That doesn't make sense to me...if you can't pay rent how are you going to afford your mortgage? I don't get it...regardless, I can see how it is tough for you. I would personally have a talk with them and say ok, enough it enough, we have been patient all of this time. You need to pay us something for now, and when business picks up you can pay the back rent (I would set a time frame like 6 months or a year). If this works for you, I would make some hand written contract between you and the tenant. I don't know how much they pay, but say they pay 1,000 a month, ask them to pay 500. It may not be so daunting on them and you may actually get money with the prospect of having everything repaid eventually.