All Forum Posts by: Quan Chau

@Scott M. I took your advice and gave the tenants 2 months with no late fee if they have the rent in by the 15th of the month. Everything will go back to normal in November. I am a first-time landlord and this is my first property so I am still learning the rope and educating myself. The tenant, however, still wants to change the due date to the 15th of the month. In the leasing agreement, I have a grace period of 5 days. Essentially, the tenant is asking to extend the grace period of 5 days to 15 days. What are your recommendations or advice? 

Hi guys!

I have a SFR and my tenant wants to change the rent due date because of COVID. The tenant was paying rent on time at the height of COVID last year, but now is saying she wouldn't be able to pay on the 1st because of COVID hardship. She gave me an excuse that it was "her sister has COVID" and was not able to pay rent. Did not make any sense to me. Now she is saying because of her grandson starting school and she was not able to pay rent on time due to school supplies and she got reduced hours at work because of COVID cases rising again.

Should I make a change to the lease to change the rent due date to the 15th of the month? Or stick with the 1st of the month? I read Brandon Turners book on how to manage rental properties and one of the advices is to train your tenant so they make their rent a priority. I feel that if I change the due date then I’m giving the impression that their rent is not a priority.

Any advices or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

@John Teachout that’s what I’m thinking is the meter reader misread the meter cuz there is no way the tenant used 138,000 gals of water in 1 month.

@Coleman Bonney thank you! I’m gonna contest it and see where it leads to.

@Anthony Angotti the city did come out and checked the meter and determined there’s no leaks. They did not check the connections since they said the meter was working properly and has no leaks.

@Ben Riechmann thank you! I’ll try to contest it first and if that doesn’t work then I’ll talk to my lawyer. As far as I know, the neighbors did not have any issues with their water bill.

@Sean McDowell thank you for the tips! I’ll collect any information I can from the tenant and talk to the city. The water bill is under the tenants name but I think I can still argue. The water usage would have flood the house since it is 185 consumptions over the normal usage (enough to fill 3 medium size swimming pools)

@Sean McDowell what were your methods of contesting? I have talked to the city and they does not seem to care and would not work with me. I have thought about paying for the bill or have my lawyer get involved.

Would you guys recommend paying part of the bill so the tenant does not default and avoid any potential tax bill later? 

Nothing was glaring from what the plumber could see. The tenant claimed to have no change in water usage patterns (I'm reluctant to believe that) No new appliances but the house did get new water valves for the washer but I can't imagine that being the cause for the spikes.