The absent landowner is punished.

I know that since the ruling in 2014 that it is unlawful to charge any upfront fees except for those pertaining to the first and last month’s rent, along with security deposit and a lost key fee.

The NAA filed federal suit claiming that the CDC's eviction moratorium was unlawful and has left landlords "holding the bag on $26.6 billion in rental debt after operating under extreme conditions for 16 months," according to its announcement.All these legal challenges are the right steps but little is officially taken brought to the spot light about how ERAP money is mishandled and LLs are deprived of equitable compensation in scenarios I have shared above. 

According to Article 134, the Uniformed Code of Military Justice indicates:“Any person who borrows a specific sum of money from an alleged person/persons at the alleged time, and dishonorably fails to pay even after the alleged due date, is in violation of the general Article 134 and shall be punished as deemed fit by the military court.”What this means in English is that if the landlord calls the Commander or First Sergeant of the service member and explains that rent is delinquent, they hold to power to punish the Soldier accordingly.

FYI everyone: King Trump's "moratorium on evictions" doesn't just stop evictions, it creates a federal crime punishable with up to one year in Club Fed for landlords who violate it.

Yuni,I don't have any direct experience with pre-trial settlements, but have gone through the unlawful detainer process from start to completion a number of times.

Give yourself a reward / punishment structure if you do not accomplish it.

If we don't hear back, at the end of 90 days, we file an unlawful detainer if its still occupied.

Here's that letter:Dear _____________________________,Your rent is now past due.Please pay your rent promptly so you may continue to live in the unit that you now occupy.As per your rental agreement:Rent is due on the first (1st) day of the month.Rent is late on the second (2nd) day of the month.We allow a grace period through the fifth (5th) day of the month to pay your rent without incurring a late fee.On the sixth (6th) day of the month we charge a late fee of fifty dollars ($50.00).If we do not receive your rent in full in a timely manner, we will serve you with a 3-day legal notice, “Notice to Pay Rent or Quit”.Each time we serve a legal notice, we charge an additional twenty dollars ($20.00) posting fee.If you do not follow the terms of the “Notice to Pay Rent or Quit” we may then begin eviction proceedings against you and you will be charged with the crime of “Unlawful Detainer” if a judge upholds our claim.The amount of rent now due, as of today’s date _________________, is as follows:Current Month Late Fee_______________Current Month Rent_______________TOTAL DUE_______________Time is of the essence.If you have not already posted your rent via the mail, please call us immediately to make arrangements for us to collect the rent in person.Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter!

If there's no realistic prospect of success (i.e. you still won't get your money) then all you're doing is trying to make yourself feel better by punishing them which seldom works.