tenants not paying

[Kevin Zhang]

location: CA, 

Tenant is a nice family and paying rent on time for a year so far, unfortunately they are going through divorce right now. 

We are on the month-to-month lease now as the automatic extension of the original lease. 

I called, left message, texted, and on my phone it's showing the text was read. 

Right now, no response at all, it's 2 weeks after the rent due, about 1 week after the 5 day grace period for late fee charge. 

I guess the next step will be sending a formal 3-day written notice (pay rent or quit) ? 

I interviewed every tenants pretty well, so I never had the deal with situation before. 

Hope to get some advice here.

Thanks!!!

Kevin

[Denise Supplee]

Quote from @Emily Koelsch:

So sorry you're dealing with that. The lack of communication is concerning to me. If a tenant will communicate with me, then I'm always willing to work with them (especially a tenant who has been reliable and consistently paid rent). If the tenant talks with you, you might be able to come up with a plan to help them get back on track. 

When a tenant stops communicating, it's time to take action (worse for both parties to delay). I'd go ahead and issue a 3-day notice to pay or quit. This will give you a sense of whether they're planning to get current or whether you need to move forward with an eviction. I use the ezLandlordForms California 3-Day Notice to Pay or Quit. Good luck!

I agree with @Emily Koelsch, and I also understand sometimes personal situations delay response, but it’s important to follow procedure consistently to protect your position while giving them a fair chance to resolve it.