I got a phone call this morning from a tenant who owes rent as of today. I told him earlier this week that I wanted to meet him today to collect the rent before I leave town, and he said he would "work on it," which made me wearily suspicious that he may not have the money.
Naturally, I was right. He told me today with a shaking voice that he was doing his very best but that he can only give me $300 today (he owes $1,125). He started to ramble about how he asked his boss for an advance to no avail, how he could try to "pawn some stuff" today to get the rest...
At that point I cut him off. I told him my concern is that if he's talking about pawning stuff to pay this month's rent, then I am worried about their long term viability as tenants. How are you going to pay next month if you have to sell your possessions to pay this month?
He explained that his wife goes back to work this month so going forward it should be no problem. He also reminded me that they have never paid late and used to pay early when she was working (which is true, which I appreciated). I know his wife has had some serious medical problems in the last few months (she was pregnant, she miscarried, and there were complications that had her in the hospital for nearly a week), and I was very relieved to hear that she's going back to work.
He went on about how he gets paid again the 10th and will drive the money right to me, and I interrupted his panicky ramble again to tell him that would be fine just this once since they've always paid on time before, and that the late fee is $50. He said I can expect him to pay $100, and I was touched but told him not to worry - the fee is $50 and as long as I get the rent by the 10th I'll be happy.
I've never been thanked so earnestly for anything in my life. You'd think I just saved the guy's first born child. *Sigh* What a lot to deal with before 9am in the morning.
July 2, 2009
Tenant Offers to Pawn Items for Rent Money
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
It must be really hard to live that close to the edge. Sad.
If money is that tight they should move to a cheaper rent (assuming rent is $1125). most poor ppl are poor for their inability to make good financial decisions.
back to Obama and free-ponies for all!
I'm a little more jaded than the two of you because know some people who have a different dramatic story every month, and I eventually lost empathy for their inability to manage money on the most basic level. Also, I once owned a house and rented it to tenants I believed were OK (I was even friendly with the female half of the couple - she had formerly been a property manager for apartments and she very professionally separated our landlord/tenant relationship from our friendship and never held my need to charge the contractual late fee against me - this is a bit of a side story - she finally left her significant other and moved back "home" to manage property with her mother and it was probably the best thing for her.)
Anyway, I believed that her partner would bring in enough money even though his income was not documentable, (the real estate agent who managed all of this for me warned me, but she also built in the monumental, crippling late fees) but eventually he worked less and less and it turned out that they semi-trashed the place and did/(maybe sold) drugs there. It was a good first experience as a landlord because it's made me cautious and aware that anything can happen; I think I'd trust my gut more from now on when evaluating tenants. I was more open-minded then.
Meg, you may be getting yourself into dangerous territory here. If you accept rent late like this, then try to demand on time payment in the future, courts may find that you've altered the contract with your tenant and you may find that the courts won't allow you to demand on-time payment in the future.
See http://www.housing-rights.org/pay_rent.html, particularly "The landlord may be prevented from evicting a tenant if a pattern is established of accepting late payments from the tenant."
IANAL, but I think you probably should have left your tenant with an 3-day notice to quit (i.e. an eviction notice) and started eviction proceedings. The case wouldn't be heard before the 10th and you could drop the case if your tenant pays before the 10th, but this course of action at least sets the stage for you demanding on time payment in the future, and evicting if rents are late.
I would have to say i am more jaded than ALL of you. The guy paid early when he could, you know the wife was sick and couldn't work.They never paid late before.444,the landlord/tenant relationship is symbiotic.Both need the other.Who is really helping who? Unless you want to pay for your own property you need the renter.In the long run it is the owner who accrues equity.the renter all paid for that equity.When you buy a home to rent out so others can pay for your investment, it is you being the one with your hand out for money.
Post a Comment