State Specific Question About: NEW HAMPSHIRE (NH)

You get what you allow. Probably can't terminate the lease because you have accepted that behavior but unless your laws are reasonable not like California you probably don't have to re-new.

In my tenants 101 class I tell new tenants your year 2 increase can be 3% or 13% or more depending on how you respect me as your landlord.

Pmh, Jim:

I probably should have worded the post a bit differently. We haven't accepted their behavior.

You need to find out why they are constantly late and try to remedy it.

- Do they get paid on a different day? If yes, why don't you amend the rental agreement, make the payment day right after they get paid, and charging for the additional days accordingly.

- However, you mentioned that they sometimes stretch it to 30 days, and that's not acceptable.

- If you want to keep them as tenants, and if they continue to be late, raise your rent whenever you can without delays, to the maximum allowed in your state, and keep them M2M.

I just have a hunch that sooner or later they will not pay after 30 days, and by then you will be 30 behind...lose/lose situation for you.

Plenty and Jkj: Solid advice! Definitely wording our lease differently next time...live & learn.

Still unsure of what my legal recourse is. NH is very vague, but my lease does specify if they fail to pay rent when due and the default continues for seven (7) days thereafter, Landlord may exercise any and all rights and remedies available to Landlord at law or in equity or may immediately terminate this Agreement.

From NH Law CHAPTER 540 ACTIONS AGAINST TENANTS 540:2 Termination of Tenancy:

I. The lessor or owner of restricted property may terminate any tenancy by giving to the tenant or occupant a notice in writing to quit the premises in accordance with RSA 540:3 and 5, but only for one of the following reasons:

(a) Neglect or refusal to pay rent due and in arrears, upon demand.

(b) Substantial damage to the premises by the tenant, members of his household, or guests.

(c) Failure of the tenant to comply with a material term of the lease.

(d) Behavior of the tenant or members of his family which adversely affects the health or safety of the other tenants or the landlord or his representatives, or failure of the tenant to accept suitable temporary relocation due to lead-based paint hazard abatement, as set forth in RSA 130-A:8-a, I.

(e) Other good cause.

(f) The dwelling unit contains a lead exposure-hazard which the owner will abate by:

(1) Methods other than interim controls or encapsulation;

(2) Any other method which can reasonably be expected to take more than 30 days to perform; or

(3) Removing the dwelling unit from the residential rental market.

(g) Willful failure by the tenant to prepare the unit for remediation of an infestation of insects or rodents, including bed bugs, after receipt of reasonable written notice of the required preparations and reasonable time to complete them.

III. If the grounds for eviction is other good cause as set forth in paragraph II(e) of this section, and such cause is based on the actions or inactions of the tenant, members of his family, or guests, the landlord shall, prior to the issuance of the eviction notice, provide the tenant with written notice stating that in the future such actions or inactions would constitute grounds for eviction. Such notice shall be served in accordance with RSA 540:5 or by certified mail.

Not sure if article I(a) I(c) or I(e) applies in this case since if they are inconsistent with when they pay their rent which violates the lease. Seems like it would. A

you wrote: but my lease does specify if they fail to pay rent when due and the default continues for seven (7) days thereafter,

you wrote: but my lease does specify if they fail to pay rent when due and the default continues for seven (7) days thereafter,

you wrote: but my lease does specify if they fail to pay rent when due and the default continues for seven (7) days thereafter,

Tillis, there are two ways that I know of to end a lease early: Mutual agreement or eviction. That's it.

I don't know how your legal system is set up, but I think tenants have a right to cure a no-pay violation by paying. You can't just end the lease. Let me know if I am wrong.

Consistently allowing late payments could very well work against you in court.

Also, Fred's comment here is ridiculous:

"You need to find out why they are constantly late and try to remedy it."

Jeff CO,

I was referring to their payroll day, or any other issue they may be harboring, like a plan to get the PO get used to late rents.

The remedy is of course: follow the lease or get evicted.

Yes, Fred, I still find it ridiculous - and bad advice.

The rent due date is set in the lease. It is up to the tenant to find the way to make it work. They have already agreed to it.

If a tenant's pay days change and the cycle is off, it is up to the TENANT to approach the landlord. (Which, by the way, would be a problem or concern and not an "issue").The landlord then has the option of amending the lease or not.

I don't see evidence of any of that in the OP's post.

It's NOT up to the landlord to find out why they are late and try to fix it. Just the opposite is true.

Good post, Pmh, by the way.

When I have a late paying tenant who's causing me some stress I simply have a meaningful conversation with them, in person if at all possible. My plan is to find out why they are late. Then make an agreement. If the tenant know's they won't be able to pay the rent by the 5th of the month, they have to leave me a text'ed message (or voice mail) saying when I can pick up the rent.

If the tenant pays half of the rent by the 10th of the month, AND the balance by the 20th, there will be no late fee or eviction.

If I don't have half by the 10th, I will issue a 3 day notice. Then if the full rent isn't received by the 15th, I will evict.

When I had 30 late paying tenants from a property I purchased, I could have just evicted the late payers and lost $35,000 in rent and legal costs. Instead by working with these late payers, I got 80% of the rent on time. Then I slowly evicted (around 4 per month) the worst of those payers.

You need to issue notice to quit and eviction papers on the day rent is late - no grace period -

They can only cure the late rent 3 times in 12 months or they can be evicted

Follow through and go to court and file for eviction and you will win

This is NH the....... "Live Free or Die" state

"Grudgingly" is a key word here. Mr. Landlord teaches the NUMBER ONE QUALIFICATION he looks for in a prospective resident is COOPERATION. THis tenant doesn't sounds as if they meet that qualification.

SO...moving forward...I would notify them...in writing (email or text is fine!) that late rent will no longer be acceptable. A notice to cure, basically.

Something like, "Happy New Year! In this new decade, we are giving notice that we will be upholding the terms of our lease from now on. Rent is due on or BEFORE the due date. We will no longer allow late rent - should rent be late again, regardless of whether or not the late fee is paid, we will be filing for a summary ejectment for breach of lease, according to the terms of the lease and NH law.

Thanks everyone for the input, truly appreciated.

The last 15 years, we've managed to have good, reasonable people that pay on time (I realize how unusual this is). We've always been responsive landlords to house related things that pop up, but since we've started imposing the late fee, there's been some unreasonable & demanding behavior from them, almost like retaliation. These red flags (very early into their lease) makes us want to be done with them. We shall see what unfolds when rent is due in January.

Do a search at the top for "Zero Tolerance". Some of the folks here abbreviate it to "ZT", so you can search for that too. Since I have adopted this policy, on time collections have gone way up. I already have 25% of rents collected for Jan and that has never happened.

I do the $50 pre payment rent discount

I raise rent $50 above market and tell them to take $50 off if they pay on or before the 1st -

They all do pay by the 1st

nhsailmaker--the "discount" is a great strategy. And I see we are both in NH. This sounds like something to incorporate into the next lease for this unit.

WMH--we screen thoroughly and base our decision not just on how prospects look on paper, but on their personality when meeting them--how they present themselves, how they interact with us, etc. But you can't possibly know exactly how someone is going to be as a tenant until they're already in there. We made an allowance 2 times too many when they had excuses for being late--new job which meant new payroll date, being sick, taking care of sick family members, etc. I agree--no more of that. If we must, we will use the wording of our lease to remind them of the consequences greater than a late fee. But we also don't want to evict a family in the winter, either.

"But you can't possibly know exactly how someone is going to be as a tenant until they're already in there." True to some degree, but I think you will find that the more you screen for cooperativeness as a characteristic, the rest follows.

For instance, during the application process, did they:

Show up on time for appointments? As in, early!?

Communicate effectively?

Provide the correct documents/information when requested, or did you have to follow up?

Agree to your terms and conditions without trying to change them?

Ask to paint? (LOL!!)

Find fault or criticize anything along the way?

WMH: We screen for cooperativeness, character traits-- and all of these things you speak of. They showed up on time, agreed to our terms, communicated, didn't find fault with us or our property, provided everything we needed without prompts, etc. In other words--ideal.