Hi fellow LL,

Last Sunday, I signed the lease for an apartment with a guy who checked out just fine for employment and credit (score 715). He planned to pay for the $1500 first month rent through Zelle. Due to the fact that it was his first time using Zelle, his bank only allowed him to do $500 a day. Therefore he transferred $500 to me on Sunday and agreed to do another $500 on Monday and Tuesday to complete the $1500. Monday came, he did the transfer. Tuesday came, no money from him. I texted him and asked for the money. No response. This is no a good sign. I don't want to chase rent after he moves in. I've been thinking about finding a new prospect to replace this guy (and return his $1000, of course). The signed lease could be voided because the money wasn't there to complete the transaction. So, I put up the ads and scheduled 5 showings for 5 people tomorrow. Just 15 minutes before I posted this question, he texted me saying that "Sorry I just unfroze the account and will send $500 to you in the morning".

A couple of questions:

- how hard is it to fill a vacancy Chicago in October?

- is the guy collectable?

- can you afford to carry him until the court systems become fully functional?

I have had tenants have limits on how much they can Venmo/Zelle at a time. Granted they are the more financially challenged folks. Depending on your answers, I might take a bird in hand over in the bush.

Robert J [CA], great policy. Thanks for sharing. I'll add that to my lease.

Laura [MD], the answers to your questions are as follow:

- yes, it's fairly hard to fill vacancy in October and nobody moves during Winter

- it's hard to collect from him because he's 1099

- yes I can afford to carry him until the court opens, but I'd rather not

Small potatoes [NY], hahaha XD I love "Let him chase you for his money". Give the same pills that tenants give us landlord (chasing money).

Bonanza [NC], I know that the Zelle limit is real. What I didn't like is that he did not give me any explanation when he could not fulfill the agreement (even after I texted him). Let see if the money comes in the morning as he said.

Lynn [MA], you're right. I had the same thought. If I were him, I would contact the LL and offer to provide cash or cashier's check and provide an explanation.

plenty [MO], thanks for sharing your story. I know that Zelle at my end is not the problem. I've received rent through Zelle over $10,000 every month from multiple tenants. Never have a problem. The $500 limit is real for a new user. I know that for sure. How do you "spank" him a bit for not phoning? :-)

Total vote count:

Keep: 2

your first sentence says: "you signed the lease".

Gee I'm sorry but you signed a lease CONTRACT.

You just can't VOID it....

You took a 1099 without money up front paid in full.

My gut reaction is dump

Consider:

Why was his account "frozen" - what does that mean? Did he have sufficient funds?

The "biggie" for me is: Why didn't he communicate on Tuesday that he was trying but Zelle or his bank wasn't cooperating. If the time stamp on your post is correct, he waited until LATE in the day Wed to contact you. IF he was trying to make the transfer all day Tuesday, he should have at least contacted you FIRST thing Wed AM. Really should have called you the moment it didn't go through the first time. My guess is he hadn't been paid from his last job yet = he has $ trouble.

If it really was issues with the zelle transfer, he should be able to show you the messages that say something like "your transfer was unsuccessful, code # xxx" and his bank statement that shows sufficient funds at the time. Then, MAYBE I would still take him, with a firm discussion on how important timely communication is & how close he was to losing the house because of it.

If he can't show those things instantly, or if he reacts to you with "no big deal, what's your problem? you got your money" rather than apologizing: Bye bye.

Communication & cooperation is HUGE!

Of course, it depends on what the lease says.

i think you will be ok with him. I do have a tenant who can't get more than $500 at a time from the MAC machine but I don't know why. So she pulls money over two days and then pays me cash. I once sold something on Ebay and it took three tries for the buyer to pay me the whole amount. Then I found that I had set a limit of transfer at $9,000 which is under the amount that makes bells ring at the IRS. The buyer was Getty Images. It was a daguerreotype.

myob[GA], errr... so what is your vote? Keep or dump?

Many small local banks does have a $500 per day limit via Zelle. I had a similar situation but the new tenant did $500 transfer every day first thing in the morning and kept good communication with me through out. During Covid19, we sign lease virtually.. I don't release an executed copy of the lease until all funds are received, and I give them a time frame to get things done, within 2 days typically ( technically tenant can bail out of a signed lease with 3 days as well)

In your case, I'd say Dump It -- because of not keeping his words and no response when you tried to reach him. Trust your gut.

I'm glad you came back to me. You have a signed contract-- even if they don't perform its still a lease and you would be required to terminate them and the lease. That's my take. Can you not see them handing that contract to the judge?

I/we don't know of anyone signing a lease without full performance of funds. Everyone we know does a money's due type LETTER not the lease-- because now the state LL tenant laws control.

What makes you think you can void the lease?

You are committed in my opinion. Work it out and keep it in your mind-- NO leeway for this person.

1/2 my tenants use Zelle. When they first use it, many have trouble due to the limits imposed by Zelle/the bank, none of us are sure which. Sometimes the bank will keep to the limit set, sometimes over time they allow an increase. We are not sure what determines either. Sometimes they communicate early on, other times theycommunicate after trying unsuccessfully.

Knowing this from several current tenants that are regularly paying on time after we all understood limits/etc. We used to use SQUARE until they started charging without warning.

I stress that communication is key from the get go. I also believe in backup plans. So see if he pays you as promised tomorrow a.m. and if so, you can cancel showings with your "back ups". Up to you if you want to communicate that you have a backup list to act on if his last payment doesn't come through. IF Zelle/bank is problematic, he would need to firstly communicate to you immediately and resolve via cashier's check.