BiggerPockets

Post the three day notice!

Agreed.

It seems like the tenants are getting used to the current arrangement. The 3 day notice will show you mean business, and also give them an opportunity to catch up.

However, give them an honorable way out by allowing them to make up the back rent within a reasonable amount of time- and don't forget to get the late fees as stated in your lease.

Thanks guys. Yeah, 4 in a row sucks. However, I did enforce a late fee each time ($65 each time). Apparently they don't mind paying a late fee. Maybe I'm cheaper than the cash-advance places.

I've issued the 3-day notice in person last time, but that is a lot of stress, and also - i don't like stress. And frankly, $65 a month isn't worth the stress.

They only signed a 6 month lease, so I only have 2 more with them and I will not be renewing it. So I guess, I might as well collect as much of those nice late fees as possible.

Biggest mistake on my end - I shouldn't have rented it to them in the first place. I had a bad feeling, but got nervous about not finding someone. I did, however, get a double security deposit from them so I have $1300 to make sure they don't screw me too bad.

Any more feedback would be great.

Don't forget to charge them a late fee if they pay after the 10th, or whatever.

Well, they LOVED the house. It was suppose to be a "flip" but didn't sell during the summer so I rented it. Bad idea. But it looked nice so they apparently didn't mind the double deposit.

And yes, everyone I deal with seems to have no money also. I thought it was just my crappy town :)

Most tenants can get their hands on some cash. They can always manage the cost of that big screen and there is no problem with all the money for the ciggies, dope, and booze.

However, if they whine and beg, the landlord might let them in for free. It's always worth a try.

Real deadbeats, the ones that no sane landlord will accept, can always come up with extra deposit money, or multiple months rent. They like "free" better, but if nobody will take them, they can come up with the sweetener to try to blind a landlord into accepting them.

Also, most of them can come up with the rent, if the landlord is hard nosed about it. But if the landlord shows any weakness, the rent money gets spent on something else and the landlord only gets empty promises or whining.

No, it seems to be a chronic problem here too. :roll:

just a quick update - apparently the tenant gave birth. Still, knowing the tenants, not a good enough excuse for me but whatever.

I issued the 3-day notice on Saturday, called my lawyer friend and found out that because I am the owner and I issued the 3-day notice, a judge in my county (state law maybe?) won't allow an eviction. I guess owners cannot file. Who knew.

So I have to have delivered a new 3-day notice. But now the tenant gets paid tomorrow and "promised" rent at 9:30 tomorrow morning with a late fee.

So I guess I'll end up waiting till next month to evict- and this time I'll do it right.

If you don't like serving the Pay or quit notice in person you can send it via certified mail. Additionally you can have a pre-made printed statement which includes (date, time, and what was witnessed) for a friend or witness to sign stating they read the notice and witnessed you seal and secure (duct tape) it to the main entry point of the house. I take a picture if there are no witnesses available to show proof of delivery.

Additionally if you accept partial payment from the tenant then you want to have newly dated pay or quit notice with the new amount in your other hand to give them.

As for mailing the check, I've offered to go by and pick up the rent, provide self addressed stamped envelopes or meet them somewhere but it always seems like they've put us landlords on the back burner.

MikeOH, I like how you think, you sound a lot like my wife. To add to the deabeatness of it, the tenant didn't know she was pregnant till 3 weeks ago. yep. and she just gave birth last week. Its like that show, "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant".

And it gets worse.

A further update - (I might as well keep the story going so people might learn from this mess)

I stopped by this morning to get the rent and late charge. Once again, no rent. They had $400 (out of $715 owed). They told me they didn't think they had to pay more because they had a really high electric bill from December's energy because they had to use a space heater to heat a bedroom for a couple weeks while i replaced their heater. ... I was slow at fixing it, so maybe a valid argument so i left and said I'd think about it...

Went to the electric utility company and found out the reason their bill was so high was because THEY DIDN'T PAY THEIR OCTOBER OR NOVEMBER BILL. So now they are trying to steal money from me to keep their power from being shut off.

And so,

A new three day notice is hanging on their door (they slammed the door in the face of my "server" friend) and another notice is in the mail. Talked to my attorney friend today, we can file on Monday.