Big mistake renting to friend. Help!!

[Ashley Burns]

This is my first rental property and I decided to rent to my friend. 1000 move in 500 a month. I let her move in the house in the middle of February for three hundred dollars with the agreement to pay the 700 hundred beginning of March. March came she only gave me 600. Then  April came she was late and paid me 600. Now its may her rent is now 500 she is late.  I gave her til the 10th to pay the rent and I get a phone call today and she says she can't pay til the end of the month and that she wanted to put her 30 day notice in for June because she can't afford the rent.  She has a 1 year lease what do I do? 

[Jake Thomas]

Let her move out and replace with a new tenant. Lesson learned don't rent to friends or family, just be glad it only went on for a few months, the longer your friend stayed the harder it would be for her to get out. 

For the next tenant verify income, credit and background and you can reduce the risk of this happening again.