... paying rent. He teaches music from home but doesn't earn much. Sometimes he has alot of students sometimes none. At the moment he has hardly any and asked if I could reduce the rent until he pays back the $1200. He's just been getting by and not paid me anything. I'm missing out on $57 in rent every week until he pays me back-money I'll never see again. He doesn't look committed to paying me back the money in a hurry. My question is this: am I better off to keep up with the reduced rent indefinitely in the hope that he starts paying the debt off soon, or, am I better to put the $115 rent money he's giving me towards the debt and get a token $30 for rent until the debt is paid off. This would take approximately 11 weeks. After that, rent goes back up to normal. This would mean I would get a definite $300 back ($30 he'd be giving me as token rent), but then I wouldn't be missing out on the $57 each week till god knows when. Financially, what's the best option?
Answers (1)
If he's really a friend then cut him some slack and take the 30 dollar token rent BUT make it clear what the situation is. A friend is is a great thing to have but if he starts to treat making responsible payment as something he can ignoe then I'd chuck him out and get someone in who is more reliable in making the payments. It's not something anyone can afford to do, provide free accomodation.