She gained a bit of sympathy from the judge and he gave the tenant until Feb, 5th before we could get the sheriff.

I'm not taking responsibility away from those who bought time shares, but to get rich on people's bad financial decisions and then complain, when caught on the bad end of a loan, is pretty brazen.The only people I had much sympathy for were the older kids.

Feel free to post information and possible deals on the forums to get help or even sympathy when you need it.

You're essentially playing to their sympathy/empathy.When dealing with the #2 type of contractor, you need to be more deceitful -- you need to play to their greed and you need to play into their belief that they're smarter than you are.  

One sympathy card (no offers, just sympathy), a business letter, 2 postcards, each 30 days apart.

Don’t let greed ruin a deal but same time don’t let sympathy take a deal

But "just having had surgery" is not a legal excuse for not paying rent, though it could potentially give him some sympathy points with a judge.I guarantee you that some, if not all of this, are lies. 

I would message him back and as noted, take some sympathy, but also be firm the you must enforce the lease.  

If you/another contractor fixes it, you're much less likely to get any sympathy from the original contractor.

HCIDLA is headed by a woman named Marsella DeShurley, who if you can manage to reach her, will take about 5 min to expose her sympathy for "poor landlords who bought buildings and didn't know the laws".