In David Greene's book, he suggests having the right contractor in place and being upfront about everything you need - such as itemizing labor costs, requesting photos and videos to document progress, and setting stringent deadlines with a reward/penalty structure. 

Working from Bali is nice on paper until you have to meet a deadline or deal with the home office during business hours.  

They called at 2 week deadline asking till the end of this month. 

When all applicants seem equal, it would be good to have a point ranking system and deadline to apply so that you are not trapped taking the first applicant.

Once the mortgage class deadline came and went, I stopped communicating with them.At what point does patience wear thin and you say forget them? 

And you give a deadline of when they need to pay you - give them maybe a week.When I haven't been sure of how much I was owed, I simply asked for the max allowed by the courts, and then let the judge figure it out. 

Give them a deadline.

., most likely.What I think I'd do, though, is charge them your time at a reasonable hourly rate for the time to clean it up, and any other money you spend on it - if you hire someone to re-paint the driveway, etc.Then, if the tenant sends you a demand letter or files in small claims court, you can deal with that - if it happens.I think the main thing is to be sure and meet the deadline for sending the tenant the itemization of deductions from their deposit - on time.And, if they disagree with your decisions, you can then negotiate, or see them in court.Most tenants don't sue.  

In those cases we give tenants a two week deadline to get it done with the understanding we will charge them for any water usage up to the deadline.

I allow my tenants to pay with check, but I make it abundantly clear that the funds have to be cleared and in my account by the deadline.