AITJ for reporting my cousin’s “borrowed” car as stolen after he vanished with it and I got hit with tickets and a boot
I’m 26F, my cousin Jay is 24M. He asked to borrow my car for a “quick doctor appointment” from 11 to 1. I said yes if he brought it back by 3 because I had to drive to a client site for work. I even filled the tank the night before, 42 dollars. At 1, no update. At 2, I texted, no reply. At 3:05, he finally writes “almost back.” At 4:30, still nothing. Then at 5:15 I get a call from an unknown number, a parking enforcement guy saying my car was booted at 3rd and Market and I needed to come pay or it would be towed. Jay wasn’t there. The officer shows me two camera tickets from earlier that day and a bus lane violation. There’s also a hot bag and some DoorDash stickers in the passenger seat. So the “doctor” appointment was deliveries.
I’m freaking out, because the boot fee is 740 plus 120 tow if I don’t pay before 6, plus 65 per day storage. City says the registered owner is responsible, and yes, that’s me. I call Jay, he picks up and says “chill, I’ll swing by after my last order” like it’s no big deal. I told him the car is immobilized. He says to “front it” because he doesn’t get paid until Friday. I don’t have that kind of cash lying around, and more important, I didn’t consent to him using my car for gig work. My insurance specifically excludes that, which could screw me if anything happened. I asked an officer what to do and they told me to file an unauthorized use report since he exceeded the time, ignored me, and used it for a different purpose than I agreed. I filed. Car still got towed because we ran out of time. I paid 120 the next morning to get the keys so I could grab my work laptop from the trunk.
When Jay finally called back he was furious that I “went nuclear,” said family helps family and that I “sabotaged his income” by making a police report. My aunt jumped in, saying it’s just tickets and I should “stop acting rich” and pay to keep peace. For the record, I’m not rich, I’m barely covering rent. I told him I would not remove the report until he reimbursed me for every fee and the tickets and the gas he used. He said I’m controlling and hung up. My mom thinks I should drop it to avoid drama because “it’s only money.” But I lost half a workday, almost got in trouble with my boss, and I was put at risk with insurance because he decided my property was his business asset. Now Jay is posting that I stole his DoorDash earnings by “kidnapping” the car. I feel awful that this has exploded in the family group chat, but I also feel like I set a boundary and he blasted right through it. AITJ for filing the report and refusing to pay his mess?
Posted Oct 28, 2025, 4:49 PM UTC