Not sure what to do.

[Pimento]

Ok. Quick BG.


My mother in law was a foster parent specifically for drug/mentally challenged native children here in our town. She currently has 5. 4 of which she adopted.

Now. She's not very good to the kids. She tried to treat them like normal kids. And they aren't. Screaming .etc.

Anyways. We just bought a house with a 2 bedroom basement suite I'm building. We want to rent it for $850/month including utils. Now. Her sister is 18. And needs to move out. She qualified for assisted living but it can be a 2 year wait. Her worker offered us $1100/month to act as assisted living for her. So naturally we agreed.

Now. Her sister has her hopes up. But since she's still qualified for assisted living in an apartment complex near by. And on the wait list. They can only offer us about $373 (no prices confirmed. But a strong estimate). Which in my mind is a waste of time. Since we already get $250/month respite taking her 4-6 days.

Now. I feel bad since her sister was so pumped about it and we really need to get her out of that house. However. 2 years at 373 a month will cost us more money than we make. Especially once you factor in my wife having to take her to appointments, cook meals .etc.

I dunno. I'm a family guy. But her mom is a big enough drain already. Wife's been babysitting for her since December. But delayed the government paperwork "by accident" I.E she's lazy. And we haven't seen a penny. Current total is around $1200....

[Akasa]

Don't do it!

[Kittish]

Seconded! Seriously, don't do it. Talk to her worker again, if the original offer is still valid (and it sounds like it isn't, if it ever was), get it in writing! If not, say 'Sorry, can't do it' and (this is gonna sound super harsh, I'm being blunt) give her sister an eviction notice, then enforce the 'get out by' date.

You're not likely to see a penny of what's already owed, and that amount is only going to keep growing.

[lordlundar]

Put simply, this is a business transaction, not a family favour. Detach yourself from the relations and treat this as it's meant to be: a landlord renting to a tenant. After all, if it winds up in front of the courts, family relations are not going to mean anything to the judge.

[Seshat]

I know everyone else has so far said 'this is a business transaction, not a family one', but I'm going to be a sort-of dissenting voice.

Decide which it is.

And if you decide it's a family transaction, make a decision now as to how much fiscal loss you're willing to take for the sake of family.

[Pimento]

Lol well honestly I don't consider her family my family. Even her dads side....we get FUCKED right over all the time. And my wife refuses to stop helping them...seriously. It's been the cause of many fights in our household

[Seshat]

Then step one is coming to an agreement with your wife about this issue.

[Pimento]

Yeah. We're on the same page. It's all pretty kosher with us. We may fight like cats and dogs but we both want the marriage and it rocks lol

[TheSHAD0W]

Since it's a business transaction, if you don't have a formal lease in place, DO SO IMMEDIATELY. If they balk, it's a huge red flag. Going solely via a verbal agreement is a really bad idea.

[Pimento]

Nah. We talked it out. Not even gonna risk the pain of going through it all. Especially since her sisters illness causes her to be a clepto. We just don't wanna risk a long term housing situation.

Unfortunately it means her sister staying at the shit hole that is her moms house. But yeah it's not our burden to bear