Chronically late but....

[Crayola kiddies]

Many moons ago (16 years) I had a house fire ... Small fire (only 10 gals of water to put it out ) but the smoke damage was extensive. The main floor of the house (bungalow) had to be gutted right back to the studs. It was an extremely traumatic experience. I had a 5 yr old and a 4 month old .... I went from living in a 3000sq ft home to a 27 ft trailer in the front yard and I also had my two 10 yr old step daughters and 5 daycare children .... It was a nightmare! So I feel for these people to be displaced from their home and everything that they held sacred. If it was me and they are only 15 mins late due to extenuating circumstances ( which I have personally lived through) I would probably tell them that under normal circumstances you would charge them a late fee but due to their situation and not wanting to cause any more stress to their lives you would let it go for now. Give them a time frame of maybe 6 weeks then there will be a flat rate late fee of $25/week or what ever you think is fair. I know how much there is to do to rebuild and still try to keep some normalcy of life for the sake of the kids. Just my nickel