from the landlord to me with the exact amount of her and Bea's rent she put two and two together and interrogated me when I came home.

I don't know why she opened my mail in the first place, I've never noticed her snooping before but maybe she has and I just never saw. Edit 2: ok answering a couple things I keep seeing in the comments. Yes I know the assets aren't technically mine but Inhave unlimited access to them, will inherit all of them one day...

(My parents have told me this directly it's not an assumption) and my parents consider it equally mine, so yes I consider them mine as well. I didn't earn them, I was just lucky enough to be born to amazing parents and I'm grateful to them for that.

*generic comment about evil landlords: Bea and Sasha are NOT poor, and I'm not charging way above market price. If they felt the price was too steep they could dorm which is actually cheaper or find a cheaper place. They are paying extra for luxury, I'm not exploiting broke children.

Why use cheques instead of ebanking: I do all of my business online but my dad bought a fancy custom mailbox and he's trying(and failing) to concince my mom that it wasn't a waste so he likes to mail EVERYTHING now. I get letters instead of texts. Yes it's ridiculous and after this incident we'll definitely be doing our finances online only.

I maintain that I'm not mega rich. Yes, I acknowledge that I'm extremely privileged compared to most other Americans but in my head at least mega rich is people like my boyfriend's family that own actual mansions, and have yachts, or like celebrities and billionaires with private jets etc. Compared to most of my friends I'm middle class.

Why I changed my last name when I'm on good terms with my father: My parents are both British Indian immigrants, and my dad has a super ethnic and long hard to pronounce last name whereas my mom has a nice short and cute last name.

When I apply for jobs people will judge me based on my name and I don't want that. My dad faced that discrimination and I grew up in a predominantly white community so I know people's perception of you change based on how American/white you are perceived to be. Also my mom went through labor and 9 months of pregnancy, she deserves to have her last name continued.

Here's what top commenters had to say about this one:

Aggressive_Cloud2002 said:

NTA but why are you mailing money back and forth?! That is so ridiculously risky... And you are very wealthy, don't try to play it down.

Medical-Traffic-2765 said:

Stopped reading at "real estate portfolio." YTA.

scarbunkle said:

ESH. They shouldn’t expect free rent, but there’s a reason I refuse to rent a room w my landlord—I have a LOT fewer protections as a tenant, and I don’t like the power dynamic.

Personal-Listen-4941 said:

ESH. You and your family are clearly extremely rich yet are dodging taxes rather than paying your fair share. Your flatmates should not be opening your mail nor does it concern them how their rent money is then redistributed.

ImpossibleResolve597 said:

YTA, it's weird and shady to build your relationship with your roommates on lies. It makes you come off as untrustworthy and manipulative, and your roommates rightfully feel betrayed. You've been mindgaming them and there's a big legal and power difference between a group of roommates and a live-in owner.

It would have been much more responsible to be open with your situation from the start. Also, you are definitely wealthy. My parents can't even afford one house while yours are raising rent costs in four in a college town. With respect, you need to consider how hard many many people have it and get perspective on how fortunate you are.

Your roommates were out of line for wanting to not pay any rent, but I think their shock and annoyance comes more from your lie than from clear headed thinking. They just found out someone they saw as an equal has been lining their pockets with their rent money.

LetsGetsThisPartyOn said:

NTA. Of course they have to pay rent. Did they think an owner would randomly pick 3 people and give them free rooms because they owned a house. You weren’t even friends