@Emily McCabe I would be nice but lethal. I file a failure to pay with the court the minute they are late. I also use a website called Myrentcourt.com which will file all the paperwork for a fractional cost. Depends on county but I pay less than $50 for Baltimore city/county. There's also a couple other similar sites. These sites will save you a ton of time and headaches when dealing with rent court.
Additionally, I explain to all my tenants in a nice and courteous way that the notice that they will receive in the mail is only a notice and everything will go away as soon as I get the payment in full.
Side note, if tenants offer partial payment, I would take it! You can still cancel the eviction process after they pay the rest but hopefully you'll be out of pocket a little less if you do have to go through with it.
Lastly, don't spend money on attorney's just yet. I'd give one of these eviction companies a call and explain them your situation if you need any more support but you'll see a big change in responsiveness from tenants as soon as they see the eviction notice. It works like magic sometimes.
If there is anything else I can do for you, please let me know. I'd be happy to connect you to some attorneys as well (if it ever gets to that point).
Best of luck!