$6,500 Behind in Rent, Lessons Learned

[Jason Macht]

I wanted to share a story of when things go wrong, what it takes to overcome the challenges along the way, and 3 lessons I learned from this experience. More specifically, I had a case of a tenant that was over $6,500 behind in rent, I was handcuffed by eviction moratoriums, and how I was able to collect 10 months of back rent plus another 4 months for the tenant to get back on their feet.

Lesson 1: No one cares about your money more than you

When you hire out property management, best case you have someone you can trust, that doesn’t nickel and dime you, and takes care of your tenants and property. However, COVID wasn’t in the contract and no one was prepared to handle what came from it. Initially I relied on my property management company to navigate the eviction moratorium and rent assistance programs, and they did as good of a job as they could.

But 10 months laters, there still was no rent assistance money and no progress. So I actively stepped in. No one was going to work as hard as I would to get the rent I was expecting.

Lesson 2: Taking action is the only path forward

Still around and waiting will get you nowhere. In order to make progress you need to take action, massive action. In my case, I sought out the rent assistance program myself. Unfortunately after dozens of calls and left messages, I made no progress. So I found the CEO of the organization, googled until I found an email address and wrote them a compelling message about the circumstances. I had a call from an advocate the next day. Take action. Be resourceful.

Lesson 3: Persistence pays

Even after I made contact. It took another few dozen emails, checks-in, and follow ups until the application was complete, approved, and a check was cut. All in all, start to finish, the process took 2 months. In the end, I’ll be receiving 10 months of back rent + 4 additional months for the tenant to get back on their feet. $9,100 in total.