$13,500 Nice Guy - Rent Collection

Carl Millsap · 2026-11-02T03:34:47-08:00

When does giving a tenant grace turn into financing their lifestyle?I was sitting in eviction court when another landlord’s situation caught my attention.His tenant’s rent was $1,500 a month, and he waited nine months to file. $1,500 × 9 = $13,500.Every month, the tenant had a new story: car trouble, money problems, something unexpected. And $13,500 wasn’t even the final bill. He still had legal fees, turnover repairs, and vacancy ahead of him.I’m not saying be mean. I’ve helped tenants through hard times myself. But help needs structure:Put it in writing. Document every arrangement with dates and amounts.Set a hard trigger. Decide in advance when a missed payment means filing, and follow through.Review delinquent accounts weekly. Small balances become big ones fast.Know your full cost. Unpaid rent is only the beginning. Add legal fees, turnover, and vacancy.You can have a good heart. Just don’t let it write checks your business can’t afford.Where do you draw the line between grace and getting taken advantage of?

Richard NeesePro Member

Rental Property Investor · South Vinemont, AL · Member since 2026 · 51 posts · 18 votes

1d

Owning about 85 doors in North Alabama I've heard about every story in the book. We usually give a one time grace if their situation is job related. Otherwise the standard is the standard. Late on the 10th eviction papers go out on the last day of that month. The bank doesn't show me grace when a unit isn't rented or the economy takes a down turn. I will provide a couple non profit assistance groups they can reach out to so they can help potentially. If someone has been a perfect tenant and never been late i tend to show more grace than the habitually late one. Its still a one time recast of tems if i delay an eviction. Thank you for contributing to the community!

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Mike FisherBusiness Member

New Lenox, IL · Member since 2024 · 141 posts · 70 votes

1d

The math in your post is the part most owners never run until it is too late. Nine months of rent is only the visible number. Court time, turnover and a few weeks of vacancy usually push the real cost well past it.

A few things we use with owners in Illinois:

1. Same trigger every month. Rent is late on a set day and the notice goes out on a set day, no matter how good the story is. Consistency also protects you, because treating tenants differently is where fair housing problems start.

2. Payment plans in writing, with dates and amounts, and one missed date ends the plan. A plan with no end date is the nine month situation in slow motion.

3. Watch the notice language. In Illinois, taking a partial payment after you serve a 5 day notice can waive that notice unless the notice states that only full payment stops it. A lot of owners restart the clock by accident this way.

4. Talk early. The tenant who calls on the 2nd with a plan is a different conversation than the one who goes quiet until the 20th. Pointing them to local rental assistance programs early often gets the money in before a filing is needed.

Grace is fine. Grace with no structure is a loan with no terms.

Mike, M Property Group LLC, south and southwest Chicago suburbs

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James JonesPro Member

Investor · Collierville, TN 38017 · Member since 2017 · 968 posts · 661 votes

1d

Carl, the line has to be drawn before the tenant ever moves in, not in month three.

Across 236 properties, the rule is the same for everybody. Same due date, same late process, same trigger to act. The minute you start making case-by-case exceptions, you are negotiating against yourself every month, and the balance grows fast — at Memphis rents of $1,395 to $1,950, nine months is $12,500 to $17,500 of your money.

Grace works inside a written plan with dates, like you said. What does not work is being the bank. A tenant's emergency is real, but your mortgage, taxes and insurance do not take a month off for it.

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Clever Mukori

Member since 2026 · 46 posts · 19 votes

1d

I'd set the line as a dollar amount instead of a feeling: once the unpaid balance reaches one month's rent, the filing happens no matter how good the story is. It also helps to send the tenant a short written balance every month, showing what was due, what came in and what's still owed, so the number never gets fuzzy for either side and you already have the record a judge will ask for. And I'd cap it at one written payment plan per lease, because the second plan is usually where grace starts turning into the nine-month situation you saw in court.

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Harrison C.

Member since 2017 · 76 posts · 35 votes

1d

One thing I'd add from renting houses by the room: in a shared house the grace is never private. The housemates see who is still living there and who is paying. Let one person run three months behind with no consequence and the people paying on time notice, and the stories start coming from them too.

So the line has to be the same for everybody and written down before anyone needs it. Rent due on the 1st, the same late fee for everyone (ours is $50), and if someone asks for help before the due date, a written plan with dates where one missed date ends it. Asking before the 1st earns grace. Going quiet until the 20th does not.

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Drew SygitBusiness Member

Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 13k+ posts · 9k+ votes

1d

We send nonpayment eviction notices every month to every tenant with a past due balance - no matter what!

Then we try to figure out what each is willing to pay to stay before sending to eviction attorney.

We continue to work with tenants after receiving eviction judgment all the way through getting a Writ of Eviction.

Our main RULE is they can't keep falling further behind and have to agree on a plan to whittle down their balance.

Our team can delay each step in our process by only 3 days, w/o management approval.

We train the tenants, we do NOT let them train us!

[email protected]248-209-6824

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Leo SteinBusiness Member

Property Manager · Orange County, CA · Member since 2025 · 253 posts · 53 votes

1d

Carl, the nine months of rent is the number everyone remembers, but the real damage is that nobody owned the follow-up. In our portfolio the rule is the same every month: rent is late on a set day, the notice goes out on a set day, and nobody on the team gets to make a judgment call about whose story is believable.

Two things that have helped us. First, a payment plan only counts if it's signed, has dates and amounts, and says that a missed installment ends the plan. A verbal "I'll catch up Friday" is not a plan. Second, we review the delinquency list weekly and look at the age of each balance, not just the total. A $400 balance at 10 days is a phone call. A $400 balance at 60 days is a different conversation.

Grace is fine when it's a decision you made on purpose and wrote down. It becomes expensive when it's a habit. If you're in a state with specific notice timelines, check them with a local attorney. Not legal advice.

Happy to compare notes by message.

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Victor Rono

Real Estate Agent · Milwaukee · Member since 2026 · 14 posts · 3 votes

20h

For me the line is a written policy decided before anyone is late, not a judgment call made each month. Once it's case-by-case, the tenant with the best story wins, and that's how you end up at $13,500.

What I'd put in writing:

One trigger date. Rent is late on day X, the notice goes out on day Y, every tenant, every month. Applying it consistently also protects you on fair-housing grounds.
Grace only on the record. If you agree to a catch-up plan, write down the amounts, the dates and an end date, both of you sign it, and one missed payment ends it. Keep current rent separate from the catch-up amount on the ledger.
One plan per tenancy. A long-term tenant with a real one-time hardship (job loss, medical) can get one plan. A new excuse every month gets the notice.
Count the real cost. Add up the unpaid rent, filing and attorney fees, turnover repairs and the vacancy that follows. Months of grace look a lot less kind next to that number.
Point people to help early. Calling 211 or the county emergency rental assistance office in the first week works far better than in month four.

One caution: rules on notice periods, and on whether accepting a partial payment after serving a notice affects that notice, vary a lot by state. Read your state's statute or ask a local landlord-tenant attorney before you take partial money mid-process. (Wisconsin, for example, covers nonpayment notices in Wis. Stat. § 704.17: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/704/17.) This is general info, not legal advice.

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Randy Schell

Member since 2026 · 255 posts · 36 votes

17h

Nine months of fresh stories would wear anybody down, and it's easy to keep hoping the next one is true. One thing that may help is deciding your cutoff date before the first late payment, so the choice is already made when the emotions show up.

Randy, Bunklow

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Rachel Mazzanti

Virtual Assistant · Remote · Member since 2020 · 134 posts · 54 votes

11h

The $13,500 number is the symptom. The real problem is that nobody was watching a running balance.

Grace is fine, but grace needs a ledger behind it. My company posts every payment the day it lands, including partials, and notes exactly what it was applied to: rent, late fee, or old arrears. Then we run an aging report every week, current, 30, 60, 90 days. That report is what turns "he's a little behind" into "he owes $4,500 and it's been 90 days," while there's still time to act.

The other habit that saves people: a payment plan in writing with dates, amounts, and one missed date ending the plan. Verbal plans drift. Written plans don't. And when a partial payment comes in, post it to the oldest balance first unless the lease says otherwise, so the ledger never shows a tenant as current when they're really three months deep.

Nine months doesn't happen all at once. It happens one unposted month at a time.

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$13,500 Nice Guy - Rent Collection

$13,500 Nice Guy - Rent Collection

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