I’d keep a very basic ledger or spreadsheet of payments to and from the house account with dates and balances and offer her a copy if she wants it.
It’s hard to argue against hard numbers.
I doubt she’s got the cash in hand and she doesn’t sound like someone you’d want owing you money.
If she can ask with a straight face why the house account can’t pay for her own property tax, she can argue against any amount of hard numbers. Guaranteed.
Pay her tax bill and deduct it from her next rent payment.
Suggest it anyway; see if she’d call the bluff.
Hampshire was trying to suggest to Johnny L.A. that he needs to fight her ignorance, and this is probably the best solution to the problem.
Johnny…Invite her once a month to go over it with you, and leave Hubby at home to watch the football game with a sixer.
I’ll send her the statements. The trouble is that she tends to forget things.
I don’t want to evict the tenants, but I’m sure they’ll move eventually. I’ll suggest liquidating then.
It’s probably in your best interests to make sure your sister gets a copy of everything that comes in and out for the house, especially since she has shown herself to have such a poor financial head. You need to keep your bum firmly covered.
You’re making suggestions as if this was some honest misunderstanding. It might be easier to deal with the sister as if this was the case, but it’s obviously not so.
I too have an evil sister who can’t be trusted with money, especially with re-paying loans. She’s way past the point of pretening her money problems are mistakes, misunderstandings or forgetfulness. She just gets no money from me except the exact amount she’s owed. I’m the executor of my uncle’s estate, and I’m already being hassled about handing out more money – uh, no, I won’t hand out any more until all the debts are paid and we’re ready to close the estate next year.
I read this as, “I’ll suggest liquidating them”. Amazing how much difference one hump makes.
At least you have control of the finances. My mom died last week, and my sister has all the legal powers. The woman has an MS and I can’t even get her to understand questions like, “Would we better off renting than selling?” or “Might it make more sense to pay off the mortgage then to continue to make monthly payments?” (That last, when she finally let me get the question out, which involved 10 minutes of her yelling her own completions to the question, got the response of, “We can’t split up the estate until the house is sold, dummy! [she doesn’t swear]” WTF? What question does that answer belong to?) There is no way she’ll ever understand the answers to the questions.
My sincere condolences for the loss of your mother, SlowMindThinking.
Not really - my suggestions are to try to help with the problem, and barring that (and I totally do get that Johnny’s sister is either unable or unwilling to understand what he tells her), for Johnny to make sure he has lots of documentation so his sister and brother-in-law don’t get a big idea a couple of years down the line and end up taking Johnny to court because they don’t feel they got their fair share. That’s where the bum-covering comes in.
Boy, you ain’t kidding. You start out as roommates…
Knowing how much you like James Bond, this sentence is rather disturbing.
I’m pretty sure having that many sisters is anticonstitutional, illegal, or inmoral… or should be, i have 3 and barely survived.
You have my sympathies, Johnny. After my grandfather died, his three-family house was left to my father (who inherited 1/3 and responsibility for the whole mess), my aunt (1/3), my uncle (1/6) and my uncle’s daughter (1/6). For years, my father had to struggle with all kinds of craziness on the part of the other owners and their families. He and my aunt eventually bought out their brother and niece, and shortly thereafter sold the building, but not before dealing with much angst. Get out when you can.
She called last night. I think she understands now, and she wasn’t upset. When she said, ‘I thought this was supposed to be a money-making proposition,’ I had to remind her that she gets money every month.
Anyway, I’m done ranting. Carry on, or close.
Until next year, anyway.
Would you be able to start buying out her half with your share of the income every month? She’d be happy with the extra cash, you’d have no additional debt, and be closer to having her out of your hair.