DEAR ABBY: My wife and I rent half of my sister and brother-in-law’s house. They live in the front part; we live in the back. We have our own separate kitchen and bathroom, though we must go outside and around the corner and then reenter to use it.

We went on vacation for a month. While we were gone, my brother-in-law was supposed to remodel our kitchen and bathroom and be done by the time we got back. Four months later, nothing is ready to use. They told us we could use their kitchen and dedicated one of the inside bathrooms for us. Using their kitchen never worked for us, and my wife is always uncomfortable going into their part of the house.

Because of the inconvenience, my brother-in-law reduced our rent by half, and we were good with this. We mostly communicate by texting. He now claims he will be done next month, but I’m not so sure. Regardless, he now wants to raise our rent to approximately 75% of the “usual” instead of half. What do you think of this? — INCONVENIENCED IN CALIFORNIA

DEAR INCONVENIENCED: I think that, because your brother-in-law is unreliable, you should pay the increase in rent upon completion of the promised remodel and not before.

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Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.