WWYD - Late payments after 5 years of on time payments

[Luke H.]

Tenants have been in property for 5 years. Have always paid on time, no issues, always willing to help with maintenance of property.
This month, the rent late day passed, I called and tenant said they ran into some issues and needed 1 week.
7 days later, they are asking for another week. I asked what happened and they are giving a generic, ran into life issues, answer. I drove by and it doesn't look they are moving out. I would hate to evict them since they have been solid for so long, but business is business.
I plan to put the 'pay or vacate notice' with 7 days (the week they asked for).
 
I'm curious to hear what you all would do? Any ideas or strategies that have been good to use?

[Greg Scott]

Quote from @Luke H.:

 but business is business.

What prevented you from sending the pay or quit notice on time?  You could always have stopped eviction if they paid in full.  What sort of maintenance are they doing?  Either your lease requires them to do maintenance such as mowing the lawn and changing air filters, or it does not. Does your pharmacy give you a free meds for fixing their toilets?  Realistically, do your residents feel like they are dealing with a friend or dealing with a business?

The best course of action is to make a decision. Are you are running a business or are you not?