All Forum Posts by: Chris T.

Funny-- I've been wrestling with exactly the same question.

Thank you Ron.

With the other input, and listening to the interview on BP with the lawyer in Illinois (which seems to have similar laws to MA), I tore up my plans and decided to get as simple as possible.  

Month-to-month only.  "Extreme vetting" of applicants.  Require co-signers (usually parents) if they have less than 3 years of credit history (This could be difficult because a majority of my tenants are international students).  No deposits.  Collect a physical check (possibly using a lockbox).  Eviction notice (i.e. the 14-day notice) if rent is not received by pickup time on the first (and have it written into the contract that this is the standard procedure).

I should say: I rent rooms with individual contracts to students in a shared house-- not apartments.

Hi Rich-- thanks very much for that.

Shawn and Douglas-- thank you for that input.  I have a few other rebates in mind, as well-- is there someplace that I can look to get a better idea of what would or would not be acceptable, in terms of rebates?  And it sounds like there would not be any (legal) problem with beginning and ending rental contracts on the 15th/14th-- is that correct?

Thank you.

Thank you for responding, Richard.  You seem to be making an argument for collecting rent a full month early, so that a non-payer can be evicted during the month for which they have not paid.  This is part of my logic in #1-- I would only be half way through the unpaid month when I could have them removed.  My real underlying reason, as most would guess, is so that I can have the mortgage payment in-hand before the end of the month.  (I have not had any problems with non-payment, so far.)

"1." should have been 

"1. Require that rents be paid by the 15th (or maybe the 20th) of the month for the following month's rent. Rents received after that date are late."

Good afternoon everyone,

I would like to receive my rents before the end of the month, and require my tenants to deposit those payments directly to a bank account.  What is the best way to do this?  I have thought of several approaches, and am wondering what others think and, of course, whether I have missed something and any of these approaches are specifically disallowed under Massachusetts law.

1. Require that rents be paid by the 15th (or maybe the 20th) for the following rent.  Rents received after that date are late.

2. Have my monthly schedule for the rentals run from 15th to 15th (I see several advantages to this, but the fact that it would be out of sync with most landlords might create significant problems).

3. Have rent due on the 1st of the month, but offer rebates for rent paid by the 20th of the previous month.

I am grateful for all constructive input-- thank you!

Have you found anyone?  Where is this in Massachusetts-- if it's in the Pioneer Valley, I have someone you could contact.

Thanks very much :-)

Thanks guys. I'm not planning on violating anyone's privacy or threatening anyone, and that person has been fine as an abutter.  I'm new to the game and just trying to figure out how to get as much information as possible on the situation.