Friend evicting elderly tenant

[AppalachianWoman]

Would it change the way you felt about your friend if he evicted an elderly (70+) tenant so he could move into the house instead? The rent was paid upfront through a lifetime of agricultural labor from late childhood but the friend who recently inherited the estate feels they are owed cash payments and the property. The tenant cannot read or write and was widowed a year or two ago, has no children of his own but some step children from his marriage. The friend currently occupies another, smaller, property on the estate and was expected to move into the largest house which is very grand indeed but requires extensive renovation. He is daunted by the work and expense and has instead become fixated on the property the elderly farmhand lives in.

It feels emotionally immature of me to drop a friend over a difference in values but I am shocked that he would even consider this course of action. I don’t want to be friends with someone who acts this way, how can I exit gracefully or should I try to support him as he has supported me emotionally through decades of friendship?

I'd tell him. It might help him realise his badly he is behaving.

I would fry to help him find a solution. Could the tenant have the smaller property your friend currently occupies?

Has the old man been evicted already or in the process?

Could he arrange some more like a house swap, and of course drop in rent. A large grand house, that needs renovation possibly isn't the best option for the 70 year old, especially with rising costs etc.

That’s what I suggested but my friend balked at it because he has recently remodeled the kitchen and installed some mod cons.

Gosh.

maybe he doesn’t understand the reality of what’s he’s doing? I mean realistically he’s making an elderly illiterate man who has worked for his family for decades homeless and relying on the council to provide somewhere suitable, which will be much more likely in some parts of the country than others. In the south east he could easily end up in one room in a hostel. Does he definitely know that? Does he imagine his tenant will be walking into a luxury council house or something?

it may be that it makes sense for the tenant to move now to a retirement complex or something instead, is your friend willing to fund/arrange that?

from a legal perspective btw if the tenant was promised a home for life in exchange for his labour then your friend may not be able to do this, although it sounds like the tenant would struggle to access the legal help he’d need.

honestly yes if your friend goes ahead with this I’d find it difficult to stay friends.

He’s disgusting.

Not evicted yet, friend is seeking legal advice. He doesn’t understand why or if he is obligated to house this man.

If it was a tied cottage and the elderly man had lived there a long time I’d be very surprised if he can just evict him. It sounds like he’d need some solicitors advice. But yes, I would think less of the friend especially if he has other options for places to live and sounds like he owns a lot of land/housing.

Don’t exit graciously.
That’s proper biblical/ gothic novel evil, not some relative faux pas. I would tell him very very clearly that what he’s planning on doing is so cruel and wrong you’d want nothing to do with him.

Would he be on dodgy ground legally ? Let alone making himself hugely unpopular in a farming community
Not the wisest of moves IMO

Disgusting behaviour. Is there any other remaining family member who can talk to him?
Has he always behaved in such an entitled way? If he goes through with it, it's absolutely grounds for ending a friendship. As is often said about romantic relationships, when someone shows you who they are, believe them

I would say something. He has an obligation to house this man properly, as rent has been paid in the form of a lifetime's work. He has a responsibility to this man. Yes, it would upset me.

The largest and grandest house is unoccupied but habitable, the farmhand lives in a medium sized farmhouse with four bedrooms, my friend lives in one of the cottages (three bedrooms) with his wife.

It’s not a ‘difference in values’

Befriend the tenant and help him get legal advice if you have no joy with your friend. Poor man.

Thanks for the validation so far. It is shocking how few people are expressing their distaste for this, the land agent and other friends are all for it.

I hope for the older gentleman's sake there is some sort of cast iron tenancy agreement in place to prevent this.

If he worked for free, or a pittance, in return for a place to live during his lifetime then he has paid rent. I doubt a Court would even allow an eviction on that basis. But it no doubt would depend on a water tight tenancy agreement.

The very least the landlord should be offering is an exchange to the smaller property. The tenant may prefer to downsize to somewhere with convenient, modern facilities.

Your friend however is a moral void if he thinks eviction is in any way appropriate.

I suspect, based on your info, that your friend cannot actually evict this person. Certainly not easily and without substantial cost..

He’s probably not allowed but he could still cause immense stress to the tenant. Hopefully the tenant will be able to get the correct advice.

Are you in the US? (I was thinking, 'Appalachian', and how you spelled 'labor'.)

Whether or not this is legal would be down to your local ordinances and property laws. But ultimately it would depend on whether the tenant is paying rent, whether or not he has any state/government support to pay (or help pay) the rent, and whether there's any terminology in the tenancy agreement (or whatever legal document covers rented housing) that accounts for any upfront payment.

Morally, ethically, it's difficult to say without more context. He might be cynically turfing an old bloke out of his lifelong home, or he might be trying to get rid of a squatter.

the land agent and other friends are all for it.
Then they are all cut from the same cloth. Aka cunts.

Honestly, how people behave makes me despair, and no I wouldn't class this as a difference in values. I would completely drop this arsehole from my life, regardless of our history, and tell them why.

Good luck getting people to work for him after this. Farming communities have long memories and in 20 years they will still be muttering about the time he evicted poor old so and so. Died of a broken heart, might as well of killed him himself.

How long has he been in the cottage and whereabouts are you, different rules apply in different countries. If it began before 1989 (England) he may have an assured agricultural tenancy and he has bugger all chance of getting him out without providing alternative suitable accomodation on the same terms. I.e. free rent forevermore.

If the tenant has been there a very long time he may have a protected tenancy, especially if there has been an agreement that he can live in the property for life.

I think that if the elderly tenant is living in a warm, well maintained farmhouse then he should be left in peace. But if he's struggling to cope in it, and he's cold/damp then he really should be living somewhere better.

I think I'd judge it on the property - but I'd expect them to take responsibility for making sure that the tenant is looked after.