I let him slide once when his wife walked out AND he was changing jobs at the same time. Now he thinks late is normal. Notice the "We have done this before" comment.

Here is the actual text thread from this morning. Names have been changed.

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Hello...I will pay October's rent on 10/9 with the late charges. Please process payment then. 11:50 AM

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Can u verify u got this message? 12:00 PM

Joe, We do not accept late payments. If you cannot pay the full monthly rent we can switch you to weekly. You would owe $340 on tomorrow's autodraft and not be "late". Then $340 each Friday. KATIE 12:01 PM

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No..that will not work. We have done this before. Just auto draft on the 10/9 .the funds will be there.12:01 PM.

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It is the last time I anticipate any issues.12:02 PM.

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Joe, Unpaid rent automatically triggers eviction. You don't want that on your court record. It never comes off. If someone let you slide earlier that was against policy. We will work with you by placing you on weekly. $340 will be autodrafted Saturday. KATIE 12:11 PM.

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It took me a few years in this business to realize... we are NOT doing our tenants or ourselves any favor by allowing them to be late.

We're simply training them what's acceptable.

It's amazing how they can't pay until you refuse to let them refuse to pay.

He had the money. Or he doesn't and he's going to get booted. Either way, there's zero reason to trust him until the 9th.

I do give him points for contacting you early. I then remove those points for his "We're gonna do it my way" approach. I've noticed how deadbeats do that; they don't/can't pay and then assume you're okay with it because THEY tell YOU how it's going to be.

Um, nope. How about at least a little humility? Something like, "I am so very sorry but I'm short on funds and can't pay the whole rent now. Would you consider letting me pay you $X on the 1st and then I have my paycheck coming in on Oct 9th and can pay the balance and all fees due then, please?"

At least REQUEST the accommodation rather than assume they always get it by default.

Anyway, your training is excellent as always. I hope he's actually got the funds. If not, he'll have until court date to pay up along with late fees, legal fees, etc.

The market hit rock bottom in 1997. So I began to make some really crazy offers on almost anything. One day I found 3 deals and decided to make offers on all three. By that evening I learned they were all accepted, meaning this was going to tap me out on all reserves.

So the reason the owners were selling is because of bad management and poor screening.

If I adopted a Zero Tolerance policy, I'd have 80% vacancy, operating in the black--loosing my shirt each month.

So instead I got to "test" each tenant and see if I could salvage each tenancy instead of eviction, attorney's bills and rehabbing units.

So because of my ability to talk and listen to each sob story and excuse, I was able to set limits and an installment payment plan. If they paid half of the rent by the 10th and most of the balance by the 20th, we were good and there were no late fee's.

This way I could concentrate on the losers and getting over 80% of my monthly income -- thus still making a small profit instead of a great loss.

This is the situation you created as you wrote:

I let him slide once.

So for this guy you want to put him on the more expense payday plan or file eviction. I am not sure I agree with this with this particulate resident and situation.

I have one tenant (my stoner) who just got into the habit of letting me know he would be late and would be paying the fees. I was getting upset about it but then I realized that he is paying the extras and I have too many things on my plate to boot him right now.

I guess I am waiting for a better time, but at least I am getting the money.

Oh, I so am following this thread because I would to know the tenant's next move? Does he adopt a more humbling demeanor similar to what S i d described? Does the tenant become extra nutty and defiant?

He was willing to pay $45 late fee so the extra cost for weekly is less than that this month. He will probably go back to monthly real quick.

I also consider the time and hassle on MY end when everyone else pays on time with autodraft.

It might seem stubborn on my part but always remember if the LL “slides” on repairs he/she can be fined.

PS

They learn at lease signing we operate on ZERO TOLERANCE so he knows.