Tenant always late, what to do?

[Bob Romano]

My tenant has been in since Nov 2018. Out of the 4 months, he has been 15 days late for 3 months. My lease states rent is due on the 1st. It is late as of the 5th and there is a $50 late fee as of the 5th. He consistently emails me on the 10th saying he knows he's late and he will pay the rent ( including  late fee) in a few days. So im getting paid on the 18-20th each month now. How do I stop him from keeping paying me this late? This will be the 2nd 5 day demand of payment notice he has received in the last 4 months. He always pays me like 2 days before my lawyer goes to the courthouse to file for non payment of rent. I getting sick of it now. My lawyer says " your main goal is to make sure he pays, so if he is paying late and is paying the late fee each time, just take it and accept it . I don't like this idea . What would you guys do?

[Elizabeth Nurnberger]

It's funny what works and doesn't work for people.  We had a tenant who was consistently late (B+ property, great income, etc).  I asked her what I could do to help get the payment on time and she said a 5-day email reminder prior to the 1st would help.  So, I set up the invoice to email 5 days earlier and voila, she has paid on time the past 3 months?!  I also offered to look into ACH automatic transfer, paying 2x a month, etc.  I'm not sure why she didn't set this up on her own, but it was funny how a simple solution seems to be working . . . Not sure this ads much for your situation, but thought I would share just in case.    Also, I definitely agree with the great prior advice, especially the sticking to the terms of your lease & following through.