Late Rent and other money due

[Melissa Lenhardt]

Hello,

Yet again I am using you for help. This forum has been extremely helpful and we have gained a lot of knowledge from all of you. Our tenants never put the utilities in their name and we are trying to send them a bill for the utilities that they owe us. The last two months they have been late with the rent and we need to charge them the late fee also. To make matters even worse they shorted us 100$ this month on rent because of a repair that they are responsible for and we made them pay for. So now we are typing up a certified letter to send to them about the policies outlined in the lease that they have agreed to and are in violation of as well as an invoice of money owed as they will not return our calls. In our lease it does state that all moneys due will be paid before rent when money received.

questions

1. Can we cash the check that is a 100.00$ short even if in the line item it says rent? and then send them an invoice or do we send the check back and say its not sufficient?

2. Is there anything we are missing or should be thinking about?

Thanks Again

Melissa Lenhardt

[Ed O.]

It's not going to get better from here.

It's unlikely that you can legally turn off the utilities. Always verify the utilities are out of your name before giving possession of the property - I have made this mistake before too.

If they will not immediately pay you for the utilities and get settled up, I would strongly consider beginning an eviction. Your heating bill is going to get expensive in a hurry.

I don;t see why you are unable to cancel the check. If you're really worried, you could note on the check, below where you endorse it, something along the lines of "remaining balance $100."

It would be worth your time to a landlord in your area or an attorney.