Tenant late every month for the last seven months

[Atul Mohlajee]

I have a tenant with a yearly lease expiring in November 2014.  She has been severely late in rent payments for the last seven months.  Gave her a 5-day notice every month.  She pays partially and late but pays till end of the month.  Today is July 1, and she still owes me $285 out of $1535 (Rent plus late fee)  Remaining $1250 has been paid.  This is a big problem.  If she somehow pays till November, and I do not renew the lease, she might still not leave the house and may need to be evicted.  If I rewrite the lease month to month and raise the rent and late fee by 10-15%, will that be a better option than just telling her lease is not renewed.  What are your experiences with such a bad tenant and how would you handle it now and end of lease presuming she somehow keeps paying till then.

[Marcia Maynard]

@Atul Mohlajee Always best to nip this type of thing in the bud with swift enforcement of the terms of your rental agreement.  Maybe she just can't afford to rent the unit and needs to move on.  Maybe she does't manage her money well.  Maybe she doesn't have her priorities straight.  Maybe she is experiencing a temporary set back and is spiraling downward because she can't pull herself out of the tailspin.  I would definitely talk with her about it.  Ask her what it would take to turn this around.  Tell her if she doesn't then you will need to talk with her about a move out plan.

I've had tenants who got into a pattern of paying late and paying the $50 late fee each time.  These were often the tenants who could least afford it.  It was hard to see them making the choices that they were making.   

Sitting down with the tenant and coming up with an alternative plan helped on one occasion with a tenant of ours who was behind in rent.  Monthly rent was $660 per month, so we set up a payment plan for the tenant to pay $220 every Monday and suspended late fees as long as regular payments were being made.  The tenant had a better chance of meeting his obligation without being overwhelmed.  I learned not to let a tenant get so far behind in rent and now I am swift to act when a tenant doesn't pay rent on time.

If the tenant can no longer afford to live in your place, offer cash for keys and assist them in moving out.  We provide a large trash can with hefty garbage bags and offer to dispose of their trash for them if they clean out the unit in a timely manner.  We also give them some boxes and newspaper to get them started with the packing.  

If the tenant becomes uncommunicative or uncooperative, then it is best to start the process for eviction.  Eviction should not be the first remedy, it should be the last.  Anyone who goes through an eviction process knows it is costly and time consuming.  It can also be heart wrenching or frightening, depending on the disposition of the tenant.

Good luck.  Let us know how it works out for you.