State Specific Question About: NEW YORK (NY)

Well the marginal tenant who blamed the post office earlier this month for not delivering the rent before the 5th because she mailed it late day Friday the 3rd just texted me and said she had a back injury 7.5 weeks ago (funny she never mentioned it when she was blaming the post office) and that she will be playing "catch up" with the rent through April 13th as she's been out of work for several weeks yada yada. She knows there will be a late charge this time around.

She has the propensity to embellish/exaggerate/leave out details/shift blame as well. I noticed on FB Marketplace she has been selling A LOT of her huge furniture.

I informed her due to the NYS HSTPA of 2019 I will be sending her out a certified late rent notice on the 6th of April.

That would be considered "Late Rent Notice #1"

At what time do you send "Late Rent Notice #2" aka the 14 day demand notification? Kind of murky and no right now I don't intend to get an attorney. She goes month to month May 1st on my RA.

Just thinking about saying let's just end it on June 1st. She's been a complainer and as I stated before she likes to "test the waters."

"This despite the tenant pool being absolutely abysmal."

I'm going to push back on this... I have 53 rental units, and all but 2 of them are solid, on-time payers who follow the lease.

We get what we seek and what we allow.

Examples?

1) Don't allow tenants the opportunity to make excuses like 'the check is in the mail...' or 'the post office lost my rent.' Rather, set up a method where rent must be paid to you without relying on a 3rd party to move the payment manually from point A to point B. Most banks business services departments can set you up with ACH (automatic clearing house) ability to debit someone elses' bank account. If you prefer not to do that, establish a deposit only account and make tenants take their payment there manually. That way the only reason it doesn't get delivered is if the TENANT fails to go there. No more blaming the USPS. Or you can set up auto-debit easily using the ClearNow service on this site. That's probably the quickest, cheapest option for someone with only a few units.

2) Don't allow "testing the waters." The lease is clear. Follow it. Send notices of violations immediately. Don't overlook them. Establish a consistent pattern when you visit the unit and make sure everything is operating as it should.

But really, the best time to nip problems in the bud is prior to signing a lease. I've found that EVERY TIME I end up with a bad tenant, it's something I missed along the way. A step I overlooked. A "blip" on the radar that I chose to ignore because I was too busy to follow up on it. So in that case what I find is I need to review my screening process and tighten it up. In 17 years of landlording and over 50 units, I can think of maybe 3 instances where I dotted every i and crossed every t, and something still went wrong. 95% of the time, the "bad tenant pool" only affects me when I allow it to.

Food for thought and 2 cents to spend where you like!

Looking over her application, she did not and still does not have a vehicle to get to work. The only vehicle I see is her on again/off again husband's pickup truck.

I will think twice about renting to someone without a vehicle as I believe has been mentioned before in various forums.

Per NYS law, Late rent notice #1 will go out on the 6th via cert mail and then late rent notice aka 14 days or quit will go out on the 7th in the same fashion.

She gives off disingenuous vibes although her previous LL where she was already out stated she always paid her rent on time, wasn't a problem etc.

I understand how you feel. Nevertheless, please do not renew her lease in the Summer. Most deadbeats do not improve and she will most likely make you worry each month, waiting for the check in the mail.

You've already hinted about your next tenant who would possess a car. Please start looking at comparable places for rent now to be proactive. Best of luck.

EITHER PARTY MAY TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT, FOR ANY REASON, WITH A 30 DAY WRITTEN NOTICE, BEFORE THE NEXT RENTAL PAYMENT WOULD BE DUE, PROVIDED THAT TENANTS AGREE NOT TO TERMINATE PRIOR TO {{LEASE END DATE}}. . .