All Forum Posts by: James Mc Ree

My tenants mostly use Zelle and CashApp. Both zap the money right into your account. It's no work for Zelle and a few clicks for CashApp. Zelle is great in that tenants cannot claw back a payment.

I recommend minimizing your overhead and complexity since this is your first property. You shouldn't need fancy anything yet.

Your tenant should contact the company or how. You do not need to be involved unless there is something in the hoa docs that allows the water usage.

How do they make money? I reviewed their pricing info and see almost nothing in fees.

Conclusion: The tenants moved out as a result of my notice ending the lease at the end of the month and the 10-day pay or quit notice with indications that an eviction lawsuit is coming. So, that's a success. They left the place a mess, but I didn't see much intentional abuse so recovery shouldn't be that expensive.

@Theresa Harris If they breach the payment plan 3-6 months into it, can I still file an eviction lawsuit with them out of the property for that time? I was assuming it would be a breach of contract lawsuit for the payment plan.

I am a PA landlord and likely starting down the eviction path for the first time in 12 years. I informed my tenant their lease ends at the end of the month and am serving a 10-day pay or quit notice tomorrow. I offered the tenants an opportunity to establish a payment plan in lieu of an eviction and judgment if they leave at the end of the month without causing damage. Is that a good idea or does it even matter?

I am assuming that a judgment will be difficult or impossible to collect. Likewise, a payment plan may also be a fantasy. I am hoping the carrot of avoiding the eviction impact to their credit moves them along. Is there anything about a separate agreement to pay a debt that is more likely to succeed? I can't think of a reason for why it would, but thought I would ask the community experts.

I like the suggestions above of 2 payments for rent, 1 on the 15th of the prior month and the 2n on the 1st of the current month. That seems like it would address their ADD. You should ask them how their other creditors handle their payments.

I used to offer 5 or 10 day grace periods such that rent was due on the 1st, but no late fee until 10 days later, then I reduced it to 5. I found some tenants consistently looked at it as rent is not due until the 10th, then would ask for leniency because they were only 1 day late on the 11th. I abolished those grace periods and now tell my tenants the grace period is the week before the 1st.

Do you need to get a judgment before turning the debts over to collections? I haven't done this yet, but may need to do so next month.

I think the main question is, "What kind of relationship do you want with your new tenants?"

It looks like you told them the bill will be a little high, but only for a week. That minimizes it in their expectations. I would absorb whatever is high due to my defective furnace. Electric furnaces are the most expensive heat sources and one running full time emergency heat is ridiculous. 

It is probably too complicated to exactly calculate the additional cost. I would offer to credit about 25% of their monthly electric bill for the week with the pld furnace. It can't be that expensive or it is even more reason to do so.

If AI is so unreliable that all answers must be verified, isn't it a waste of time to use it if the answer must be correct and the required verification is the actual work you are trying to avoid?

Google provides an AI summary of search results that is usually good enough for a general question, but I would never give any AI a detailed tax scenario and just run with whatever answer it gave me. AI may get to detailed accuracy someday, but it is a language model today, not intelligence. It just looks intelligent to some people.