Tenant getting late with payments

[Ben M.]

I’m on my 5th month owning my first duplex rental property. One of the tenants I inherited has been a tenant for 4 years. Per the last property manager she supposedly pays but always late. However, she is now almost 2 months late with various reasons for getting delayed. She does pay partial at random times but sometimes we don’t hear from her for a week or so. She seems to have the intent to pay but is having a hard time catching up. I know that it’s good to enforce rules and so forth but the fact that this is a 4 year tenant seems to give me a reason to want to work with her. Has anyone ran into a similar problem and what strategy did you use that helped the tenant to catch up with payments? Thank you.

[Maurice Selva]

Ben, you have to start putting your foot down and take control of the situation. After over 20 years of managing over 300 units, I've learned that tenants are like children that are always testing you so if you don't stand your ground then they will walk all over you. There is nothing wrong with being empathetic about a person's situation if, in fact, it is a real hardship but never let rent lapse beyond a month because that snowball is going to keep getting bigger and out of control. If you have not already done so serve her with a 3-day notice to pay or quit. If she doesn't respond to that within three days, serve her with a threat of eviction. It doesn't necessarily have to be a formal summons and complaint it can be a flyer type notice on a yellow or red sheet of paper outlining what the terms of her rent payment are as outlined on her rental agreement and stating that if her rent is not paid up within 24 hours it will be put in the hands of your attorney. If she still does not pay her rent in full ask an eviction attorney to prepare a formal summons and complaint, attach a cover letter stating that as evidenced you are serious about proceeding with the eviction and only need to file paperwork to start the process. It doesn't cost much to have an eviction attorney do this for you and is much cheaper than and actual eviction. By not filing it and preparing it it lets the tenant know that you no longer are willing to play by her rules and that you hold the rule book. I do this with my attorney all the time with tenants that try to but heads with me and 99 percent of the time tenants get the message, pay their rent, correct their behavior and I am able to avoid an actual eviction. My business is in California, not Texas so I'm not entirely aware of your termination or eviction laws but they are more favorable towards landlords than ours so this all should be legal. If after all this she continues to pay her rent late I'd just cut her loose and find someone that is willing to pay their rent on time. Some tenants just don't get it. Ain't it fun being a landlord?  Best of luck..... I hope this bit of wisdom helps get your tenant back on track.