Plus, it then delays the eviction.What you could do is write up a settlement agreement for the tenant saying you will agree not to press charges or sue her for writing a check without sufficient funds, if she is gone by the weekend and leaves the place clean (or some version of that). 

Plus, legally, if you start accepting late rent, it can be perceived by the court that you have waived your right to requiring the rent on time.Also, if your lease doesn't already include it, it should say that accepting late rent does not waive your right to demand rent on time in the future (although this is questionable as to whether or not the court would still think you waived this clause), and you should consider adding a daily amount after the initial $25, so it keeps compounding up to a limit.I used a Nolo Press contract for California, and it included a cap on the late fee of something like $250. 

This is a first for us, so I have a few questions.Since the police were called and a police report filed, do we press charges or get our attorney involved?

If pressed, just say your apartment is not Section 8 Compliant and that's it.  

make sure you dont become an accidental landlord. 

For instance, I used the Nolo Press Californian landlord book, which includes contracts prepared by CA lawyers. 

You'll have to press charges though the police dept, from what I understand.Normally, you can only sue the tenant for your actual out-of-pocket expenses for the bad check in civil court, and of course, start eviction for nonpayment of rent.

If they pressed me for advice I'd steer them to the post office or the police, but tell them I can't get involved in their mail problems - in a nice way :-)You can't fix stupid. 

As far as a month-to-month agreement to use, I used the Nolo Press California book's month-to-month contract (don't have a copy anymore), but they also make generic books with contracts and info for all states. 

And I agree, that you can press charges for a bounced check, too.Kick him out and then wait to see if he includes you in his list of "amends" for his 4th step :-)