All Forum Posts by: Cherilyn Williams

Thank you for this! For my next tenant, I am definitely going to implement your strategy here.  I thought I was very firm when I started off. Then some people told me I was too firm and being unrealistic. So I tried to lighten up a little, and here I am in this situation now.  

Thank you for responding. Yes, I think that will be the best bet. To get her out now. Do you recommend doing a lease termination letter, just to have something in writing?

I just don’t know if he would sign it since he all of a sudden disappeared.

I'm a new landlord.  I have had my rental property with tenants in it 7 months.  Lease signed March 2024. I went against my better judgment and rented to a non-married couple.  He had great income and a great credit score, she didn't, and I had been vetting potential tenants for a month and a half, and I was finally happy to see someone with good income and credit.  I went ahead and accepted them, and in the lease they both signed, he is the primary, because her income and credit score would have disqualified her to rent alone.

Two months after they moved in, he called me and said they were having relationship problems and she kicked him out the house.  I told him they signed the lease for one year so they BOTH are responsible.  So, out of the past 7 months they have been renting, they have been late on the rent 5 months out of the 7 months, but they always end up paying with late daily fees.  

On Oct. 1st I received a text from her asking if she could pay partial rent on Oct. 4th and pay the remaining rent on Oct. 20th.  I went ahead and agreed because even though they are late, they always end up paying me.  I'm trying to be more relaxed than I was in the beginning.  Some posters told me I was too strict, and as long as they are paying, be happy.

The rent price is $1350 and she paid $675 on the 4th.  I told her the total remaining would be $750 with late fees on Oct. 20th.

Oct. 20th came and went, no payment.  She texted me today on the 21st and said her and her bf are separated and he won't help her.  So, she quit nursing classes and took on another job to be able to pay bills.  She has 3 children, and he bailed.  She told me to only correspond with her from now on.  Then, she asked, if she could pay the remaining $750 that is currently due for Oct. on Nov 1st. and pay the November rent in full Nov. 15th.

My questions are:  What are the best ways to handle this situation. I am not sure how to respond to her request.  It seems like the goal post keeps being moved, and technically with him gone, she does not qualify to live there anyways. He can't just leave when he signed the lease?  He's still legally responsible for payment, right?  Should I give a 5 day notice to pay or be evicted? (Required 5 day notice in Illinois).  How would you experienced landlords handle this situation?  I obviously won't be renewing the lease, and will need to find new tenants come March.  I reached out to my attorney to see what my options are, but always appreciate the opinions of the Bigger Pockets community.

Thank you.

I need some suggestions on how to handle a situation with my tenants. This is my first investment property in a C class neighborhood, and I thought I had some good tenants, but there have been 3 late payments for rent in the 5 months they have been leasing my rental.  They signed the lease in March 2024.

The first time they were late it was a couple of days past the 1st but within the 5 day grace period……Ok.

The second time, they notified me on the 5th that they wouldn’t be able to pay until the 12th.  I charged them all the late fees and I was not happy and expressed my concerns, but I did get paid on the 12th.

Now, this 3rd time for this month of August, the boyfriend contacted me a day or two before the 1st and said they would not have the rent until the 9th of August. I told him that I would charge him the same fees as before. $50 late fee after the 5th and $5 fees each day late. 

Today, is the 9th, and I just received a text from the gf asking me if they could pay this Monday the 12th because something is going on with her account for fraud and she has to go to her bank on Monday.  She also asked if I could waive late fees until Monday. Each day like I mentioned is $5.  

I want to respond with something like…

This is becoming a recurring problem and it seems to me like you all are not able to afford my rental.  You have been late with the rent three times in the five months you have been living there.  I am not waiving any late fees.  Perhaps, it is best that we terminate the lease because I can’t continue accepting late payments until the lease is up.  

Also, let’s say they are late with the rent every month until the lease expires, but they pay.  Would you get them out of there when the lease expires?  TIA.

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

Quote from @Cherilyn Williams:

Quote from @Michael Smythe:

@Cherilyn Williams if you have a Class C rental, you will need to be more aggressive on putting pressure on tenants to pay to stay.

I don't see anywhere in your posts that you automatically sent the tenants an eviction notice, did I miss that?

Our PMC doesn't care what the reason is for a tenant being late, our systems send an eviction notice for nonpayment of rent to "start the clock" and get tenants to communicate & cooperate.

We've found that if we don't start the clock, so there's a deadline for tenants, tenants just use excuses to buy themselves more time, at the expense of the owner.

Desperate people say & do desperate things!

Of course, we do our best to be empathetic and understanding with, "life happens issues", but we do NOT let tenants make their problems our problems - as many of them try to do.

OPINION: this lease doesn't look good for the long-term. If the couple is fighting, emotions will rule their actions, not common sense or financial responsibilities. The boyfriend disconnecting his bank account shows that. Appears he is also the one most likely to move out of the property unfortunately. Do they both work? Can either afford the rent on their own? 

You may want to have a discussion with the boyfriend about the impact an eviction will have on his credit. How many tradelines were on his credit report and how many months have the tradelines been open? A credit score to us is just a number. Last week saw a 704 FICO score for an applicant with only 1 tradeline with just 7 months of activity. Not enough for us to immediately approve even though the automated system recommended "Approve".

The first time they were two days late with the rent because of issues they were having, he said he moved out of the house and his gf said she was going to take care of it.  I told him, you are the primary lessee and he is the reason she is able to be there.  I told him he can't back out as the primary.  He makes more than enough money to stay there, she does not even qualify to stay there.  They both work, but he has the better job. When I checked his tradelines, he had about 7-9.  His bills were paid on time.  Her bills were not paid on time.  I told them I was not going to rent to them because of this and also I was afraid this would happen with them being bf and gf.

 I finally received a response today.  He just told me they can pay next week on the 12th.  I am not happy at all about this.  I am going to charge the late fee of $50 tomorrow, which will be the 6th, and a charge for each additional day they are late. (All clearly stated in the lease).  I will also state, they need to communicate this before the rent is due.  If I don't get the rent by next Friday, they will get a notice to pay within 5 days, or we will begin the eviction proceedings.

Once you get the money, tell them that it is clear they are not able to afford the place and they should start looking for a new place to live.  If they leave by July 31, you won't charge them to break the lease.

Thank you for your advice.  I will do just this.  I can't imagine going through this the next 7 months...

Quote from @Michael Smythe:

@Cherilyn Williams if you have a Class C rental, you will need to be more aggressive on putting pressure on tenants to pay to stay.

I don't see anywhere in your posts that you automatically sent the tenants an eviction notice, did I miss that?

Our PMC doesn't care what the reason is for a tenant being late, our systems send an eviction notice for nonpayment of rent to "start the clock" and get tenants to communicate & cooperate.

We've found that if we don't start the clock, so there's a deadline for tenants, tenants just use excuses to buy themselves more time, at the expense of the owner.

Desperate people say & do desperate things!

Of course, we do our best to be empathetic and understanding with, "life happens issues", but we do NOT let tenants make their problems our problems - as many of them try to do.

OPINION: this lease doesn't look good for the long-term. If the couple is fighting, emotions will rule their actions, not common sense or financial responsibilities. The boyfriend disconnecting his bank account shows that. Appears he is also the one most likely to move out of the property unfortunately. Do they both work? Can either afford the rent on their own? 

You may want to have a discussion with the boyfriend about the impact an eviction will have on his credit. How many tradelines were on his credit report and how many months have the tradelines been open? A credit score to us is just a number. Last week saw a 704 FICO score for an applicant with only 1 tradeline with just 7 months of activity. Not enough for us to immediately approve even though the automated system recommended "Approve".

The first time they were two days late with the rent because of issues they were having, he said he moved out of the house and his gf said she was going to take care of it.  I told him, you are the primary lessee and he is the reason she is able to be there.  I told him he can't back out as the primary.  He makes more than enough money to stay there, she does not even qualify to stay there.  They both work, but he has the better job. When I checked his tradelines, he had about 7-9.  His bills were paid on time.  Her bills were not paid on time.  I told them I was not going to rent to them because of this and also I was afraid this would happen with them being bf and gf.

 I finally received a response today.  He just told me they can pay next week on the 12th.  I am not happy at all about this.  I am going to charge the late fee of $50 tomorrow, which will be the 6th, and a charge for each additional day they are late. (All clearly stated in the lease).  I will also state, they need to communicate this before the rent is due.  If I don't get the rent by next Friday, they will get a notice to pay within 5 days, or we will begin the eviction proceedings.

Quote from @Mark Cruse:

I think you are going too rouge too fast over something that has not materialized into anything major. Just dont let things get too far and escalate from this point, but you dont want to risk coming off as petty and annoying. If I get my rent by the 5th every month and they are very strong tenants who take care of my place, it´s utopian. There are so many things that will come up on this journey and to be all up in their mix over one day late, or elaborating over their personal issues can snowball into many issues down the line. What makes this work most efficiently is if the two parties mutually respect each other and are on the same page. If they really like and respect you and enjoy renting from you, it dramatically drives your business in a successful direction. Hovering over them at this juncture, over something this insignificant could just make them uneasy and resentful. The goal is to get great tenants who treat the place like their own for as long as possible. If your tenants start leaving at the end of every leasing cycle it will cost you dearly. Believe me, you will encounter so so much more and you will have to know how to balance it all and keep things moving. Trust when I say it gets much deeper than a day late. Dont sweat the personal business or stories either; they all have something. Dont be too passive because some will take advantage but dont be too intrusive either. As a newbie you seem to be doing very well and appear to have done your research. Congratz; I wish you the best. 

Thank you for replying.  I just received a text today on the 5th that they will pay me next Friday on the 12th.  I will charge my late fee, and my additional fees for each day they are late.  I will give them a chance until next Friday, if they don't pay by then, I am sending a notice to pay up or evict.

When managing one of my mother’s properties, I went though sheer hell with one of her tenants to get her evicted for nonpayment of rent, while also dealing with my mom’s failing health with dementia.  Going through that experience was the worse, and I told myself I would never have that happen to me when I started investing,   I guess that is what is causing me to be a stickler to the rules.  Plus, I verbally told them before signing the lease, that automatic payment withdrawals are mandatory on the 1st of each month in order to rent my home, and this is included in the lease.  I see he has disconnected his bank account from the app entirely for this month. I can understand that maybe they don’t have the funds in their account by the first, but just communicate that, I guess.  I am just trying to navigate when am I being too lenient, to a point of being taken advantage of and when I am being too strict to a point of running a tenant off.  I really appreciate you sharing your insight.  I agree with everything you are saying, and I don’t want to be that type of landlord because my personality isn’t really like that. Just trying to protect myself and not lose money on something I worked so hard to obtain.  Have a wonderful 4th!

Wow!  You have a really relaxed and great attitude.  I really like how creative you are in dealing with late payments, and using that to enjoy and enhance your relationship with your wife.

Since I am doing this alone, I can’t afford to be so lenient or it could crush me.  But if I am able to grow my portfolio like yours, maybe I could become more relaxed too if a couple of tenants do not pay on time.  Thanks for sharing a fun and interesting perspective.

Thanks for your insight.  I feel like I will be doing exactly this, unfortunately.  They are ignoring my correspondence which is not like them at all.  I really cannot stand lack of communication or lack of acknowledgement.  If there is a problem, just communicate for heavens sake!  Thank you.