Bi-Monthly Rent

[Tyler Hodgson]

Hello everyone, I would appreciate some feedback / suggestions:

Tenant wants to make rent payments bi-monthly. Current lease states rent of $1775 due on the 1st. They want to pay $887.50 on 1st and 15th. They said they have so many bills due on the 1st that it would help them a lot if they could delay some of the rent to the 15th.

- Inherited tenants; property acquired in June 2016.

- Self-managed rental

- Two year lease effective Sep 2016 - Aug 2018.

- Lease calls for late fee after 4th day.

- I have sufficient reserves and cash flow to cover payments without worrying about getting the full rent on 1st.

The nice guy in me wants to help them, and it doesn't seem like a big deal. The business person in me doesn't want to be soft landlord and let tenants start walking all over me. (give an inch they take a mile)

Should I amend the lease to allow bimonthly payments? Should I keep the lease, and just allow them to make to make the bimonthly payments for a few months? Should I stick to original lease agreement and charge late fee if they do not pay by the 4th day after the 1st of the month?

Thanks for your help!

[Account Closed]

Hi @Tyler Hodgson

If you decide to allow paymens, you should memorialize the change in a lease addendum, so the terms are very clear. 

I have agreed to split up rent into bi-monthly payments one time. I agreed to draft an addendum allowing bi-monthly payments, but they had to be ahead of the payment not behind. So, the payment received on the 15th, wasn't the second half of that month, it was the first half of the next month. My tenants were more than happy to pay an extra payment up front to allow for payments going forward. It worked beautifully. 

I am all about finding a win-win.