All Forum Posts by: Jennifer T.

Take a good look at your lease and how you talk about the "grace period".

I very purposefully never use the term "grace period", either in my conversations with tenants or in my lease.  I used to and the only thing I have ever meant by it is, that is the number of days a tenant has to pay their LATE rent before they incur the late fee.  However, because some tenants like to "misunderstand" that term, I no longer use it.  Because you sometimes get the procrastinators and boundary pushers who will start acting like the end of the grace period is the real due date, so if they're only a "day or two" late from THAT, why am I making such a big deal.  Blah, blah.  Rent is late the day after it is due.  Period.

I don't know what your lease says or the landlord-tenant laws in your area but, if their understanding of a grace period as defined by the lease is incorrect, then correct them on that.  Something like, "While I do have a grace period in the lease to give you all some flexibility, the rent is due on the 1st.  It is late on the 2nd.  So, yes, I will ask for the date you all expect to pay it, even if we are still in the grace period."

With that said, I would only contact them once during the grace period.  And if they ignore you, unfortunately they ignore you.  Just be ready to post the appropriate Pay or Quit notice the moment you legally can.  Which, perhaps, can still be during the grace period.  Because, at least for me...

While I don't charge a late fee until it is 5 days late, that has nothing to do with when I will ask for rent and/or post a 5 Day Pay or Quit notice.  The only slight difference is if I am still within the window before a late fee has been incurred when I post the notice, then I don't include the late fee in the monies that are due.  Though if incurred after that, they are still responsible for the fee(s).  I don't mind them being carried over to the next month but then, per my lease, fees are paid first for monies collected before they are applied to rent.  

In my area, it's a 5-Day Pay or Quit notice, that can be delivered one day (or more) after rent is late.  Tenants can tell me whatever they wish.  But legal actions speak louder and make more impact than words.  TBH, I'm more lenient than many of the people on here.  That has largely worked for me and my tenant class.  Plus I also have few enough doors I can do that, if I choose.

But when my late-paying or "I'm moving out by X date" tenant and I make another agreement for a particular month, I post an appropriate notice so I can immediately file for an eviction if they do not do what they promised.

As an example, I have a tenant who was a great tenant for 2 1/2 years.  Then her hours got cut at her workplace about 6 months ago.  She has still been paying her rent in full, including late fees, before the end of the month.  But she's now been making partial payments that are tied to her paycheck schedule.  The majority comes from her first paycheck of the month.  The remainder comes from the second one.  I'll still post a 5-Day Pay or Quit notice at my convenience (as long as it is at least 5 business days before I expect her payment) but, if I post it on the earlier side and it will be "up" before the date we discussed, I'll put an extra note that no action will be taken as long as the full past due payment of XYZ is made by "Q" date.

With all that said, this was supposed to be a temporary situation.  And unfortunately it has turned NOT so temporary.  Shocker.  She and I will be having a "Come to Jesus" talk before the end of the month, so I can amend the lease (it's month-to-month) to go into effect for March 1st.  Because the time is up, it's past "up".  I will even give her a few options that will work for me, one of them includes a "paycheck to paycheck" choice.  She can choose the best one that works for her.  But she needs to get back on track or the rent is going up to compensate me for the additional risk.

Oof, do you at least have documentation that they were notified...with the reasons why...even if it was done more informally?  Like a text message or an e-mail?  Though I don't know if that would meet the requirements of your area.

In the future, get into the practice of if you are withholding anything from the SD, send a certified letter to their forwarding address within the proper timeframe for your landlord-tenant laws.  If they did not provide a forwarding their address, then to the last known address which is typically your own rental unit.

Most of the time with deadbeats who know they aren't getting any of their security deposit back, they also don't give a forwarding address or even bother forwarding their mail.  And eventually that certified letter will come back to you.  Set up a file and throw it in there, UNOPENED.  I use the same file for my proof of mailings/return receipts for sending out SD Dispensation letters via certified mail.

Even if you don't think you'd have much legal recourse in small claims court, I still wouldn't pay a dime.  MAKE them take you to court.  There's a good chance they won't.  If they do, I'd encourage them to drop the suit with something like, "Look, I don't understand why you are suing me.  You know full well that your damages far exceed your security deposit anyway.  I was going to just let the additional $XXX amount slide, but if you want to waste both our time and go to court anyway, then there's no longer any reason for me to eat the additional money I am out and I will countersue.

(I am not a lawyer.  I don't even play one on tv.  Please seek your own legal counsel.)

Well, see then?  Those are the mistakes that can happen when you keep your bucket of human feces too close to your bucket of water, lol.

I'm guessing your tenant is letting you know that so, if the evicted tenant leaves those items behind, you can let her know so she can retrieve them.

It's up to you if you'd even want to get that minorly involved.  I would.  At least to say, "Oh hey, I looked for XYZ, but they didn't leave that behind," or "they left X-Y, but not Z, I need you to pick them up by Tues. if you want them."  However, I also don't own rentals in an area where I am required to store evicted tenant's belongings at all.  If I was, that would be a different story.  Because I'd need to assume whatever I find is the tenant's.

Even if the dog is service animal (or they claim it is), you can still charge them for the damage the animal has already caused.  Do not wait and take it out of the security deposit.  You are entitled to charge them for it NOW.  And each and every time new damage happens.

However, since they haven't told you it is a service animal.  Post the appropriate Cure or Quit notice with a copy to their case manager.  Plus a notice of the damages owed to you.  I'd offer to put the damages on a payment plan, since that might make it bite-sized enough for them to handle.  Especially considering they are on S8.  But you don't have to offer that. 

Yep, this, though not quite the same problem. I put an offer in on 4 houses on the same lot. Three of them small duplexes (1bd/1ba each unit) and one SFH. It was crazy! But each unit did have a legal separate address. When I got quotes for the insurance policies...oh yes, they needed flood insurance too...because there were 4 individual buildings, it was going to have to be 8 separate policies. Four for property and four for flood. Which also meant that if catastrophe had happened and taken out all four buildings, that would have been four (or eight) deductibles to cover also.

My offer wasn't accepted anyway and I wasn't going any higher because of the substantial insurance cost.  It was a real impediment.

For me, good tenants boil down to one phrase, just "responsible and reasonable people".

Although I think this description is true for most tenants, it has been an unpleasant surprise from when I started renting properties that this % is lower than I was expecting.  Like there is a bizarro world, alternate reality that some people live in.

While I can't speak for your landlord, No. 1 does sound like damage you caused.  No. 2 sounds like wear and tear.  Is your landlord generally a fairly reasonable person?  He/she may not really care about what sounds like fairly minor damage on an old, albeit, nice floor.  Especially considering the condition of the rest of the apartment.  I know I give a lot of latitude to long-term tenants.

Try @Theresa Harris's pen suggestion.  That should improve how it looks a good bit.  But, either way, try not to be so stressed about the floors.  The damage is done and you've done what you can to keep the problem from getting worse.  

--A gift certificate to the local SPCA, lol