All Forum Posts by: J. Wang

@Jiebing Wang sounds like you made a mountain out of an ant hill and it may cost you.

Does it really make sense to spend money on turnover and have vacancy because the rent is sent in a few days passed what you initially expected? 
I had a similar experience with my tenant and A/C and I told them if they wanted to break their lease over it I would be okay with it. By saying it like “it’s seems like you are unhappy with how things are handled and if you would like to break the lease with no penalties we can move forward with that”. The tenant realized that it was in their best interest to stay and soon after stopped making ridiculous requests and stopped complaining about the timeliness of the maintenance(one time they called me because there was a wasp — one wasp). 
To echo what everyone else is saying, she is not late. You have a soured relationship but it might be worth repairing before you give her the boot. Just a thought. 

@Jiebing Wang

I find this to be very common in NC as the state allows 5 days to pay. I have tenants that continually pay on the 5th. Not much you can do about it once they realize they can legally withhold 5 days. I simply send a reminder on the 4th and tell them if I do not receive the rent by the 5th, they will need to include the late fee to be paid in full.

@J. Wang

Sorry to chime in, but I agree with everybody else.  The contract says the rent is due on the 1st but late after the 5th..  As is pretty customary, there is a 5 day grace period.  If that didn't work for you, you should have written the contract terms differently.  Lesson learned, if you want something specific, put it in black and white specifically.  Good luck.

accepting a tenant with eviction history and bad credit is mistake right there. But as long as she is paying right now I wouldn't sweat too much if its a day or two late.  I have a tenant like that and I am in Los Angeles CA one of the hardest place to evict so as long as they are still paying I have no reason to try to stir things up. Her attitude aligns with being a bad tenant who has a history of not being responsible so doesn't surprise me one bit. 

Maybe the landlord business isn't for you. Nearly every tenant in America pays on the 5th if there's a late fee on the 6th. Lol

Quote from @J. Wang:

Hi fellow landlords,

Today I had a situation with one of my tenants in NC. This tenant has been paying rent always on the 5th, although the lease agreement says the rent should be paid on the 1st of every month. She pays on the 5th because on the 6th there will be a late fee. I would not have a problem with it, if she would have explained to me any difficulties she has in advance. But no, it looks like to me that she pays late on purpose and with no good reason. What disturbs me is her attitude. She was yelling at me over the phone and insisted that paying on the 5th is not considered paying late. She literally told me that I will get my rent on the 5th, that's it.  What is even more disturbing and ridiculous is when she needed AC maintenance, I had it fixed on the same freaking day as she submitted the request. But madam was angry at me for not having done it faster. That's why yesterday, I sent her a PAY OR QUIT NOTICE after she was late again. Since she has such a high expectation on the maintenance, I would also demand on-time payments.  Has anybody had similar issues with their tenants? Can I evict her if she continues doing this? I mean is 4/5 days late a good enough reason to evict her? Thank you in advance for any feedbacks! 

P.S. she has eviction history and a bad credit score. But I still took her because she appeared so nice during application, and was so desperate looking for a place to rent, and promised that the eviction was due to her pregnancy which was six years ago and she had paid off everything. Now I regret being too emotional and naïve. 

In isolation, I’d say this, simply:

If you want the rent paid before the 5th, charge a late fee earlier in the month. I kind of agree with your tenant on this one. If the money comes in before the 5th, life is good. She’s happy, you should be happy. 

But there’s more to this story and that’s not how you chose to handle the situation. 

Clearly you have a bad relationship here. And, this person should never have been allowed to rent from you in the first place if you’d been following best practices and had reasonable screening practices (no bad credit scores, and no evictions!). everyone has a sob story for their eviction and bad credit. But we don’t hear bad tenant stories about people with good credit.

Here are some thoughts for consideration:

I’d contact her and apologize (yes, seriously) for sending a pay or quit notice before the grace period was even over. That was reactionary and unprofessional from you.

Then, I’d assess how much longer her lease is. If less than 6 months, I’d consider trying to ride it out and pray she pays. If longer, I’d consider a very polite very professional cash for keys offer. Perhaps explain that you wonder if this is a good fit and if she leaves in a two weeks, you will give her last months rent back in cash, and her security deposit back. But, no pressure and she can stay if she chooses to, but the lease will not renew when it expires.

Then, you can place a tenant who passes your credit criminal and eviction check…


Hi Scott, thank you so much of your insights. Yes, I would definitely be more strict with screening next time, and don't let my emotion take lead. :-D I don't think I can bring myself to apologize to her though. I will just terminate the lease as soon as the initial term ends.

@J. Wang I’m sorry to read about this. It sounds like you have realized your mistake with this tenant and going forward I’m sure you will up your tenant screening.

As far as paying late, what exactly does the lease say? Your lease sounds like it has standard grace period.

OK, this is what my lease says: Rent is due in full on or before 5 p.m. on the first (1st) day of each and every month during the Term, regardless of whether that day is a Saturday, Sunday, or Holiday. If rent is not received by the end of the day on the fifth (5th) day of each month, a late fee of the greater of 5% of the unpaid rent amount, or fifteen dollars will be charged. 

As far as I understand, if she pays on the 2 day, she is too late. I may not charge a late fee, but she is still too late. Am I right? 

Christopher Below is some info that I posted in the past. It may be helpful: I can give you some general info on insuring the property: Here are some things to look for from an Insurance prospective: 1.Any in-ground tanks (active or inactive) 2.Any Knob & Tube or Aluminum Wiring 3.If built before 1978, does the building have Lead Safe certifications 4.Any wood stoves or secondary heating units. If so, were permits pulled & were they installed by a professional 5.Are any of the homes rented to students 6.Is there a flat roof 7.are there asbestos shingles 8. Do any of the tenants have Dogs (Breed restrictions are individual to each company). These may not prevent you from getting insurance but they may limit the number of companies willing to insure it. That may increase your cost or limit the coverage you can get. The Year that the following were updated (either partially or fully) would be good to know: - Heating systems - Roof - Plumbing - electrical Some companies will not write properties with systems that have not been updated. As long as you are living there, the proper policy for a 1-4 family is a "Homeowners" policy. If the property is solely tenant occupied you will be looking for a Dwelling/Fire Policy (may be called a Landlord policy or similar name) or a commercial policy such as a Business Qwners or Package policy. Most homeowners or dwelling/fire policies include: 1. Dwelling (Building coverage) The limit should be based on the Replacement Cost of the building (cost to rebuild with the same kind and quality excluding the foundation) 2. Contents (Personal Property): most homeowners policies give a set % of the Building limit for Contents. Dwelling/Fire policies require that you request a limit for contents. 3. Detached Structures: for other buildings on the property (ie. sheds & detached garages) Again, there is normally an included limit of 10% of the building limit. That can be increased if needed. 4. Loss of Use / Loss of Rents: Normally, there is a 20% included limit. Loss of use is for your additional expenses if you can not live there due to a covered claim (ie. Fire). The Loss of Rents is for the loss of Rental income if the tenants can not occupy the house after a covered loss. 5. Personal Liability: For claims due to Bodily Injury or Property Damage that you become Liable for and which is covered under the policy. Companies normally offer limits up to $500,000 but some offer $1,000,000. Buy the max. 6. Medical Payments: Provides coverage for an injury suffered on the premises. Does not require proof that you were at fault. Used to keep small loses into becoming lawsuits. Normally offered up to $5,000 but check to see if higher limits are available. 7. Deductible: This is not a coverage but rather your portion of a claim. Most better policies will not have a deductible for either the Liability or Medical payments coverage. It will apply to the other 4 coverages. You can select the amount of the deductible, usually ranges from $500 to $5,000. The higher the deductible the lower your overall premium but get quotes on all the deductibles you are interested in. Sometimes the incremental savings from $1,000 to $2,500 or from $2,500 to $5,000 are too small to make the higher deductible worthwhile. ***depending on how far the house is from the coast, you may also be required to have a separate Wind or Hurricane deductible. Most times, the deductible will be 2% to 5% of the building value. That is a significant amount (on a $500,000 building that comes to $10,000 for 2% or $25,000 for 5%). A policy with a higher premium may be a better deal if it does not have a wind deductible. There are many endorsements that are available on the homeowners policy. Without knowing the details I can not suggest which would be right to add on. Several you should pay attention to are: - Ordinance & Law: Provides additional building coverage to deal with rebuilding cost Increases due to changes in Zoning or Building laws - Personal Injury Liability: Libel, defamation of character, wrongful imprisonment, etc. (normally recommended, especially if you are a landlord) - Water Backup: For water damage due to the backup of Sewers or Drains. - Personal Articles: Coverage for belongings that have a special or collectors value such as Jewelry, Furs, Fine Arts, Collectibles, etc... Your age should not be a factor on the pricing but, depending on the company these other factors may get you credits: - Insurance Score (company pulls certain info out of your credit report). It is not your credit score but generally better credit will result in a better score - Time at your job - Education level - time at current residence Good Luck & feel free to PM me if you have any questions.