Collect half rent?

[Christian Bors]

So I have a tenant who sent me a text message asking if she could pay $300 dollars now, and another $ 300 on the 16th plus the 25$ late fee.  I inherited the tenant over a year ago and she has been very good.  Hasn't complained, and besides one other late payment (last December) she's been great.  However, I am starting to get worried.  What should I do?  If she gets paid on the 16th, the following pay day will be the 30th.  So she will owe another 600 which I'm assuming would be the majority if not all of her paycheck.  What does BP recommend?  Thanks in advance.

[Marcia Maynard]

I'm in agreement with @Aly W. , as she made some very good points. Especially since the tenant has been in communication with you and has otherwise been a very good tenant. Even in the best of markets, turnovers takes time, energy and money. If you have the flexibility to work with her, do. But make it a win-win, you both will lose something and gain something in the process.

Make sure it is settled within the month that rent was due. I typically will allow until mid-month to catch up if the late fee is paid and all else is in order. Our tenants must pay the late fee first, regardless. So ask her for $25 + $300 now and the other $300 by the 16th as she proposes. If you are okay with receiving rent in two installments twice a month on an ongoing basis, then make it worthwhile for you by changing the rent to a higher amount, such as $320 on the 1st and $320 on the 15th.

In our current rental environment many tenants are spending 50% or more of their income on rent. In the low-income market it is closer to 75% and most do live paycheck to paycheck. If you work with her on this, and she is not playing you, it will make your relationship stronger and she could become a great long term tenant. If you start posting notices and filing evictions as soon as you can, you will push her into looking for other housing. As soon as you file with the court, it will become part of the legal record and it could affect her ability to find other housing.

One other thing.... whenever a tenant is late with rent, I check to make sure they are paid up on utilities. They tend to go hand in hand. It is part of our rental agreement that tenants remain current with their utilities. I also will do a periodic inspection of the premises to make sure they are not violating any other terms of the rental agreement and all else is in order. Once tenants see that paying rent late will result in me keeping a closer eye on what what they are doing, they have more incentive to pay rent on time.