‘Sharon. Close enough to Karen’: Roommate from hell turns NYC dream into a nightmare with increasingly crazy behavior

TikToker Annelisa probably thought she was living the dream when she moved to New York from Oregon in fall 2021 for college.

Unfortunately, things quickly took a south-turn when she realized the program wasn’t for her so she dropped out after the first semester, not to mention that she was going through a breakup with her partner at the time. Well, at least she could count on some peace while at home, right? Unfortunately not, as Annelisa soon realized she had moved in with a Karen on steroids.

Annelisa is going viral for sharing the full story of what happened when she lived with a “roommate from hell” for three months. It all started when she needed a place to live once exiting her college dorms after leaving school, so Annelisa thought she had hit the jackpot upon discovering an Upper Manhattan apartment for just $1100 (including utilities) per month. The reason why the rent was so cheap, though, became clear when Annelisa discovered how awful the woman she was subleasing off, Sharon, was to live with.

Sharon the Karen is guilty of so many roommate red-flags that it’s hard to know where to start, but her crimes include coming into Annelisa’s room while she was out then forbidding her from installing a lock when she realized what she was doing and falsely claiming that Annelisa had busted the AC panel before charging her the “several hundred dollars” she apparently paid to have it fixed (it had not been fixed, apart from a bit of tape stuck across it).

She imposed so many ridiculous rules on Annelisa — she couldn’t throw food into the trashcan, she couldn’t take calls in the living room etc — that she eventually just kept to her room. Annelisa admits that she got so afraid of Sharon that she would pile stuff in front of her door at night and even slept with a taser within reach! With everything else going on in her life, Annelisa became “so miserable and depressed” and decided she had to go back home to Oregon.

Sharon’s response? She demanded Annelisa pay next month’s rent or move out immediately. When that intimidation tactic didn’t work, Sharon implored her to stay by telling her she was “the best rooomate she’d ever had.” That’s probably because she’d scared everyone else away sooner than poor Annelisa!

Now that Annelisa has put Sharon in her rearview mirror, the upside is that the lunatic leaser has at least helped her earn some TikTok clout, as users are obsessed with this whole saga. Thankfully, Annelisa had the foresight to record some of her exchanges with Sharon, which means we have actual evidence of just how unpleasant and combative this woman was in totally normal situations. Like when she invented a no-guests policy when Annelisa invited her sister to stay.

Or when she made up any problem she could to avoid giving Annelisa back her security deposit on her moving day.

Commenters cannot believe everything that Annelisa went through during her incarceration with Sharon. Although maybe she should’ve had an inkling something was wrong from the off. “The fact the room was empty in Manhattan should have been the sign,” someone noted. As for how she could’ve gotten her own back on Sharon, some people had some hilarious ideas. “Put tuna cans in the vents before you leave,” one suggested, while other offered, “Put shrimp in the curtain rods.”

Let this be a lesson for us all: be careful who you’re moving in with because if a renting situation seems like it’s too good to be true, that’s probably because it is.