Parents Charge Daughter Rent After High School Graduation — Because She Didn't Go to College

Every parent has a different way of teaching their kids responsibility. Remember this mom said she allowed her children to curse starting at age 13 and began charging them each $100 a month for rent once they turned 16? She definitely faced some criticism from other parents for her unique rules, but it's not as if there aren’t other parents doing the exact same thing.

Texas parents and owners of Bar 7 Ranch, Cody and Erika Archie, also decided to charge their daughter a monthly rent to live at home. The only difference is that they waited until she got her high school diploma before going full landlord on her.

Imagine graduating from high school and suddenly the home you’ve been living in with your family for some time becomes one with a monthly price tag. That was the reality for Cody and Erika's daughter, Kylee Deason, following her high school graduation.

Since the then-18-year-old wasn’t sure about college, Cody and Erika Archie decided that if she was going to continue living at home with them, she should start paying a monthly rate in order to learn responsibility.

Cody and Erika originally posted the above TikTok video in 2022, which discusses their rent agreement with their adult daughter. However, in May 2023, they re-shared the video as the topic of charging your brood rent post–high school graduation became popular again.

In this video, Erika asked: "Do you make your graduated high school student pay rent in your house if they aren't going to college yet?"

Cody provided more details, informing viewers that at the time, they planned to collect $200 a month from Kylee on the first of the month, starting in June.

“That’s pretty cheap to live like a grub in your parents' house,” he remarked.

Erika added, “That’s cheaper than what she eats in food or anyone eats.”

“Exactly," Cody said, before noting, “Well, it’s $300 if she wants to eat here out of her parents' fridge, $200 if she wants to buy her own groceries." Erika replied “oh" to her husband and then started to laugh.

“We think it teaches them a good lesson in paying bills,” she said right before the video ended.

That said, the parents genuinely seemed interested in what others had to say about their decision and encouraged others to weigh in.

The responses they received in the comment section of the video were varied.

One comment read: “Saw this online ... I have found parents who do this eventually aren't close to their kids later in life."

Another read: "I would never charge my kids."

However, there were a lot of folks who were in favor of their idea but suggested that the money collected could be secretly put in an account for this child. "My parents gave me about 6 months before charging rent. It helped me learn to manage my money better. They gave it back to me when I moved out," another user wrote.

And a fourth user wrote: “Not going to college = pay rent. Go to college full time = live for free but help around house.”

Well, here’s the kicker, because the video was old, it didn't really matter who answered what in the comment section. Cody and Erika's daughter ended up moving out sometimes after.

As they told Today in May 2023, Kylee moved out of their family home in February 2023 to get her own place. Assuming she started paying the $200 rent right after graduation, then it appears she was their tenant for about nine months before venturing out on her own.

Unfortunately, though, Kylee's plans fell through and she ended up moving in with her aunt, where she lived rent-free but paid her way by babysitting her nieces.

"Kylee doesn't have any hard feelings toward us," Erika told the outlet, adding that "she learned that living as an adult isn't free."

Then, in April 2024, the family posted an update, informing viewers that because Kylee had gotten a higher-paying job, her rent would increase. So, it seems Kylee ended up back at her parents' home, still living by their renting guidelines.