Inherited problem tenant with first investment property, what should I do?

[William Edmondson]

Hey there, a little background: I purchased my first investment property at the end of December, which is an owner(me)-occupied triplex located in DeKalb county in Georgia, USA.

Everything is going well, I've moved in to the unit, I have a roommate, and I've rented out the other unit to a great tenant, However, here is the snag: I inherited an existing tenant who had been in the property for almost 9 months and is historically chronically late on paying rent, but he has always paid it.

His story: He apparently used to have a stable job when he first got the lease, but now he does freelance general contracting/handyman work. He really is a great tenant other than not paying on time, he never has people over, no pets, smokes outside, he never makes a lot of noise, he keeps his place cleaner than I keep my own.

He's very friendly and likable guy, always is reassuring that he is going to pay and pay the late fee when he gets paid and that he understands "business is business" and he's "not going to let me down". But I know he didn't pay December's rent to the old owner until the 23rd, and I know from the power company that as of the 15th of this month he was about to get his power shut off for non-payment (not sure if it did or not).

He has yet to pay me for January ($630 + $100 late fee) and it's fast approaching the end of the month. He assures me that he will pay in full as soon as he gets paid for this project he is on, and he is going to try to pay me on Friday (24th). I do have his full security deposit of $630 that was transferred to me from the previous owner.

This is my first rodeo and I'm not sure how to proceed. His lease is up March 31st and I know (I think) that I have to give him 60 days notice of me not renewing, which means I need to decide in the next week. I'm starting to think the extra $100 a month isn't worth the stress of waiting for rent towards the end of the month.

What are your thoughts? Have you experienced something like this? Thank you in advance!