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The original was posted on /r/AmItheAsshole by /u/Pippapupperton on 2023-07-02 01:39:24+00:00.
I (19f) lost my mother in January, which has completely turned my life upside down. I gained custody of my brother (16m) and had to quit my job to accommodate his schedule. I had to move to a bigger apartment in a much pricier area so my brother could finish out high school at his same school. I have scholarships as a source of income and my mom had life insurance, so I’m mostly fine financially as long as I budget carefully, but I can’t afford any extras.
Before my family moved to the city we live in now, we lived in a very rural area where my mom owned our house. After we moved out, she rented it out for extra money. The same family has lived in the home for over five years now and they have paid $800 per month in rent. They have been amazing and always fix any issues by themselves. My mom never had any complaints about them.
Now that I have inherited the place, all of my family members who still live in the area have suggested that I raise the rent to $1000. Market value for a property of that size/condition in the area would be at least $1600. I feel extremely bad because I’ve always been on the other side of things, but my mom could afford to charge way less than market and I just can’t.
I gave the tenant three months notice, and he is basically refusing to pay, and only sending me the $800 every month. My grandma took over communication at this point and insisted he not only pay the $1000 going forward, but that he pay the $200 he was short for every month he was supposed to send the new amount and didn’t. I feel like I might be an asshole because even though I could really benefit from having the extra money, I could probably get by without it. Am I the asshole here?