Dealing with rent and friends!

[Dillon Siddall]

Hello,

So I have been taking advantage of the mortgage deferral program, and saving the money for reserves. But I have also been letting my roommate skip rent payments because I am not paying the mortgage so he can save some money too.

I have been thinking that if it wasnt my best friend and was just a tenant I would still charge them rent. So should I continue to charge my friend rent and just say that I'm not skipping payments anymore?

Would love to hear your thoughts and what you would do!??

Thank you!!

[Corby Goade]

Generally, business with friends and family is a terrible idea, but it sounds like you are roomies with your buddy and I've done that myself when I was younger, so I get it. 

Sounds like you guys are both taking advantage of deferment, but maybe don't actually NEED it? My advice would be to pay your mortgage/rent as promised when you signed on unless you are having an actual hardship- in the long run, putting off your responsibilities will create more stress, not less. 

Finally- for your situation with your friend, my advice is personal, not financial. You need to remove from your brain that your friend owes you a debt now. If he pays up- awesome, that's a good friend. If he doesn't, you can feel good that you did something nice for him. There's no amount of money that is worth destroying a friendship or relationship, so just feel good about helping your friend.