Late rent again, time to evict?

[Carey Branam]

So I had new tenants move in the last week of July. They paid their first week of rent of rent upon move in (first mistake I should have requested the entire month of August at that time!). Then, August 1 comes, no rent. I texted them my address again and they said they would pay through their bank and I should have the check soon. In the lease I give them a 5 day grace period, but the 5th comes and goes. I text them and they act confused like the bank says its sent, its already been withdrawn. After giving the mail a few more days, they finally resend it. Still nothing, so she brings me a personal check with the late fee. Ok, I'm hoping this is a one time thing, I mean they have awesome credit so surely they pay their bills. On August 16th the "2nd" bank check arrives at my house. I texted them and told hem it finally arrived and asked if they wanted it back or if they wanted to use it for September rent. It was already the 16th so almost time to pay again. They tell me to hold onto it. He said to cash it on the 1st. I never responded because I knew I wanted to cash it on the 31st instead of waiting until the first and risking another late rent fiasco. So I took it to my bank on the 31st. I got a notice yesterday that there was a stop payment on the check. It didn't say returned check, it says stop payment. So I texted yesterday when I got this in the mail. They don't respond until over night. He sends me a screen shot of when he told me to cash on the 1st and says it's my fault for cashing on the 31st. (Which I never agreed to). Then he proceeds to tell me he will be sending another check from his bank because that's how the prefer to pay bills!!!! So this could take a week to get a check! He's also insinuating he won't pay the late fee or returned check fee. I'm just fed up. Mortgage is due today and having to pay an extra mortgage is going to be incredibly stressful. Do I need to put a 3 day pay or move notice on the door? There is no reason they can't write me a personal check. I live 5 minutes away! They just "prefer" to bank online. Well, I prefer to not pay for someone else to live in my house! Advice?

[Bettina F.]

I have a several pieces of advice.

1) We always charge  one month's rent + security deposit upon move in.  For mid month move-ins we pro-rate the SECOND month.  Our security deposit and first month's rent receipt clearly spells this out.  This receipt also states "the second month's rent will be  $____ due on _____.  The third month's rent and subsequent month's rent will be $____ due on the first of the month.

2) The method of payment should be spelled out in your lease/rental agreement.  This should all be gone over ahead of time.

3) Have your LL speech ready, so the new tenants know you are serious about on time rent -- before the lease is signed.  Say something like "We need three things from a tenant.  We need on time rent payment so we can pay our own bills, we need you to take good care of the property, and we need tenants who are good neighbors.  Can you commit to do these things?"  This sets the expectations at the beginning, so your tenant knows paying rent is more important than a new big screen TV.

That being said, it sounds like there was poor communication at the onset. I think you can save this tenancy.    I would write up an agreement with the tenant on how rent is to be paid.  The reality is that the market is moving to online bill payments.  If the on-line checks take 5 days to arrive, then your tenant needs to send the on-line check by the 25th of the month.  Only proceed to eviction if you are 100% sure you have been clear with the tenant, and they are still unable/unwilling to comply.

As you get more experience being a LL , you get better at clear communication and setting boundaries.  You learn how to mean business without being mean.

Good luck!

PS. I pay as many of my bills on-line as possible. Our LLC account is in a smaller regional bank. It takes a long time for the first on-line check to arrive with any on-line payment, subsequent payments should be faster. Try sending yourself a payment some time, this is a good way to gauge the length of time. The banks will withdraw money and hold it in limbo for awhile-- they use this "float" to increase profits.