Tenants claim ADD and needs to pay rent in 2 payments a month????

Question

Hi Everyone.  This is crazy, but we have tenants claiming they have ADD and can't make payment on time, and need to make 2 payments each month for rent.  Lawyer says law will protect people with ADD and we should work with them.  These tenants have been living there for over 3 years.  Keeping giving us sob stories about needing more time to pay rent.  They keeping on getting worst and worst, making payment later and later until it's over a month due, and then they pay, but then they are late for the following month.  We finally gave them a couple of warnings to make payment on time, and since they haven't we are filing eviction paperwork.  Now they claim they have ADD, and need to pay rent in 2 installments.  Is there something we can do? Is this even a thing?  Never said to us they have ADD, and even with that, does not even make sense for them to claim and the state to allow them to do it?  Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

John Morgan · Answer

I’ve got 6 tenants that pay me in two payments every month. One guy pays me every Friday. lol. This is why most of these people are life time renters, they can’t manage their money and live their lives paycheck to paycheck. I survive and they are happy.

Matthew Becker · Answer

Hartford -  That is a pretty liberal place.  So you could be screwed.  Liberal judges are much more likely not to follow the law than conservative judges.  Your state is probably not landlord-friendly like a red state is.  I lived in Boulder, CO, for years, although the judges were anti-landlord.  They will still enforce the law if someone is ridiculous, and this is.

Does your lease specify late fees and payment dates?  Do you charge late fees every time they pay and send them a ledger?  Do they pay the late fees?   You can go back and charge late fees on every month they were late.  If they pay the rent in two payments and pay you late fees monthly, then maybe just keep them.  I have had tenants do that; one still lives in my place after 10 years.  They pay rent late almost every month.

If a judge considered ADD a handicap, it would be ridiculous but these days everyone is handicap or some quack tells them they are when they are in grade school scaring them for the rest of their life and feeding them pills like the chief from one flew over the cuckoos nest.  But even if someone has no arms and legs, they still have to pay rent on time, or you can charge late fees and evict them.  So the ADD being handicap does not matter.  In summary, property should be sold in liberal states.  You can invest in liberal towns but not in Red states. It is the best of both worlds.  Liberals make friendly cities, and conservatives are pro-business.

You also need a lawyer who is not an idiot.

I suggest giving them three days, going to court, and seeing what happens.   Even if you lose, it will be a great learning experience. But I doubt you will unless you had the same half-wit lawyer write your lease.

Denny Crane Never Lost Never will.

Greg M. · Answer

I'm not sure if they could make a case that they need to pay in two payments because of some disability. It's possible that they could BS a judge into believing it. However,that is meaningless as having a disability does not allow them to pay rent late. Those two payments better be for 100% the rent and arrive by the due date.

Continue with the eviction.

Kim Huynh · Answer

Hi.  Just as an update.  Went through with mediation, luckily the mediator didn’t even give their ADD claim consideration. They got state assistance to help with arrears, and they are supposed to start paying on time.  During the eviction process, of course they called the health department and reported anything they could.  I don’t understand them. If the property is so bad, why don’t they just leave and find another place to live.  We are not forcing to rent from us.  They are on month to month.  Do they not realize we can just give them notice at anytime to repossess the property.  They will not find any place in the area with our low rent.  If they don’t appreciate it, I’m sure the next tenants will.

Jules Aton · Answer

It seems they need an actual psychiatrist because ADD isn't a legitimate diagnosis. It is ADHD regardless of subtype. That said I would take 2 payments per month but would investigate the legal aspects like whether the lease would need to be re-written, how to structure late fees because you know they will be late and any eviction implications.

Aaron J Smith · Answer

It seems to me that your tenants need some financial and budgeting counseling NOT the ability to pay their rent twice a month.  Maybe refer them to RamseySolutions.com as Dave Ramsey does a great job with simplifying budgeting for people.

That being said, you can have compassion for people AND hold them accountable to their contract. I would suggest you proceed with eviction if they cannot pay their rent on time anymore.

Tony Savage · Answer

They are just giving you excuses because the do not have the money to pay their rent.  Move forward with eviction proceedings.  Tell your tenants to provide you with an ADD diagnosis from their doctor.  Anyone can say they have ADD.

Corby Goade · Answer

ADD or not, you have a legally binding contract with them- hold them to it. If they are a day late, serve them notice. The more you negotiate, the less weight your lease will hold, and that is the only leverage you have.

Samuel Eddinger · Answer

@Kim Huynh - definitely an interesting situation.  I'd suggest that they can set up auto bill pay from their bank that will send you a check each month so they don't "forget" to make their payments.  Reasonable accommodations for disabilities can come in various ways but I'd think that using the bank's bill pay would be reasonable.  Like others say, I'd continue the eviction.

DM me if you'd like to discuss this further.

Kim Huynh · Answer

I don't think they have ADD but claiming it. They use to pay on time, and then late, and then later, and then partial payments.  We allowed them a year to get their working situation together and accepted that they will be late and pay the late fee.  The payment started getting worst and worst with 1st half the payment around the 15th and then the 2nd halft at the end of the month, and then they are late the next month.  That was when we gave them warnings that this is getting extremely delinquent, and they need to get state assistance if they can't pay for rent.  They continue to do it, and we decide enough was enough.  Once we served, they told our lawyer that they have ADD and can only pay in 2 installments.  I would have been ok and not evict them if they pay on the 1st and then on the 15th, but they continue to not care and not communicate and kept on making later and later payments.

Tenants claim ADD and needs to pay rent in 2 payments a month????

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