What to do if tenants stop paying…

[Ryan Brown]

Good morning,

So in my lease I have it say “The Tenant will be allowed to have visitors for a maximum of 14 days ONLY with consent from the landlord. If the Tenant’s visitors stay outside of the 14 days; Tenant will be charged an additional $70 every 14 days that the Tenant’s guests are staying in the unit.” How do I enforce this clause in my lease?

My tenants have a family member who is temporarily staying with them who are NOT on the lease. I said no problem? Pointed out the clause in my lease and they have been paying it for a little bit. It’s been a few months now and I’m constantly telling my tenants that I didn’t receive payment. Their response is always, “oh I forgot, I’ll pay today”, but they never do.

I’m an extremely reasonable landlord and it’s starting to feel like they’re taking advantage.

 Basically my question is what can I do? What are my options? Please assist because I’m getting really annoyed and this is not right.

[Mike Dymski]

Have the new resident apply, add them to the lease, and increase the rent accordingly.  If they don't qualify or if the current resident continues to violate the lease agreement, send notice to cure and evict.  Communicate and treat them with respect throughout.