All Forum Posts by: Kevin McGinnis

Follow through with the recommended steps regardless of what she says by email, text, phone call, conference call.  The only thing that matters is when you have funds in hand.  The rest is just noise.

This obviously varies by state, and by county.  It should be easy to research on google, so you know the rules.  Also, check your local county website.  In our county, the entire procedure is spelled out, and they have forms, starting with 5-day notice.  You will likely need to start with a "pay or quit" notice (sometimes called 5-day notice).  Also, check what your lease says.  If you did not do so, you should spell it all out exactly in your lease for next tenant.  My lease says:

• Late after 5 pm on 5th ($60 late fee, plus $5/day)
• If no payment by 5 pm on 10th, 5-Day Notice gets filed.
• If no payment by 15th, eviction process starts.

My advice would be to follow the lease, exactly.  Do not go by what a tenant says in a text.  This is them training you, instead of you training them.  I'm a relatively new landlord (1 1/2/ year), but have learned that you stick with what it says in the lease, 100%, with no waivering.  My lease says pay by 5:00 pm on the 5th, or pay $60 late fee (plus $5 per day after that); if not paid by 10th, a 5-day notice goes out (as required in my state/county) with a $50 service charge; eviction starts on the 15th with more charges.

Each of these dates is critical to follow exactly as described in the lease, so the tenant knows you will enforce, and in case it goes to court, so judge can see that you followed it as described.  I tailored my lease to follow rules required by state law (Illinois), and would suggest you check that yours does as well.  For the county I live in (Madison), the eviction process is described step-by-step on county website, with forms required (including 5-day notice).  If needed, I intend to follow to a "T".  

Learn the rules of your state and county ahead of time, and follow them.  This is not something you want to learn later, when it's too late.

Welcome to BP Justin.  I also live in Glen Carbon, and own rental property in Edwardsville.  BP is full of great people and information.  Let me know if you have questions.

I used cozy for a year with my first tenants (3 students).  Free for landlord and tenants.  It worked great and was hassle free.  They would start the transaction on the 1st of month, and by the time it hit my checking account, it varied from 6th to 10th of month.  Once I got over the delay, it was fine.

@Shawn Gageby,

I checked out ZipReports website, and it looks intriguing.  Be curious to hear others' experience.  For payourrent, how many days does it take from when tenant starts the payment process until you receive funds in your account?  I use cozy, and if they start on the 1st, it takes 5 business days, which ends up hitting my account between the 6th and 10th.  After I got over the 5 day wait, every payment happened like clock work.

@Penny Clark, I've come to the same conclusion.  Thanks for reinforcing.  I have a good idea of credit score, and income to rent ratio, but would be curious how you determine what outstanding debt is acceptable. 

Ronald Perich, I love your procedure.  I also like the idea of expanding search to other nearby counties.  I see you are in Granite City.  I'm not far away and would be interested in meeting up sometime to share ideas, and perhaps work together in the future.

Here is another useful tip I received from a local investor I met at YMCA: check local county website (for us, it's Madison County) for any court cases.  It's fast and easy (& free) to search by name.  I did this yesterday for two families that looked at my house in the past week, and expressed an interest.  Each had multiple Eviction cases opened against them.  For me, that immediately disqualifies a prospective tenant.

Thank you all for the ideas and input.  I will check out tenantbackgroundsearch as an alternate as well.  Just trying to be careful, since I believe this is THE most critical point in being a landlord: screening for the right tenant.   This is where I make or break the year 2 results.