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.
Specialist · Midwest Market · Member since 2016 · 21 posts · 6 votes
7y
I agree with @Thomas S. also @Bob Romano is Cozy the only way your tenants can pay rent or your preferred way? Did you screen this tenant prior to, because in your original statement you said "up until they moved in"? Lastly, he's not trying to be a responsible tenant, he knows how to "play" the system. He doesn't really have the money to pay on the 5th but he doesn't want to get that late fee, so he pays on the 4th knowing it takes 4/5days to process the payment, AND knowing it will come back NSF, so it automatically sets it up so he's behind in his payment when it bounces. He's calculated and he will just get further behind. thats just my opinion :)
Real Estate Broker · Watertown, NY · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
@Bob Romano Unfortunately you can't require him to have a phone. However, you CAN require him to pay his rent on time. Explain to him that you will be doing so the next time he is late, and if he's late then file the eviction and see it through. He is trying to walk over you. Don't let him.
New Boston, MI · Member since 2016 · 54 posts · 31 votes
7y
I've been told there is no such thing as a bad tenant just bad landlords. put your foot down do what you have to do and move on. learn from this and have a plan to never let it happen again.
Rental Property Investor · Lancaster, CA · Member since 2015 · 103 posts · 55 votes
7y
You're working way to hard to get what is due to you. I've been through this before so I started posting 3 Day Pay or Quit Notices the day after they were late. Solved the problem and now they even pay rent in advance sometimes.
I agree with everyone here, start the eviction process. The tenant is not all of a sudden become responsive. make sure to keep a record of all communications.
Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 523 posts · 476 votes
7y
Talk to your attorney, prepare pay or quite notice, and get this resolved. The guy is either lying about the phone (most likely) or he cannot pay for it to be fixed, in which case he can't pay the rent. I would get a local landlord attorney involved, and take care of this ASAP. Maybe you get lucky and he pays, but if not, cut losses and move on.
Specialist · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 611 votes
7y
@Bob Romano
Who cares if his phone works? He can't call you for complaints and repairs now and you should be evicting him for late payments. Not sure if your area allows it but habitual late payments is cause for eviction in my lease. My lease also states they must notify us of current contact information.