If you have ever owned a rental property, chances are you have had to deal with late rent payments. Unfortunately, as a landlord, this simply goes with the territory. As common as this is however, I often see investors caught off guard when they first encounter a tenant who is late with the rent.\u00a0 In fact, I have seen new investors take it personally and respond in any number of ways including, anger, panic, hurt feelings, you name it! \u00a0Truth is, learning to deal with delinquent tenants is very much a part of owning rental property.<\/p>\n
While every landlord has his or her own philosophy and approach to this type of situation, it\u2019s been my experience that each situation is unique and should be handled with discernment. I have met investors over the years that are extremely rigid with tenants refusing to bend regardless of the situation. Conversely, I have met investors who, having been too lenient, found themselves feeling swindled by their tenant.\u00a0 Usually, I try to find an approach somewhere in the middle. I\u2019ve learned that striking a balance between being firm yet reasonable with my tenants ultimately helps maximize my returns.<\/p>\n
When the 5th<\/sup> of the month rolls around and I take inventory of which rents have or have not been received, I immediately go on the hunt for information.\u00a0 Most of the time I will call the delinquent tenant to inquire about the missing rent and when I can expect payment. Ultimately, I want to get them caught up and back on track as quickly as possible to minimize any losses in cash flow. However, I also need to fully assess the situation to determine how aggressive I need to be in collecting the rent and\/or proceeding with an eviction.<\/p>\n Having dealt with many different tenants and situations over the years, I can tell you there is not a \u201cone size fits all\u201d approach.\u00a0 While the following points are not a comprehensive list, they do represent some of my basic considerations in deciding how to deal with delinquent tenants.<\/p>\n So many investors lose sight of the fact that owning rental properties is a business.<\/strong> As a business, it is our responsibility to maximize returns by thoughtfully managing the rents that we receive from our tenants.\u00a0 Sometimes that may mean evicting a tenant while other times working out an alternative payment schedule to get a tenant back on track. \u00a0Regardless of the action, managing delinquent tenants is an essential skill for any landlord; a skill that should be honed to maximize effectiveness. \u00a0\u00a0In the end, treating a tenant with respect and dignity is all-important and should be carefully balanced with good business sense and responsible stewardship.<\/p>\n Photo Credit: Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot<\/a><\/em><\/font><\/p>\n More on Delinquent Tenants: If you have ever owned a rental property, chances are you have had to deal with late rent payments. Unfortunately, as a landlord, this simply goes with the territory. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":629,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5183],"tags":[3619,190,3618],"class_list":["post-21063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-landlording","tag-delinquent-tenants","tag-landlord","tag-late-rent"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/629"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21063\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Considerations when Dealing with Delinquent Tenant Payments<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n– How to Organize Your Rental Property Payments To Make Your Life Easier<\/a>
\n– \u201cI Can\u2019t Pay The Rent\u201d \u2013 A Landlords Take on What to Do<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"