Be friendly with tenants, but don't be their friend.

As a landlord managing your own properties, sometimes it can be a balancing act of being friendly, but still professional. Because your tenants get to know you personally, sometimes it's easier for them to validate paying you last while they pay all the big businesses such as electric and car notes first. You might be afraid of confrontation and just want your tenants to like you. But if this is causing you to not receive your rental payments, you will need to make some serious adjustments. It is possible to be professional and firm, but still friendly and fair.

Recently, one of my tenants was late paying her rent. She is generally a great tenant, who was very understanding when we were dealing with a mysterious water leak that we couldn't figure out for a while. She renewed her lease for another year and she keeps the place nice and clean! She's a lovely person that I've had some great conversations with, but sometimes likes to wait until the last minute to pay rent. In our business, we have rent due on the 1st and considered late if not received by the 3rd. We found that giving until the 5th as a grace period is just too long for our liking. Our tenant would many times pay on the 3rd and a few times on the 4th with the late fee. We typically waive the late fee once per year.

I sent a reminder text the evening of the 3rd. She responded back some time later that she was sorry but it would be paid within the "next day or two." On the 6th, she text again to say that she would be paying that day. I went about my day and after dinner around 7:00pm, I realized she still had not made her payment. Now it was becoming severely late and I was going to be forced to take action. I text her once more, "Please be sure you pay tonight or my partners will go file failure to pay rent papers in the AM."

Text messages can come across harsh. I get that. And part of me figured she wouldn't take the message well, but it had to be done. Sometimes, even good tenants can stop paying, so you need to be prepared to take action. I wanted to give her a warning of what would happen. She text back saying that she's always paid when she said she would and that she was at work so how did I expect her to pay while at work? I simply replied that it was just a reminder and nothing personal. No apologies. Just simple, neutral, and professional. I received payment less than an hour later.

It was tough to have to send a warning like that to this particular tenant. However, it goes back to your business. You may know each other on a more personal level than other billers or creditors your tenants pay, but that does not give reason to be too lax on your policies.