All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Anyone have experience with managing rentals for a family member that can no longer manage it themselves? My mother can no longer manage her properties and I have been doing everything besides going to court. I even have a blank 7 day notice signed by her so I can serve the non-payment notices. However she wont follow through when it comes to filing for eviction. I'm sure the tenants are currently laughing as they are throwing away the 7 day notices and reading my texts regarding them paying up or packing up or telling them that we have filed in court. Only to find out weeks later that my mother never went and filed like she promised me she would. This has been going on for months and the tenant now owes 4 month rent plus all the late fees.

Would it be possible to add myself to the leases in addition to my mother as "landlord agent" and then be able to go to court for her?

Thanks for the input Clay!

I only accept rent payments online(buildium) so I believe the only way the could submit a bad payment would be to use a credit card and then cancel/dispute the charge. I don't believe its possible when they use debit card or bank transfer, if the funds aren't there it would just overdraft. I could be wrong. I still include $35 charge for bad checks, etc in the lease. Also my lease states 3 late payments in any 6 month period is considered habitually late and eviction proceedings may follow.

Ill have to look into the "peir diem" rent when filing the complaint, im not familiar with that at all. Also its my understanding you can collect any amount after the 7 day notice as long as it isn't the full amount and the notice will still be in effect. With the 30 day notice however, like you say you cant collect at all.

Hmm that's an interesting point of view Mike. Well here in Michigan, I am unaware of any statute on method of delivery for payments. I refuse partial payments, I don't think that relieves them of their obligation. 

Recently we had a judge give 3 weeks instead of 10 days, unbelievable. I'm assuming the tenant will either not pay or show up to court and say here's the money. They could also say there are repairs and they are withholding like you say but they are aware of what I expect if that's the case. Which would be to pay into escrow. 

I haven't had to do that before however. Could you share a sample escrow form that your a speaking of? I was unaware there was a form that I would have to provide, I thought the court would take care of all that as long as I just asked the judge for them to pay into escrow. 

Thanks Nancy!

Oh and 7 day pay or quit notice was served at the end of the day on the 1st so I'm good there. 

Looking for opinions in a situation I have. Tenant has been late the last 3 months and late a total of 4 out of 7 months they have been there.l Last 2 months they were 2 weeks late. This month it was supposed to have been paid on the 3rd, then promised on the 10th when I was over there fishing out a rag and metal from their garbage disposal. He took it all apart and could find anything so he claimed. At that time he also stated he had an unexpected garnishment that left him with 17 dollars on his check. It's my understanding that garnishments can take only up to 50%, so if 17 bucks left him with 50% he's got a bigger problem. Also stated good thing I showed up at that time because he had forgotten I was coming over to fix the garbage disposal(told him 2 days before I'd be there, he picked the day and time) and that they were about to go Christmas shopping. Lol! Now it's the 13th ad he claims it will be paid on Thursday 17th. He gets paid on Thursdays I guess. Clearly rent is not a priority, so do I.. a)file for eviction tomorrow(monday) b) file for eviction and block his access to my tenant portal(tenants required to pay online) so that he has to pay me in front of the judge in an effort to train the tenant. He would have to take a day off work probably, I may have to as well depending on what time the court date is. I feel like it's a waste of $100+ if I file and he pays Thursday, but if I make him pay in front of the judge that cost to file may go a little further by letting the tenant know this isn't a joke.

Thanks!

Its leaking refrigerant, why replace everything? . Tell the guy to recover the refrigerant, find and repair the leak, then properly vac and charge the system. Most likely is leaking at evaporator or service valves. Make sure he is EPA 608 licensed.

Thanks John.

As for checking laws.. MI law does not cover specifics on late fees like other states.. they are legal however the judge can throw them out if deemed excessive or punitive. I also don't have a grace period  on my new leases because its not required in MI. The end of the grace period always becomes the due date in the tenants mind. Im now requiring all my tenants to pay solely online. So snail mail transit time(rents in the mail) and arguments about postmark/received by dates are no longer valid.  

Hi Marcia, thank for the input. It would seem less complicated with a flat fee however I have just been going with the 5% rule of thumb. Most of my rents are 8-900 (5% = $40-45 late fee) so the $50 flat fee would be a bit higher but close.  I don't think $50 is excessive and maybe should consider it. My tenants are required to log-in to their profile to view their statements and pay rent via the tenant website using their bank info.  My software(buildium) automatically calculates and posts the 5% fee to their statement for their outstanding balance if not paid by the 1st. This way they don't have to break out the calculator or anything.

I was more looking for opinions on legality of charging the late fee for prior unpaid late fees. I.E.

I have a lease including $50 late fee applied to all outstanding balances if not paid in full on the 1st. The accounts that contribute to their balance are rent, unpaid late fees, utilities and repair charges. All charges are deemed payable as additional rent, so the late fee becomes part of the total tenant balance. 

So say tenant pays Januarys rent of $800 late but does not include the $50 late fee. The $50 late fee remains on their balance and Februarys rent is now due. They pay $800 for Februarys rent on time but again do not include the $50 late fee charged for being late last month. So that balance of $50 carries over after the 1st of feb. Now feb. 2nd another $50 late fee is assessed because the rent(balance) was not paid in full. Bringing their balance to $100. 

The reason im including this is so I don't continue to be laxed on collecting unpaid late fees but I want to make sure its legal and makes sense.

This math is much easier, I think I will switch to $50 flat fee haha

Thanks Sue!

My out of pocket expenses would be for the cost of mailing the proper notices and/or serving in person. The amount of wear and tear(not so quantifiable) and gas used for my vehicle to do so, and my time spent(variable) to: prepare these documents, call off work if necessary, serve documents, and additional accounting. Also included is interest lost due to that money not being in my bank (general interest i think they call it) My time being the most costly and rightfully applied to the cost as I am working for my company and I don't work for free. With these variables I would have to calculate a specific late fee on a case by case basis and by law the late fee has to be spelled out in the lease so that wont work.

You are correct, late fees may not be punitive. Also you cannot evict soley based on unpaid late fees.. but if there are late fees, there is unpaid rent or utility charges. Late fees are legal here however Michigan does not specify a maximum amount. Ive been hearing rule of thumb is 5% flat fee, daily fees with no monthly limit are thrown out. Max fee for daily late fees would be the 5%. Currently (leases in effect before doing extensive research) my leases state $5 per day without a monthly cap and I don't have any problem with tenants not wanting to sign.

I can see what you are saying about outrageous repair charges. Ill need to talk to a lawyer about late fees for that and utility charges. However there is no way to put a cap on those types of fees. If I put a cap of 50 bucks for things like holes in the walls and they leave for a week in the middle of winter and turn the furnace off I could only charge 50 bucks for thousands in damages? The idea behind this is to get things repaired as they come up and if the tenant is responsible they pay in a timely fashion. If they don't pay for the repairs, yes I will evict and it will come out of their sec. deposit and/or money judgement anyway.

They have plenty of time to speak with their lawyer regarding the validity of the charges during the lengthy eviction process. If their lawyer thinks the charges are excessive or invalid they may present that in their defense on the court date. Just like how they can create a defense for non-payment of rent based on un-inhabitable property conditions. They can pay rent into escrow account at the court to show that they were capable of paying the rent however they are disputing the charges. 

Re: grace period, my opinion is the rent is due when the rent is due and that's the 1st. If they want a grace period they can think to themselves that the rent is due on the 25th and have it ready. They do not have to sign the lease if they cannot adhere to the lease. In every instance of my experience when you include a grace period it becomes the new due date and they think they can walk all over you. Im their landlord not their financial planner, they should be able to figure that out.

Whats the difference in having late charges vs no late charge? if rent is not paid by the 1st at 5pm I go to the post office to mail their 7 day notice which they receive on the 2nd. I do this everytime because eviction is a lenghty process. I dont always act on the notice right after it lapses but if i need to, the notice has been served as early as possible. Its considered late after 5pm on the 1st regardless of a grace period.. grace period only applies to when the late charge takes effect. I don't view this as breeding hostility, they know upon signing that I expect rent on time and if they cant do that then expect a notice in the mail and pay by the 7th day or prepare to move.

Sorry for the length..  your thoughts?