It is common for landlords to deal with tenants who do not pay rent on time. In this article, we have mentioned some of the ways you can use to deal with such problems. But, before discussing them let’s have a look at a few rules you should follow if you come across such situations. Here are a few rules regarding late rent payments you should stick to if you are a landlord:
- You cannot make changes in the laws or rules set by the government.
- Make sure the document contains all the information regarding when the payment is due, and when to pay if the due date is on weekend.
- If there is any late fee policy in the agreement. If yes, how much is the late payment fee?
- Your tenant might delay the payment if you did not address their complaints regarding maintenance.
Send a Reminder
Before sending an official notice, you should forward a gentle reminder about the due payment. There could be several reasons for the tenant to delay the rent. These might include losing a job, becoming stuck with other needs or simply forgetting about the due date. In such cases sending a gentle reminder will make you aware of the right circumstances. Plus, you can take the right step without offending your tenant.
For sending the reminder, you can use several methods like a reminder app or automatic email services.
Send a Notice
When you see that the rent date is past due, the best thing to practice is to send an official notice to the tenant. This way you can keep a record of when the payment was due and how much fee a tenant was charged. However, if the tenant could not pay the rent because of some compulsion, you can give up on the late rent fee.
If you come across a tenant who is always late to pay the rent, sending them an eviction notice will save you from future troubles, but you have to be careful about what you write in the notice because some rules or laws are driven by the state that you have to follow. Sending an eviction notice right away is not a good idea. Before sending the late rent notice or eviction notice, make sure the grace period is also over.
Arrange an in Person Meeting
If your tenant delays the rent payment you can hold them accountable in person. This way you can discuss the matter in detail. There might be a possibility that the tenant has sent the payment and it could not reach your bank account because of some technical issues.
Stay Respectful yet Strict
Being a landlord, you will have to deal with late payments quite often. Staying respectful and calm in such circumstances is the key to making your business successful. Not everyone delays the payment deliberately. When you become too harsh you might end up affecting your market reputation. Additionally, acting too flexible might also make things harder for you. In that case, tenants might take the matter too lightly and not pay the rent on time ever.
Serve a ‘Pay or Quit Notice’
If a tenant delays the payment without any serious compulsion, you should send an eviction notice. However, before doing that you will want to serve a ‘Pay or Quit Notice’ to them. According to this notice, you are giving them a choice to pay the rent or evict the property. The tenant has to pay the rent and the penalty charges. It is always a good idea to go through the rules and regulations determined by the state because they might vary state-wise.
One more thing to ensure is that you should not accept a partial rent payment once you have served a ‘pay or quit notice’.
Partial Payment
Partial payment is also one of the ways to deal with late payments. This method works only if the tenant is responsible and delays the payment when faced with a compulsion. You will not want to accept partial payment from a tenant who delays the payment quite often.
Strategies to Avoid Late Rent Payment
Following are some of the methods to avoid facing late payment issues:
Monitor Tenants Properly
Monitoring tenants play an essential role in ensuring that you do not deal with late payments. The purpose of monitoring is to know the history of the potential tenant.
The following information can give you an estimate if the tenant will pay the rent on time or not:
- If they have enough income to afford rent
- They have a history of paying rent on time
- If they are guilty of any lease violation
- Credit Report
According to the rules, a tenant should not pay more than 30% of their income on the rent. If they are willing to pay more than that, it is a red flag for you; they might not be able to maintain it for a long time.
Use Apps for Collecting Rents
Using an online method to collect rents can make the process easier for you. For this, you can use rent collection apps. Here are the following advantages of using online methods:
- The automatic rent payment option never lets a tenant delay the rent.
- It leaves tenants with the convenience of paying through multiple options, for instance, debit card, or credit card.
- You can save a record for the future
Pay Appreciation for Paying on Time
When you appreciate the tenants for paying rent on time, it encourages them to be more responsible about it. Here are some of the things you can do to appreciate them:
- Offer free Maintenance sometimes
- Give them a discount
- Upgrade appliances or cabinets in the property
Bottom Line
It is not easy to find tenants who pay the rent on time. However, if you are dealing with any such issue, you can contact Lamar G Property On Us. We can help you find the tenants who will not put you in trouble. You can contact experts on our website who will guide you thoroughly on how you can manage your property. If you do not want to deal with such matters, you can hire our property manager who will not only choose the right tenants for you but also manage everything from beginning to end.
