Hi! My name is Tania. Never in my wildest dreams I thought I would end up in this position and I still can't believe I'm writing these words...

In 2022 after getting a divorce I moved away from my ex husband to live on my own and my dog. For the most part life was quiet and I had a nice little routine a stable job and strong mental health.

But everything changed after I met someone towards the end of 2022... It was a very charming person with a strong personality, good taste in things and everything started like a dream come true: flowers, attention, lots of love and affection... This is all I wanted after a divorce.

The person has a child and was struggling with housing for a little bit but seemed like had a stable job. I gave them a chance to live with me for a little before they find a permanent placement.

My ex partner lost his job, wasn't able to get one for a long time, had a few surgeries along the way. I was trying to support them both on a $95,000 salary paying all the bills including monthly: $3,000 rent for a 1 br apartment, groceries, around $200 electricity, $50 internet etc,etc. I was still patient and trying my best to help. After a few months he still was not able to find the job but promised every single day the opportunity was coming.

After he found a job we upgraded to a larger apartment in the same apartment complex that had 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms at whopping $4,375 + additional costs mentioned above.

I lost my job one week after we moved but he promised he'd cover the bills.

And that's when things started to go south...

He always been a jealous person but after I lost my job things started to go very far. He started demanding physical contact, not letting me see my friends and I found myself laying in bed in a deep state of depression and all he would say coming back is "stop feeling pity for yourself, get up and do things...", while I couldn't even move a toe, I was so devastated.

He said he re-routed all of his paychecks to his friends account and he won't be paying rent until I "get better". At that time I was on unemployment benefits and got $550 weekly that didn't cover the rent, only the basics...I blew up all of my savings to pay for the apartment when he was using up my credit cards which I kept freezing. I was going deeper in debt while he was living his lavish life out there, at my expense I was mute and devastated looking for a job that took 4 months to find and I took a big pay cut.

I was thinking of evicting them from my apartment and moving away because I was the only one on the lease but according to the Tenant Protection Laws of New York they were entitled to this space. And that's when the violence started... I was oftentimes beaten up, threatened, my belongings got thrown out or broken (they both had nothing but clothes and I bought all the furniture for them) and I had thoughts about committing suicide at least 5 times.

Later I found out he had multiple court cases with landlords for nonpayment and lived with multiple women at their expense...

Then I couldn't pay rent anymore - my credit cards got maxed out, my savings were zero and my salary after taxes didn't cover the full rent, he didn't pay the rent either and refused.

The threats and physical violence (including two cases of rape) continued. He made it clear to me that if I move, something bad will happen.

I moved out eventually on March 29 2025 as soon as I could using everything I have saved to the cheapest place I could find.

I owe a tremendous credit card debt and currently working with the consolidation firm to at least lower the fees.

I don't qualify for bankruptcy because I make slightly over the minimum wage...

TLDR:

After a divorce, I built a stable life—until I let a charming man and his child move in temporarily. He lost his job, and I supported us all on my income. When I lost my job, he refused to help financially, rerouted his paychecks, used my credit cards, and became controlling and abusive. I fell into debt trying to cover $4,375 rent, maxed out my cards, and was physically and emotionally harmed. Eventually, I escaped, but now I have over $40K in credit card debt. I’m desperate for help.

All the funds will be used to cover the debt...