She's also the CE instructor for the other Judges so I do have a lot of confidence in what she tells me.

@Kurt Gardner the CA rule says you have to allow for a method of payment besides cash or an electronic transfer, however it does have a provision for bounced checks, here is the text:A landlord or a landlord’s agent may demand or require cash as the exclusive form of payment of rent or deposit of security if the tenant has previously attempted to pay the landlord or landlord’s agent with a check drawn on insufficient funds or the tenant has instructed the drawee to stop payment on a check, draft, or order for the payment of money.

I echo the above, except the title co. did their job properly.....they deducted/transferred deposits, I assume prorated rents, but they had no evidence or instructions about prepaid last month rents as the buyer didn't know of their existence, and that is the buyer's job to determine, not the title co.

David, the magistrate instructed me that I needed to do a landlord/tenant complaint.

I would resend new instructions by regular mail and certified and text, etc. and have the PM deposit the check.I also would never go over there without a witness and I would instruct any workers to avoid her and refer her to you if she has any issues. 

However, if our phone goes straight to voicemail or we don’t respond immediately, our tenants are instructed to call our handyman directly.

A picture and a sentence or two of instructions is sufficient.

1) Contact your bank and the welfare office and instruct them not to pay or for the bank to accept payments for July.2) Make sure the welfare office is fully aware the tenant is to leave by the 30th.

When you go over the lease, provide them a tenant instruction sheet with your welcome packet that explains:- how they can pay rent- how to make a repair request- watering restrictions- how to operate unit's HVAC, thermostat, care of garbage disposal, location of main water shut off, gas shut off, breaker box- numbers or links to turn on/transfer utility accounts- how your city enforces noise ordinances and how this may effect those who violate it (BTW, your tenant  blasting his music so it can be heard at by other residents on the block  at 10 am is just as bad as if he is doing it at 4 in the morning). - anything else you feel tenant should knowOthers have given you some great suggestions for collecting rent automatically.

I am thinking about instructing my tenants to go to a local branch of a bank that I have the rent deposit account and deposit the rent directly.