how do i take control over this late rent problelm from my tenants?

Question

i just acquired my first rental property. i also inherited existing tenants. thus far their rent has been late every month. i need the money for my mort. pmt., so wait on them to pay. how much will it cost to get them out and how long will it take? how do i remedy this situation?

Answer 1

What you do depends on the law in your area.

Since your tenants do pay eventually, it is in your best interests to keep them. Loss of a tenant means an empty apartment, which means no rent until you get a new tenant.

I have found that the best cure for chronic late payers is to file for eviction based upon non-payment as soon as the rent is late. Some states require a notice to the tenant before filing. Other states don't. My state requires no notice.

If a problem tenant does not pay by the first, I file the paperwork on the 2nd. The grace period is for not being charged a late fee and has nothing to do with when rent is due. One trip to court to see the reality of how they can and will be evicted is a good cure.

We have in all our leases that legal fees and court costs associated with filing in court for non-payment are "additional rent", and will be paid by the tenant in one of two ways: either with their next rent payment or it will come out of their security deposit at the end of their tenancy. As soon as someone sees a huge chunk of their security gone because they were even one day late, they tend to not be late again.

Some states allow you to evict chronic late payers, but the notice process and entire procedure is cumbersome. Here in NJ, you must send the tenant a notice to cease, a notice to quit if they are more than 5 days late 3 more times within a year, and you must also serve them with a protest and rights reserved letter each month their rent is on time. This goes on for an entire year, then you can file, assuming they screwed up 3 or more times and you didn't screw up at all.

Sometimes tenants are always late because no one ever really cared if they paid on time. Sometimes they are late because they get pension checks later in the month and cannot pay on the 1st. You have to find out why they are late and deal with it appropriately.

Answer 2

Each state is a little different, but all of them tend to favor the renter. You will likely have to have renter served with a 3 day notice to pay or quit. When neither happens, you get a court judgement and have marshalls evict renter. That's best case. Lots of things can make it take longer than a few months, like filing the wrong paperwork or at the wrong time, or renter goes bankrupt. If it becomes personal, you can count on the renter damaging your residence in retaliation. So offer renter a clean slate and a couple hundred bucks to move out this weekend. Remember it's business. Cut your losses and make the offer even though it irritates the hell out of you. You will thank me later.
I have rental properties too, but I pay a small fee to a property management company. The grief is much greater when I am personally involved. You might want to sign up now and let them handle the situation. The cost will be the same with or without deadbeat renter. Good luck.

Answer 3

First - why did you buy something without understanding it? There are a number of things you should have done first, like reviewing the payment history, etc. for the building. Do you know what the maintenance record is? Is something big coming due? Consider yourself chastised with 100 lashes of a wet noodle.

That said, Nolo Press (nolo.com) is an excellent resource for all things legal. Here is a link on evictions from their site:

http://www.nolo.com/resource.cfm/catID/1F6840E5-5262-46EA-9347E71F16315DE3/213/178/117/

You really should go to your local bookstore & grab their Landlord book.

Also, when the lease comes up for renewal, I would add a clause to the effect that their rent is, for example, $1050 a month. If they pay by the first, they get a $50 "discount". In reality, you only want $1000 rent, so this is a way to "trick"them into paying on time so that they can get a discount. If they pay late, you have the late fee built in.

Good luck!

Tony

Answer 4

Be sure to check your lanlord/tenant laws for your state. They are very strict as to what you can and cant do and timing is everything. Do you have a signed lease? What are the reasons for eviction? Can you raise the rent now? Can you raise the late fee? Some people just dont pay their bills on time.

Answer 5

First check your lease.

Secondly, you need to be such a pain in the *** to them that they pay you just to shut you up.

thirdly check the laws of your state but if you have a lease (and the law allows for you to charge a residential tenant one) with a late penalty, charge them for it.

A good tactic is if there is a legal fees clause, where the tenant has to pay the landlord's legal fees if they are in default. Then next time they are late, simply serve them with a default notice from an attorney and cite the clause in the letter charging them the amount that you had to pay to have it written (It shouldnt' be much but it smacks them in the face a bit).

Answer 6

have them signe a new renal agreement that states that if rent is not paid by the 1st at midnight it will be a $50 fee and $5 per day after a week. if you just want your tennents out consult your local coart house about an evection notice and the requirements for that eviction be carefull still if you do evict them and anything is left behind you must hold it for between 6 months and a year

Answer 7

Flip is dead wrong. You can simple file eviction at your local courthouse for any rent over one month late, public assistance or not. Once you file, do not accept rent from them, get them out all the way. The clerk will tell you how to file and what your options are.

Answer 8

If they are receiving aid, you're screwed. It could take 6 months or more. If they're not,look at the contract. It should say how late they can be before you can throw them out. To get them out, first ask. If that doesn't work, have the sheriffs department serve them a notice. It doesn't' cost very much.

Answer 9

Like the person above said, check your state laws. What are you doing to try and keep them from being late with rent? Are there any late fees applied to their balance, do you send out notices for eviction since it keeps happening over and over?

Answer 10

tenants have an inordinate amount of rights.evicting them is very difficult the sooner you start the process the sooner you will get them out.good luck.