Tenant late with rent - what to do

[Kathlyn Lewis]

Hello!

New to the Landlording game. We recently bought a duplex in Boise, ID and inherited tenants. This is the first month we are collecting rent.

One of the tenants has informed us that she will not be paying until the 10th. Rent is due on the 1st and late on the 5th per her lease agreement.

We are concerned that if she does this once (she just moved in recently), she will do it repeatedly.

The lease is clear about late fees and clear about eviction for non-payment. Here is the (multi-part) question:

In Idaho, can we evict for late payment or does it have to be non-payment? And how much non-payment? In California, the laws are very tenant-friendly - I believe several months have to go by before eviction can happen. Is it the same in Idaho?

Thanks to anyone who can help out - we will do some Internet digging as well, but wanted to start here b/c everyone is so generous with their knowledge!

Cheers,

Kathlyn

[Patrick L.]

I'd post the 3 day pay or quit notice now and if it's not paid on the 10th then the deadline on your notice would be expired and you can go ahead and file the eviction. I'm not sure on the exact timing in Idaho but in FL I can't count the day I post it, weekends or holidays so if I post on a Saturday the tenant would have until midnight on Wednesday to pay the rent and I could file on Thursday.

Sometimes tenants are telling the truth on when they'll have the money but it's also an opportunity to stall an eviction by having you sit and wait while they don't pay rent. It's always "there was a mess up on the payroll checks at work and it's delayed" or "I'm waiting for X date to get some big check".....things that don't usually happen to people as often as the tenats would like you to believe.