Investor · Warwick, RI · Member since 2015 · 137 posts · 100 votes
My tenants phone has been working fine until the first month he took residence. Since then he has been consistently late by a few weeks for the rent. Now I call it and it goes right to vm. I went to the house to tell him this and he said" his phone is being fixed and he had to send it out for repair" . well 3 weeks later , it still does not work. Now who waits 3 weeks for their phone to be repaired? I keep trying to call his wife's phone, she never answers' either. I sent him an email yesterday stating I need a new contact number and have not heard back yet. What would you guys do?
Difficult to advise on how you should handle this situation since I do not know your management style. You also do not state how long he has been a tenant. What I suspect however from your post is that you have trained him to pay rent when he feels like it rather when it is due.
This is how you should be training tenants and how I would deal with this tenant. The first time he did not pay full rent on the 1st I would send him a letter indicating that my policy is to not tolerate late payment and that going forward full rent is expected by midnight on the 1st. Late fees would apply if not paid in full by the 5th.
The second time he was late I would issue a pay or quit notice on the 2nd and send along a letter indicating that if he is late again I will be evicting him for consistent late payments. Late fees would apply is rent was not paid in full by the 5th.
If he was late a 3rd time I would issue the pay or quit on the 2nd and send a letter indicating that I would be evicting him. I would in addition inform him that if he paid in full rent owing immediately I would drop the eviction and allow him to leave at the end of the month without penalty.
It would be up to the tenant to then decide if he wanted to be evicted or leave voluntarily. If he paid the rent, including any late fees and agreed to leave I would get it in writing and drop the eviction the day he leaves.
In your situation now I would be beginning the eviction for either non payment of fees, assuming your state regs allow it, and for continually paying late. You could also offer to release him from his lease if he pays and agrees to leave. Regardless he would not be remaining if he was my tenant. It is time he had a real landlord that can teach him a life lesson.
@Thomas S. great advise Thomas! I am just waiting to hear from Cozy to see if the auto debit goes threw on the 13th. It says it takes 6 days to hit my account. He set it up on the 7th.
it might be worth the few bucks this time to pay for Cozy's faster processing. It will save you in the end if it lets you start eviction sooner. I think it's only $3
@Bob Romano I never understand, when you say the rent is due on the 1st but no late fee until the 5th. Then why would the rent ever be paid before the 5th? It’s due on the 5th. The 1st is just the day you want it. It’s never going to get paid on the 1st. If rent is due on the 1st, then it is late on the 2nd.
I do that for tenants who get paid monthly on the first. It keeps me first in line. Before I added those few days I battled with tenants who were out of money. I know they should be able to manage money better, but we're both happier if they can mail it on the first or second and not be late.
Investor/Agent · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2017 · 291 posts · 308 votes
7y
I had a tenant similar to this once. They were chronic late payers and his phone was always "messed up", which I took to mean it was turned off from non payment of his bill. Situations like this rarely get better. It's one thing I guess if they are respectful, know they are messing up and working to get on track, but it's another when they are combative and make you chase them. You need to find a way to move on from this one.
Real Estate Broker · Carlsbad, CA · Member since 2017 · 70 posts · 63 votes
7y
@Bob Romano, while having a tenant’s phone number is convenient, it is not necessary.
If he is late in rent, apply the late fee in your lease agreement, and send him a notice via certified mail return-receipt requested. Just keep doing this every time he pays late-rent, or have him setup an auto-pay with his bank.
Investor · Warwick, RI · Member since 2015 · 137 posts · 100 votes
7y
@Dale Nesmith all my other tenants do not have a problem with payment on the 1st. I actually have there rent in hand a few days before.he is the only one that pushes the limit on days. My attorney says” then keep collecting the extra $50 each month off him” . For the last 2 months he has been late but I make him pay the late fee.
Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
Every landlord is going to have a few outlier problems like this. If this tenant pays his rent, pays it one time and generally takes care of the place, then you can live without his number.
This tenant has torched his goodwill with you. So if he crosses the line with not paying rent, immediately move to evict them.
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 36 posts · 32 votes
7y
I work for the US Postal service and the last thing I ever want to hear from a tenant is that their rent is “lost in the mail”. It does happen and I don’t want to be out a months rent waiting on it to show up. We have our tenants go to the Drive thru in the bank and deposit it right into our account on the first. The teller gives them a receipt and we’re all good.
What would happen if a tenant came in to me and Paid $25.50 to Express Mail your rent on the 2nd or 3rd and you got your rent the next day. You got it before the 5th, so technically it’s not late. Do you charge them a late fee?
Dallas, TX · Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 0 votes
7y
@Bob Romano You change the way of payment method. But for sure give him enough notice to protect to. I have seen this process before. He is going to be a problem that might cost you in the long run. Bad tenant for sure, in the means of attitude. I'm not up to date with RI codes since I'm in Texas. As for the phone. You cant have a GMAIL witjout a phone number, social media or even function to this day. Ive seen homeless people have phones and grandmas tgat are 95 with the IPhone X. By no means tho has he broken laws. But he is toeing the line.
"You got it before the 5th, so technically it’s not late"
I believe we have finally discovered the problem.
It's like driving a vehicle. When you are driving above the speed limit technically you are not speeding unless you get a ticket. That makes perfect scenes and why there is no reason for tenants to pay the day their rent is due. For landlords that do not have grace periods it's like driving on a highway the police do not patrol. Technically there is no speed limits. Visive tenants would never be required to pay rent since they would never be considered late.
he gave me his email address, which is a gmail account , but it takes days for him to get back to me because he says himself" I don't check this account much". Why would you give me an account you don't check often? He is set up on Cozy with me for payment of the rent. He knows the rent is due on the 1st, with a $50 late fee as of the 5th. So he goes on Cozy on the 4th to process the payment. Well, I hit him with my $50 late fee because the lease states " i must have payment in hand by the 5th" and then he refuses to pay the late fee! So when Cozy tries to hit his account 4-5 days later for payment, its insufficient! So now he has to pay the late fee . But this month he says he is only paying the rent amount and no late fee because in his mind, he wasn't late, he's blaming Cozy for the amount being late.Should I enforce it or let it slide this month? I fi let it slide, I feel he will try this every month now. Any thoughts?
Enforce the late fee or evict him. It sounds like this guy is going to keep getting slower and slower. If you dont stop it now you are just going to have more and more stories like this.
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2019 · 6 posts · 4 votes
7y
@Bob Romano The phone number is needed but the rent is required for him to stay in your unit. This may be him warming you up to a new relationship of bad payments. Also, if this is a high demand area be sure that they have not switched tenants on you. He might not want to give you his number because he is moving out.
Property Manager · Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
@Bob Romano - Phone number is just one way to reach them. Sounds like you have an email address which is really even better since you get confirmation of receipt. You can also start calling and leaving messages for them at work. If you do that enough they’ll probably give you their cell phone number. Or somebody at work might give it to you.
Rental Property Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2017 · 14 posts · 4 votes
7y
@Bob Romano I think you shouldn’t offer Cozy if the tenant can’t pay on the fourth. If it’s post dated or submitted before the 5th then no late fee should be applied.
Attorney · San Diego, CA · Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 1 vote
7y
@Bob Romano ask them to leave. Paying rent late is a problem. The phone doesn’t bother me much unless there is a reason you need to get a hold of them that way. I don’t call my tenants very often, especially if they are responsive to email.
@Bob Romano I would make the tenant aware that the contact # is mutually beneficial, if something occurs that he and his spouse need to be made aware of, how would you be able to notify them,that's just 1 aspect, also their payments need to be on time if not you'll have to charge a late fee, that communication between landlord and tenant should always be positive and that you don't intend to call and harrass these people only to have open communication to maintain a safe environment.
Rental Property Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2016 · 325 posts · 253 votes
7y
@Bob Romano you are setting a precedent here. If the rent is not received by 5th, send pay or quite notice immediately, it must include a language that eviction will be filed on 9th. His phone will work but you don’t have to answer, just include in your notice that cashier check or money order Mit be received by 8th before 5pm.
File for eviction to set the tone. You deserve a better tenant.