Advice for difficult eviction

[John McNeill]

Hello

I have a tenant in one of my properties that is unable to pay his rent due to loss of his job almost 2 years ago.  The property is in Washington State and evicting a tenant is very difficult.  The first step is to contact a county appointed mediator which I have done.  For this county the mediator is a non-profit organization that has funds to pay rent while the tenant tries to get a new source of income.  The issue I have with them is they are slow to pay, I still haven't received the June rent yet.  I'm not sure if this tenant will ever be able to find employment comparable to the job he was laid off from.

There are a couple things that I'm pondering.  I recently raised the rent however it is still below market rate.  I didn't raise the rent during the pandemic and when I did raise it a few months ago it would have had to go up about 40% to get to market rate.  There is no limitation on rent increases.  What are your opinions on raising the rent to at least market or above market to compensate for the hassle and late payments?

Second, has anyone ever instituted a progressing late payment penalty?  Perhaps $50 when the rent is late and an additional $5 to $10 for each additional day?

TIA

John