Unpaid Rent Amid COVID Pandemic

[Kirsten M.]

In April, I collected 100% of rents, but I am weary about what May will bring regarding 1 property of mine. The tenant was upfront with me in March and stated that she had been furloughed and had moved back in with her parents to wait out the pandemic. We came to an agreement for April and she agreed to pay 1/2 of rent on April 1st and the other 1/2 on April 15th. I reached out to her twice over the last week to discuss May's rent and she hasn't responded. If she doesn't pay her rent and continues to ignore my attempts to reach her, what are my options? 

[Dave Spooner]

@Kirsten M. - here's a nice summary of New Mexico's abandonment regulations provided by UNM: http://jec.unm.edu/education/o...

I would echo what Filipe@Filipe Pereirasaid and suggest caution here. Like many states, New Mexico has put a moratorium on evictions related to the coronavirus crisis and this sure sounds like it would qualify. We're in uncharted territory here.

Can I ask, do you think you'd be able to rent the property to someone else? If not, I would hold off. If you think you can and you decide to proceed with removing her, I would not simply dispose of her property. I would put it into storage for her. I also think you need to make a concerted effort to reach her. @Filipe Pereira had some very good suggestions that, at the least, will demonstrate you made every reasonable attempt to contact the tenant and resolve the matter.