The dilemma

The manager slides a single sheet across the table. Sign away your use of the courtyard, they say, and your rent drops a lot for two years. The plan is to turn it into paid parking, which means no more Friday dinners and no shared green for anyone. They smile and add that you are the only resident they are asking, and the offer is good until Friday, the night of this week's dinner.

Your options

1. Tell them the courtyard is not yours alone to give away, and that the building should hear about this.
2. Ask exactly what changes, for how long, and what happens to the dinner before you say anything.
3. Take the cut. Money is tight, you have given this place eleven years, and it is only one courtyard.