<prompt> Human: Long story short, my father just moved into my apartment after being kicked out of his girlfriends place and having no where to go. I have 3 other roommates and its pretty awkward as we are all 21 and hes 45 and not paying rent. Hes thousands in debt from toll violations and trouble with the law. He has very bad credit. I want to help him. He has really big issues spending money and before he moved in he agreed to give me 34 of his paycheck to put in a spare savings account of mine where he cant touch it, he makes around 2400 a month. His car was repod and he cant get it back for whatever reason from the tow place so he needs a new car. How do i help him and what do i do? I have no idea where to start.. Edit It seems I was a little vague so to clear some things up:He is addicted to hydros and ive told him if i find them hes out, no questions asked.He works as a window cleaner gutter installer so he needs a larger car, big enough to store a ladder and equipment.His trouble with the law is till violations and has been arrested multiple times for driving with a suspended license and now has to go back and take the test to get his license back.I live in Texas, DFW area.Assistant: If you want to help him, rather than throwing him out on the street as other posters have suggested, then set up an environment where he has the potential to succeed without giving him the ability to inflict much harm upon you. One of the better suggestions in this post was to set clear expectation - he will abide by your financial decisions, and hell move out by X date. If he wont agree to those conditions, then fine, kick him out, because you wont be able to help him. Clear it with your roommates, and if possible for your situation, offer them a small discount on rent for the time your father is staying there. This is not a financially prudent choice, but it will make it much easier to keep the peace.First thing to do is to make sure that he only has access to money that you grant him. Get a new bank account that you control, preferably one with a checking and savings account. Set up direct deposit into the savings account, and get him a debit card that accesses the checking account, but make sure it doesnt auto-withdraw from the savings account. Since he said that hed give you 34 of his paycheck, set up automatic withdrawal of 600 from the savings to the checking account per month or do it manually, whichever. If you like, get him set up with something like Mint or YNAB, and make him record and categorize every purchase. Set a budget, and if he goes over budget, ask him to explain exactly why, and adjust for next month only if necessary.Next, find him a new place to live. Its not going to be a nice place, but it needs to be somewhere in his price range this will be coming out of the 1800month you control, so no more than around 400 or 500month. You will probably have to go with your father to check out the apartment and make sure you know what the deal with the landlord is. Dont co-sign - legally, your father hasnt signed over any of his money rights to you, so its still all his money. If you can, set up auto-payment for the lease from the bank account you control.You also have the option of letting your dad continue to live with you, but to start charging him an equivalent rent to what your roommates pay, and giving them the corresponding reduction in rent. This wouldnt be a great situation, but it would make it easier for you to keep an eye on him and on his spending, and it would help ease the burden for your roommates. At that point, youd also want to check on squatters law like already mentioned in another comment, and maybe sign a lease so its more formal. Perhaps not preferable, but it is an option.If you live in an area without public transit, or if your father absolutely needs a car for his job, find a dirt cheap used car. If it will last for a year or two, enough to get your dad back on his feet, then perfect. If you can get a good deal on something that will last longer, then cool, get that, but focus on something that will just work for right now. If he works relatively close 5 miles and you dont live in a cold climate, biking to work may be an option for him - you can find a nice used bike for less than 200, maintenance is easier, and you dont have to pay for gas, insurance, or parking.Lastly, figure out exactly what sort of debt hes in, and formulate a plan for dealing with that. Make a spreadsheet of who he owes money to, how much he owes, what the interest rates are, and what the monthly payments are. It sounds like there might be some legal trouble with unpaid debts - talk to your father and figure out exactly what happened. I have no advice for legal trouble, but there is a subreddit for it rlegaladvice. Give them more specifics, and they may be able to give advice on how to handle things properly.Once you get the legal stuff figured out, start calling the debtors, explain the situation and that youre now controlling your fathers finances, and ask if theres anything they can do to help. As with everything in customer service, dont yell - be polite, itll get you much farther. Some maybe even most wont do anything. Some may be willing to settle for lower amounts, or lower interest rates, or even be able to write off some of the smaller debts. Disclaimer: this isnt something I have personal experience with, just what Ive read from other posts on this subreddit. But it never hurts to call and ask.After youve reduced the debts as much as possible, just start paying them off. Whatever is left of the 2400 after food, rent, car expenses, utilities, etc. goes toward debts and savings. Start building up a small emergency fund for your father - I personally like using a separate account for that Ally is a good one - all online, easy to transfer tofrom, decent interest rates. For the sake of round numbers, say you have 1000month left over and decide to save 10 - move 100month to the e-fund account, and start putting 900month towards the debts. Set it on automatic as much as you can. There are enough other posts here about strategies for tackling debt - I wont get into it, this post is already long enough.Of course, if your father cant or wont abide by these decisions, thats a bigger issue, and there may be other steps involved mental health treatment, addiction, or whatever his particular problem is. But you always have the option to grant him full control of his bank account and kick him out on the street. So yes, this could turn out with him in exactly the same situation as he is now, but if youre careful about it, he wont be able to drag you down with him. And if the worst-case scenario is that he ends up in the same spot a year from now, I think its worth at least trying to help him.TL;DR: Always cover your own ass first, but helping family is not necessarily a bad thing.Human: Thank you, this is the kind of help i wanted! My roommates are being really nice about it and he mostly stays in my room and plays video games when hes not working. But he is a neat freak and cleans and sweeps everything as payment to them and goes back in the room so for now theyre ok with it but im not trying to push my luck. He does have issues with hyrdos, uses them to sleep as he has insomnia and has since i was a kid. However I told him before i posted this that if i find any hes leaving. Kicking him out isnt an issue. Hes already told me if hes being a burden he will leave. He works as a windowgutter cleaner and so he needs a car to store ladders and equipment in. Hes agreed to pay rent but i said no just save more so he can get on his feet and leave more quickly.  <response>: Please do more than make him hide the pills. It may be degrading but he may need drug tests.Hydrocodone is not sleep medication. Its an opioid. If I can contribute anything to this thread its that this is a major major red flag. And if he gets angsty when, and you need to, suggest that he sees to proper sleeping care via a doctor - you have an addict on your hands. And god help you man, that would be too much for me in addition to your other multifaceted problem. I think getting him to a therapist would be essential too. Theres a lot going on there. 