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My mother-in-law is 80 years old. She has been renting a small cottage on the property of my sister-in-law for $400 a month. Today she called my husband distressed because her daughter, who has always previously accepted a check as payment, demanded her $400 rent payment in cash.
My mother-in-law doesn't have a car, and her daughter wasn't willing to drive to the bank to get cash.
Her daughter also said she will not give her a receipt if she pays in cash.
Her daughter tore up the check and threatened to evict her. Considering she's a vulnerable person, this set her into a bit of a tailspin.
As I understand it, my mother-in-law is in a sort of default 30 day lease (no formal lease with her daughter). So her daughter could terminate her lease with a 30 days notice?
But does she have ground to evict based on method of payment? And can she refuse to provide a receipt for a cash payment? Would that fly with a judge since she is trying to make payment?
Thanks for any help with this. We were just informed tonight how sour this situation has become.
Your husband would be well advised to email his sister asking for confirmation of this demand to pay in cash based on what his mother has told him. Yes, what she is doing is illegal and having a confirming email from her will be crucial if her plan is to try and force your MIL to move based on non payment of rent. That in itself seems illogical when, yes, without a term lease your SIL only has to give her mother one month's notice (or whatever applies in her state) to leave.
It sounds like there are more issues than just this one, to have things get this wacky. It is possible that your local Council on Aging (or whatever Social Services calls it in your area) can help her though an elder abuse counselor. They could potentially refer her to real estate specific help also.
Yes, you can fight all of this with the old woman's own daughter. But the best thing of all to do would be to get her out of there. Is it possible to move her out? This is not going to have a good ending no matter what.
What an awful way to treat an 80-year old, let alone a relative. The above posts are correct, the daughter is in the wrong. Find a way to prove this is actually what happened and get the mother-in-law out of that situation if at all possible.
Another option would be to pay the rent with PayPal. If you choose the option to pay friends and family, rent can be paid this way with no fees. My daughter allows her renters to pay with PayPal. It's super convenient, and she can just transfer the money online from PayPal into her bank account. And there's proof of payment. And nobody has to go to the bank.
It's as good as cash, and there's proof of payment.
And I agree with the others that something wacky is going on. Either the MIL is suffering from dementia, has given the SIL bad checks in the past, or the SIL is losing it.
Your husband would be well advised to email his sister asking for confirmation of this demand to pay in cash based on what his mother has told him.
This ^^^^
There is the possibility that Mom may have confused the issue, and no such demand was made. My 85 year old MIL had similar issues in that many times she THOUGHT someone meant "X" when in fact it was definitely not the case.
I don't know if my husband has his sister's email address, but I will find out. That's a very good idea.
The situation is such that we did call Adult Protective Services this morning to make a welfare call and see what's happening. She lives a few hours away from us.
I am working on trying to find her other living accommodations. Her entire monthly income is only $600, so this is going to be a challenge.
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