want to block partial payments

[Grant Delmonte]

Hey guys,

I've been accepting rent through venmo and everything was fine for almost six months. Then, the rent payment stopped. I tried everything I could to reach our to my tenants, email, texting, phone call but nothing worked. I served an eviction notice and got a rent payment the next day... for $50. Guys, the rent for my apartment was $2000 per month. Long story short, we went to court. Turns out that because I had accepted their payment, I had to start the eviction all over again. I was furious. The tenants are finally out, thank goodness, but I don’t want to make the same mistake in the future. For those that use property management software, what do you use and does it block partial payments? I can’t help feel like I could have avoided this nightmare if I had been better prepared. Thanks in advance! 

[Chris Martin]

@Grant Delmonte, sorry for butting in on your post. 

In NC, we had the same kind of problem with tenants paying $10 or $50 and then showing up in court and requesting dismissal. It was annoying and I personally saw tenants (here we call them professional tenants) perform their little play in small claims court. Under the old rules, and I did not see this in court personally but read about it in the paper, a Section-8 tenant receiving partial payments could, effectively, never be evicted when the tenant performed the 'I paid' play they were coached to perform in court.

Well, the NC legislature changed state law with House Bill 493 in 2012. Smart people updated their leases to comply with the new bill that closed the professional tenant's ability to walk through the loophole. 

So, my advice in this long winded post is to find out what Washington state has in the Revised Code of Washington regarding the acceptance or partial rent payments. It should be covered somewhere, like in summary ejectment. I don't know your state. But if it's not covered, talk to your state legislature representative.