Real Estate Agent · Fairfield, CT · Member since 2019 · 36 posts · 19 votes
So I have a tenant in a multi family building who insists I come and pick up her money order in person every month. The problem being that the property is a 40 minute drive each way from where I live and every other tenant I have has no problem paying through apartments.com. This tenant is section 8 so the payment I’m going to pick up is less than $200 each month and it seems like a waste of time and gas to collect in this manner. I’ve offered to allow her to pay through PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, or to even mail her money order directly to me but it doesn’t seem like she will.
Has anyone else dealt with this before or have any obvious solutions? Can I charge late fees/evict if she refuses to pay in the manner I prefer if she is still offering cash in person? It seems very tedious to go out of the way for this one tenant who refuses to pay like everyone else. Any advice is appreciated.
Politely and professioanlly remind her who is "boss". It is not your responsibility to collect the money. It is HER responsibility to make sure the money is to you on time. She needs to simply mail the check to you each month on time. If she can't promise you that then notify her caseworker. I have dealt with Section 8 tenants for YEARS and most are actually very grateful to even have a landlord that takes Section 8.
If she is late with her portion of the rent because YOU did not go pick up the money then it is her fault and let her know that with the moratoriums starting to be lifted, you can and will find another Section 8 tenant very, very quickly to replace her.
Also............do not emphasize to her how difficult it is for you to travel 40 miles to pick up rent money. If you do this she may quickly start putting in "maintenance requests" that are a little on the frivolous side, simply to see you suffer. Personally I love Section 8 tenants and I strongly prefer them,....but the ones like who you are describing are ones that I have no problem getting rid of fast because they are the ones that give the program a bad name.
This type of topic reveals the people who really shouldn't be landlords. Those who want to make exceptions or "understand" a tenant's needs etc. If you're going to be a landlord you need to have policies and stand by them.
@Ryan T. This is very, very, very simple. It is her responsibility to deliver the rent to you, not your responsibility to pick up the rent. Make her a$$ drive 40 mins to deliver the rent and I bet you the next email you get from her is how to set-up her online account.
Hey Ryan, Man what a pain. I have a few tenants that refuse to pay online as well. I set up an account with a local smaller bank. The tenants can mail, bring the check to the teller or drop it in the night deposit box. They write their apt # on the memo which shows up online. I go online once a month a check to make sure my 4 old school tenants paid then check them off in my management SW. Works like a charm and haven’t had an issue in the 18 months I’ve been doing it. The trick is to go with a smaller regional bank where they know who you are. Good luck!