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?

We can go around in circles on this

1. 72. Born 1950. A child of the 50s and 60s
2. 78. born 1944. A child of the 40 and 50s

I'm not even going into the complexities of agricultural contracts with you.

oh please do!! Pretty please. Sounds fascinating 😂

And if they were born in the 40s

they still were a child in the 60s! Unless you don’t see 11/12/13/14 year olds and… children?!

And if they were 79 they were born in 1943.

So not a child in the 60s.

Yep.

so the PP’s reference to medieval time and feudalism is spot on! 😂

Why are we suddenly fixated on age. The OP says 70 plus and I doubt they asked the gent for his date of birth so we're not going to know exactly.
It's likely that he wouldn't have been the only member of his family working for the estate. These agreements can go back generations.

You're showing yourself in a really good light here.

For this thread, I want your username to be Fief83.

my point was referring to medieval feudalism and peasants when we are talking about a chap who was a child of the 50s/60 (and yes… quite possibly 40s/50s!)…. Is a tad daft!

I’ll take it! Got a nice ring to it!

I agree you friend is behaving appallingly OP.

If I was him, I would allow this man to stay in the house until he passes away whenever that may be. I would continue asking for the same amount of rent.

I don't believe that this man or anyone else in his family should be able to claim the house/other assets but I do not see why he couldn't continue to live in the property.

You less so.

the medieval and peasant references is a tad hyperbolic and made me chuckle. End of really!

Obviously your friend doesn't seems to understand the etiquette the obligations that come with being lord of the manor type person. The unwritten rule of looking after your elderly retainers, long after they cannot physically work for you was part of the deal for many landowners, something that isn't often talked about but has always been part of that part of society.

I'm wondering if your friend is actually struggling with grief (he's inherited the property and I presume title) and the sheer scale of responsibilities he has financial and other obligations when he would rather not and live more simply

What that your maths was wrong, you mock people for using variant spellings and display little understanding of rural culture.

I don’t think many people know about his idea of evicting the farmhand yet, only his wife and one other beneficiary (who wants the same house) and the person who I think is the land agent or the farm accountant. I expected at least one of them to talk him out of it. I suggested the house swap and at first he said it was a good idea but called back later to say ‘but we’ve just done the kitchen’. I suggested buying or renting a vacant property nearby when he felt trapped by his situation and he said that it didn’t make sense when he already owns these other houses. The last I heard was he was going to get legal advice to find out the extent of his obligation to this former employee of his uncle’s. To me his actions are repugnant because he already has so much and yet it’s not enough but I know this is an immature response to what is probably a complex situation. Also I can’t rule out the possibility that I’m envious of his good fortune and the opportunities it creates.

Head. Wall. Bang 😂

It’s also disgusting that he thinks the farmhand doesn’t deserve a house with a modern kitchen.
Its another case of the haves and the have nots. Has your friend always been so pompous?

Op is there actually any kind of tendency agreement in place ?
Does the tenant also have a state pension? Assuming he must if he's paying for utilities/ food.
Was the tenant addressed during the inheritance process ?

Also I can’t rule out the possibility that I’m envious of his good fortune and the opportunities it creates.

bit of a curve call there Op!!

I wonder if it would be possible to shame him in to leaving the poor man alone. I think most people would agree that his treatment of the man is morally bankrupt.

Get the story published, news articles, social media pages, maybe a kick-starter for the old man either to pay for rehousing him or pay for a lawyer for him.

Your friend needs to know what people think of him op.

I would drop said friend and go help the tenant making sure that he knew all his legal rights and entitlements! Any decent person would not see this a purely business and could ensure the elderly tenant is treated properly. I do have a relative who wanted to move an elderly tenant out but it was in order to move him to this lovely retirement village where he would be better off with a nicer apartment with wardens, he really needed more care. It was his choice though and they worked through it together.

It isn’t even heartless it is illegal

A lot of my family couldn’t read or write.
It didn’t make them stupid

It did make people underestimate what they were capable of.

Oh! God forbid the elderly tenant should have some comforts!

I'd ditch the friend after telling them their fortune.

God, I HATE the rental system in this country

I’ve been here for a long time too, way before AIBU or even _chat, I’m examining my own conscience. I was fully expecting accusations of envy and to be told it’s not my circus or my monkeys.