Dear Prudence,
We are two brothers writing together. Our parents are in their 70s. Our dad is retired. Our mom worked part-time for the local library until recently, not because they needed the money, but simply because she enjoyed it. Due to budget cuts, several library employees have been laid off, including our mom and a formerly full-time co-worker and friend of hers, “Sarah.”
Sarah found another job, but it’s only part-time and pays much less. She’s still looking for something better, but the local job market is not robust. Therefore, she could no longer afford the two-bedroom apartment she lived in with her adult, mentally disabled daughter. Our mom offered to let Sarah and her daughter move into a shed on their property, and our dad, who we believe is losing his decision-making capacity with age, agreed. The shed is about 12 by 20 feet and has electricity and air conditioning, but no heating, no plumbing, and only one small window that is mostly blocked by the air conditioner. It is therefore not legal for human occupancy. Sarah and her daughter need to come into the house to use the bathroom and kitchen, and for this reason, the house is left unlocked all night, which we believe is unsafe.
We are unsure if Sarah is paying any rent, if she’s paying the increase to their power bill (which, with two TVs, two computers, and the A/C running full blast all summer with no insulation, will be considerable), or if our parents are buying them any food. This situation has been ongoing for several months, and Sarah and her daughter seem to have settled contentedly in. The interior of the shed is solidly decorated with their posters, which seemed like a bad sign from the beginning. One of us wants to report this to the authorities. The other thinks that would be cruel, since Sarah and her daughter would likely become homeless. However, we’re both concerned it will be harder to sell the property when our parents pass away, or need to move into assisted living, if Sarah and her daughter are still living in the shed. Sarah is only in her 40s, and her daughter is probably in her late 20s to early 30s (she was a teen mom). What, if anything, can and should we do?