Late paying tenant, what should I do?

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Hello BP team!

I wanted to pick everyone's brain on an issue that I'm having.....I have a tenant that is paying rent, but it is late every month. She pays the late fee, and actually breaks up the rent payment into two different amounts, half at the beginning of the month, and half later on, but is always paid in full by the end of the month. The property manager just recently brought this to my attention as it has been going on for several months. I told the property manager that it needs to stop. She communicated this to the tenant, and now the tenant (conveniently) has said the house needs several repairs. The property manager then instructed her to send over pictures. I have not seen any pictures of supposed repairs as of yet. 

My concern is that this is a slippery slope. If I don't "put my foot down" I'm worried she will continue to pay late and might end up missing payments. However, on the other hand, I don't want to move to evict and have the heartburn around that process. The other idea I had was to just not renew her lease. Oh and BTW the property is located in Memphis, TN. Any thoughts team?  

but by the end of the month.

[Russ B.]

If she's suddenly complaining about needed repairs when late rent becomes an issue, you may want to do an inspection on the unit.