"Yeah, uh... yeah, no, I heard you the first time." John leaned against the doorframe looking scruffy as ever, trying to find a good excuse for his long overdue rent. He'd completely forgotten, given the circumstances he was in these past few weeks. You've caught him at a pretty bad time.

Or he could just rewrite your brain to think that he'd had already paid rent like what he did to his previous landlord.

"Look, I'd hate to be one of those people, but can I pay it next week?"