My Tenant Messaged Me and Asked for 2 Weeks Extension

[Chan K.]

My BP Landlord Community,

One of my tenants messaged me and told me that she won’t be able to pay her rent on the due date. She will need two weeks extension. She sounded very confident as she had done something like this before.

She told me her husbands lost his job and just found a new one. She said that her car did not have a plate and had cost her an arm/leg for it.

My wife told me to send in the written notice to start the paper trail. I told her that to give the tenant a week – in my stomach I know that when the one week came around I won’t see the money.

I can smell this tenant and I think she is going to be the trouble one with rent due issue.

Ideally, I can start the eviction process immediately with 1 day late in MA, because we don’t have a grace period. She is a TAW with a small baby. I don’t charge her late fee, because MA is not allowed to.

Should I tell her to move on if she is late again next month?

She was late last month too – 5 days

In general, I am a passive and aggressive. I let thing slight here and there, then I bite on it aggressively when it reaches a certain point.

Do you have any thought? Let's here it.

[Aly W.]

When a tenant tells *you* when they'll pay the rent, you can be fairly certain they won't. Clearly, paying the rent isn't their priority - getting a license plate is. We evicted a tenant last month that had this outlook. She was late several times, paid the late fees (allowed in FL), and finally got to the point where she didn't pay at all. She gave 2 future dates that came and went, and we filed after the 2nd one...and she again gave us another date that she would pay. She was evicted in a month.

Right now we have a tenant that hasn't paid this month, here in NJ. She's been late several times before, always paid the late fees, and has been a good tenant so I let it go until last week. She claimed her bank account was compromised and a loved one was in the hospital. The attorney is filing the Pay or Quit tomorrow and will follow with the eviction.

If tenants believe there are no consequences to paying late, they will always pay on their own schedule, and in your case, you can't even collect late fees. We've gotten 3 new tenants in the last 6 months, and each one was told upon lease signing that the rent is due on the 1st, and the Pay or Quit will be served on the 3rd. No exceptions. They can borrow the money from friends or relatives.

I don't know what TAW is (rental assistance?). Is she on a month to month? If so, give her the 30 day notice or whatever is required and/or file the Pay or Quit. Paying rent when it's due is not a choice; it's a legal obligation.