Rent is due on the 1st,

On the 5th I call the tenant and he says he'll call me back but doesn't. I text him asking him to send the rent payment but he doesn't reply.

On the 6th, I tell him since he hasn't called me back, responded to my text message and hasn't sent the rent payment that I will have to call my attorney to start the eviction process if they don't send the rent payment. Tenant says to go ahead and start the eviction process.

Look at the bright side...you are nearing peak rental season. What makes you think this tenant will improve?

Any advice on how to handle it with the lawyers? I got a quote of $2k from one attorney but I know the tenant has the right to pay the rent and than I can't evict him.

I don't want to pay $2k to get the process started and than the tenant has a change of heart and decides to pay the rent (which is obviously good). Is there a way to structure it where I only pay a portion if we don't have to go to court?

The advice oft given here is to to the Housing court session in your jurisdiction, and look for the attorneys that have a bunch of files....those the ones that do this regularly

Get their business cards and talk to them when they are not in court

OTOH, it MIGHT be possible to avoid getting to the eviction stage, but, the tenant isn't going to lead this. I have, in the past, gotten one tenant to get through a tough time, and she paid me back, though I did reduce the amount she owed. This isn't for everyone, only you know your people skills, and isn't for every tenant. I had another tenant who had a tendency for violence. That tenant would have been a big NOPE for trying any sort of mediation.

Tenants are reluctant to discuss with landlords, for good reason, their shortcomings. Often, Because they know they caused their situation through their choices. If your tenant was hostile when they texted to go ahead with eviction process, then, indeed, they did tell you to eff off. But, if they were more conciliatory, then, perhaps, a letter, inquiring about situation, describing options, may yields some results. But, again, only you know your people skills, your ability to teach, to mentor, to train. And your desire to do any of that. My husband, for instance would absolutely be rubbish at any of that, those he is very successful at earning income. I'm much better at training, teaching, though not so successful in life at earning income. ( Strongly suspect there is correlation to that, but, I still gotta teach, train; its in my Mom DNA.)

Point being, IF you could get tenant out, with no additional costs, and with recovering some of the rent portion now, and perhaps a promise to pay a reduced amount over time, of the balance, might it be worth a try? One landlord who used to post on this forum ( NE, we/ I miss your wisdom,) sends regular reminders to former tenants about balances they owed-AND HE COLLECTS! Oh, sure, probably not 100%, and probably not immediately, but he has had some success.

Start the eviction process.

My rent is due on the first. I give 3 days grace period. On day 3 I call my tenant and unless I have the rent in hand by midnight on the 4th I call and email my attorney the eviction information to proceed if it is a business day.

The T didn't give any explanation or ask for more time so it is a F you in my book. They are calling your bluff. Unless there is info you have left out, he burnt that bridge.

The best thing to do to find an attorney is to go to court and observe. If you can't do that, the next best thing would be to find the local LL group in your area and call the president. He/she can probably recommend a good one. Then, start going to their meetings and join the group. This will help you in the future with more than just evictions. Meetings are typically in the evenings or on weekends, so work shouldn't be an issue for that.

This is a two part answer. First of all in Los Angeles the City Counsel passed a new law, Tenants have an automatic 30 day grace period paying their rent. So don't get all bent out of shape about a few days!

Next, I had a tenant who didn't respond to my calls, messages, emails or texting. So I posted a sign on the parperty laws saying, "An apartment MAY be for RENT, taking applications". Listing the apartment number.

That tenant got around 30 knocks on the door, people wanting to look at the unit. The tenant called me back, again and again, around 20 times. Then around 7pm I called them back. I said sorry, I had my phone on vibrate and didn't notice they had called me. They said why did I post a for rent sign. I responded,

I didn't know if you were dead.

You refused to answer any of my calls.

You didn't pay your rent.

I was accumulating applicants so after I completed the eviction or removal of junk, I'd have a new tenant.

This made the tenant fuming mad. Then I sent another tenant of mine in that building to serve them with a 3 day notice to pay or quit. I got my rent money on the second day of the notice.

Dave what is in the water there?

Why did you mention atty? Don't threaten with atty. I'M FILING IN THE MORNING. PERIOD!!!! this isn't a negotiation.

Don't are how long hes been with you-- he's voided the contract. Get you business face back up- suck it up and do what all of us hate to do-- FILE FOR NONE PAYMENT OF RENT.

Another case of a LL who waits to find out what do I do next!!!!

Oh gee's I never thought anyone wouldn't pay me?????

Yea right.

I've had a lot of success working with tenants who were in temporary dire straits who wanted to work something out, but in your case, your tenant isn't trying to work anything out - they basically gave you the middle finger.

This isn't a game of lets make a deal. If the tenant sees you at this point, they know why you are there. You need to state the obvious, "Son you need find a different place that allows you to live for free - this isn't one of them." BTW - does any LL say they will allow a place to be rent free NO WAY - but there actions allow it to happen.

Here's a really good law office who does evictions in every NJ county. Cohen-Marraccini,LLC, Southampton, PA Office: 215-887-8100.