Parent wonders where checks are

Dear Amy: I am retired. My grown daughter has always held a job and paid her bills on time.

Because of the COVID virus, her income has dropped substantially. I offered to pay her rent, and have done so for the past four months.

I write the check payable to the landlord of her sixunit building, and she presents it.

She has been in the apartment for about three years and he has accommodated her by lowering her rent a little, in exchange for her taking care of the small front yard and shoveling snow in the winter.

I’m questioning why he has not deposited any of my checks.

I have not told my daughter.

Should I wait for another two months or so to see if he does finally process the checks? — Confused by Appreciative

Dear Confused: You are overthinking. Many people are in the same position your daughter is in, and rent is coming in from unexpected quarters.

You should not keep any of this confidential from your daughter. She is the tenant, she has agreed to this arrangement with you, and she is sending the checks to her landlord.

Or is she? This should be your first question. Her landlord might have offered her a temporary rent amnesty, and she could be “banking” these checks. Or she is sending the checks to him, and he is not processing them because he hasn’t been to his post box in a long time.

Or, as happened to me once, these checks have landed in that tiny space between his desk and the wall.

Either way, you should find out what’s going on. If the landlord hasn’t been receiving payment, this could land her in a jam.

First, ask your daughter. .