Acquired tenant w/mid-month lease, prior owner stated due 1st

[Lisa Beauchamp]

Hello,

I have a problem with a tenant in a property I just acquired.  I have a 4 unit multi and the tenant entered into a year lease starting on the 15th of the month.  The owner came to the property 2 days before closing (March 23rd) and collected the rent.  The owner gave us credit for 3/23-3/31 only, but the tenant said he paid through April 15th.  The tenant always paid cash or deposited funds in owner's account and the prior owner didn't provide receipts.  I believe the tenant as he said he paid 1st month and 1 month security and has paid him monthly amount on or after the 15th.

As a newbie investor I don't think there is anything I can do about this now, but I wanted to know how to prevent this from happening again in the future.  Especially when dealing with landlords who don't provide receipts or keep proper accounting records.  How should I have handled this?  Any advice is appreciated and thank you in advance.    

[Thomas S.]

The way to handle it in the future is to have esstopal letters signed by the tenants as part of your due diligence process. 

As a newbie investor the first thing you need to learn is that tenants lie, they lie a lot. I would not be so sure the tenant is telling the truth. It is to his advantage to lie about what rent he has paid. If his old landlord says he only collected rent to the end of March I would believe the landlord over the tenant.