GA Landlord Advice about Evictions

[Rick M.]

My landlord/tenant contract states pay rent by the 5th of the month by 5 p.m. During the first year, my tenant failed to pay rent on time and sometimes we had to threaten him with eviction letters. We reluctantly signed a 2nd year with him because we did get all of his late payments and the property was taken care of.

During the 2nd year, I let one late payment slide as a courtesy due to tenant family circumstances. But I have been keeping up with all other late payments. But during the month of July, he was completely unable to pay in a timely manner. So I had to file for a dispossessory proceeding, but it was short lived because I received rent from him on the 15th of the July. So I cancelled it.

Then in the month of August, he failed to pay on time so I have now filed a dispossessory proceeding and it is now the 15th and still no payment. I am being advised by my realtor to evict him due to the fact that we are having to chase him every month with late notices and the recent delays in payment.

1. Do I need to get a lawyer involved for our court date? Or try to represent myself?
2. Am I being too extreme or is this normal for a land lord to evict a tenant solely based on excessively late rent
3. Does the tenant have any advantage he could use against me? i.e. could he say I didn't enforce my contract by charging him late fees, hence, I rendered the contract invalid and can't evict him? Or some reason like that.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Rick M.:

Georgia eviction process: https://www.hemlane.com/resources/georgia-eviction-laws/

Answers: 

1. Do I need to get a lawyer involved for our court date? Or try to represent myself? I'm not a Georgia expert, but I believe you can represent yourself in court.
2. Am I being too extreme or is this normal for a land lord to evict a tenant solely based on excessively late rent. It's absolutely normal. I would have never renewed the lease after the first year.
3. Does the tenant have any advantage he could use against me? i.e. could he say I didn't enforce my contract by charging him late fees, hence, I rendered the contract invalid and can't evict him? Or some reason like that. No. You should have set standards and you should always stick to them (always!), but waiving a late fee on occasion doesn't remove the tenant's responsibility to pay rent. I do recommend you stop accepting made-up excuses like family emergencies, car repairs, or whatever. I charge late fees no matter what. I have made a rare exception when there's a death in the family, but even that is very rare.

A couple suggestions: 

1. Don't wait until a problem appears before figuring out how to handle it. Tenants will break the lease. They will disappear in the middle of the night without notice. They will sneak in a couple dogs, a second family, or their sex predator boyfriend. They will park a Harley in the living room. Make a list of potential problems, see what your lease says about them, and figure out how to handle them before they occur. Create written processes, sample forms or letters, and be prepared.

2. Don't renew bad tenants! A tenant that "eventually" pays isn't a good tenant and will "eventually" cause you bigger problems, as you are now learning. Whether it is their first year or fourth year, lease violations are lease violations and you should get rid of them when given the opportunity.

[Rick M.]

I just spoke to a friend as he is also a landlord but he seems to very loose in his management of properties. Am I being too strict or is he being too relaxed?

My question here is when do landlords file for eviction after non-payment? How many days is the standard?

According to my friend, he is saying give them 2 months, but my realtor is pushing us to send eviction letters after 5 days passed the due date stating we could file for an eviction after the 15th of non-payment.