As long as the fee was no secret when she bought it, good for him.
My mom and her sisters rent out their childhood home and one family never paid rent and had a slew of excuses. When they were finally evicted, they found empty boxes of expensive items that would have covered several months back rent. Some people in life are just out and out cheats and you have to squeeze a little to get them to stay strait.
I've been a landlord since I was 26. I have learned many things about renters over the last 31 years.
1. It is a business and you need to run it that way.
2. A tenant telling you their financial problems does not make it your problem.
3. If a tenant says I don't have the rent. You ask how much do you have. If the answer is none, they're gone. If the answer is all but $20, I work with them.
4. There are good tenants that realize that I am providing them a place to live in a neighborhood that is better than they could buy in. And they pay.
5. When I deliver a 3 day notice to pay or quit. I'm not kidding. Once I start an eviction, I don't turn back. And if I do evict you, I will do everything I can to ruin your credit so you do not do it to another landlord.
I need tenants, some are good, some are bad. I have gotten pretty good at picking the good ones. (Knock on wood.)