Effect of tenant payments on late notices and eviction complaints

[Stacy Tring]

Hi all,

My state has two key statutes relating to late rent:

1) Must give 5-days notice to tenants before filing eviction for unpaid rent

2) Partial payments shall NOT be construed as recognition of tenancy and will not jeopardize landlord's eviction filing

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Let's say this is what happens, hypothetically:

Jan 1: Jan rent due and tenant fails to pay

Jan 10: I file for eviction, citing that as of Jan 10 the tenant owes $X

Feb 15: Scheduled court date 

Tenant pays off Jan rent by Jan 31, they are technically no longer behind on rent, but as soon as Feb 1 rolls around they are behind again. 

As long as a tenant pays off their rent on or before the next due date and have a small period of time where they are technically caught up, do I have to perpetually deliver new late notices and file/amend/serve new complaints? Or do you think I can show up at my court date on Feb 15 and say, "yeah the balance due addressed in the initial late notice was technically settled and they were in the clear for a time but they are back in the red"? I can't imagine that I have to dismiss my case, and/or go through the process of amending my complaint and serving it again but am I being naive?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.