Rent Arrears

Discussion in 'Landlord & Rental Property Questions' started by scissorhands, May 18, 2014.

  1. scissorhands

    scissorhands Member

    Joined:
    May 2014
    Posts:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Hi
    How far do you let your tenant go with rent arrears and do you try to come to an arrangement with arrears growing while the tenant is still in the property?
     
  2. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

    Joined:
    Apr 2014
    Posts:
    515
    Likes Received:
    5
    Good question... our property manager is rather lax with the current tenant... but all parties know what the penalty is for being late, and so far it's been paid each time the rent went past the due date. The manager even went so far as to have a pay-back (catch-up) schedule when things got out of hand and that worked, too.

    But that doesn't answer your question... I *think* he's never let it go longer than a whole month late before making plans to catch up over a certain amount of time. And yes, there was a time the tenant was still in the house while what he owed was growing steadily. He had hit hard times and the manager trusted him to make it up and pay all the high penalty costs. He did, fortunately. I'm not sure that's a good policy to have, though... but it worked in this instance.

    Not sure I'd do it again... and when it's time for another tenant, I think I may want to have the lease re-written about this issue.
     
  3. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

    Joined:
    May 2014
    Posts:
    987
    Likes Received:
    9
    When it comes to rent arrears, i have had my bitter share of heartache and extreme bitterness but i have decided to take it all in stride, i could try to shove it down a tenant's throat to pay me but if they don't feel like, my choice that will work in my favor, is to tell them to leave, and count that arrear like a bad debt. Its been a learning curve for me but guess what, this time round i 'm drawing all my guns out and not taking any chances, enough of people taking my kindness for weakness!
     
  4. Determined2014

    Determined2014 Guest

    Joined:
    Jun 2014
    Posts:
    335
    Likes Received:
    0
    I have once had a tenent who is arreasfor 4 months, that tenant was going through a hard time, so I kind of took a risk and made a payment plan while they still had residency and it worked out they finally caught up on the rent, so I guess you have to wweigh the situation first, and also look at the record of how that particular tenant has been paying rent , it will give you a hint of trusting them or not.
     
  5. Rainman

    Rainman Senior Investor

    Joined:
    Jun 2014
    Posts:
    1,587
    Likes Received:
    4
    In the flats where I lived [before I moved in the countryside] rent arrears were unheard of. The tenant had to pay three months rent in advance. Failure to do so resulted in him/her getting an eviction notice. You could either choose to stay for the next two months before leaving or demand for your deposit and hit the road. Either way, the landlord never had to concern himself with rent arrears.
     
  6. ericbuyshouses

    ericbuyshouses New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 2014
    Posts:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    When I get a tenant behind on their rent I give a 3 day notice and start the eviction process, then I start to work with them and try to be understanding and work with them while the court date is approaching...

    I give them the name of a good apartment locating Realtor.

    I go to court 10 days later then we can discuss in front of the judge and I let the court decide, then I'm not the bad guy!

    Or you can always Sell Your Rental!
     
  7. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

    Joined:
    Apr 2014
    Posts:
    515
    Likes Received:
    5
    How long do you let it go past the due date before giving that 3-day notice, ericbuyshouses? Or do you mean they can just go three days late before you start the process? And if so, is there any kind of hardship wording like for tenant emergencies? For example, if their paycheck simply didn't arrive in time or something... (i.e. government contractor work. :D )
     
  8. ericbuyshouses

    ericbuyshouses New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 2014
    Posts:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    3 day notice

    Hi Kate, in the county I'm in I can give a 3 day notice on the 3rd of the month. Our lease states that rent is due on the 1st and late on the 3rd, so no matter what the situation is, I give a 3 Day to get their attention and know I am serious - plus it gets the legal clock started.

    At than point you can decide what to do, go to court or not. If I go to court it costs about sixty dollars to file and they have another ten days till court date. During this time they can work it out and pay or I can have them out in about 2 weeks. This rarely happens but I am in control on my property.

    I am not a lawyer or giving legal advice you have to check with you local government and your attorney though.
     
  9. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

    Joined:
    Apr 2014
    Posts:
    515
    Likes Received:
    5
    This sounds like an effective way to handle it... everyone knows what's going to be happening right from the beginning.

    We have a property manager for our real estate in another state. I'm not sure what his policy is, but I'm thinking he doesn't start talking eviction until an entire month is missed and it goes into the next payment due period. I don't especially like it that way, so we may have to get him to change that. It could theoretically mean that we'd miss a whole month, I suppose.

    Last time it happened, a plan was set up for the tenant to catch up and he eventually did, but an eviction process (which was later halted) didn't start until he was rather far behind with payments. Wish I could remember how far, but it was at least missing a month. There was a lot of negotiation going on during that whole time, though... it's not like he "allowed" the tenant to simply not pay a month.
     
  10. simmy

    simmy New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 2014
    Posts:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    When it comes to arrears, I try to deal with it as soon as possible. The longer it goes on, the harder it will be to deal with. If it is a long term tenant who I know well, I may be a little more lenient if they are going through a difficult period. With a new tenant that has no track record with me, it is important to deal with late rent immediately.

    Where I live, you can file a notice to end the tenancy the day after a tenant is late paying the rent. The tenant then has 14 days to pay the rent. If they don't do so within the 14 day period, the landlord can file to evict the tenant for non-payment. Unfortunately, over the years, I have had to go through this a few times.

    I try to remain on good terms with my tenants at all times. However, having said that, it is important to remember that being a landlord and renting to tenants is a business.
     

Share This Page