6 years ago, I rented a house to a lady that had 4 teenage children living with her. Those teenage children had service type jobs and were helping their mother pay rent and other monthly expenses. Back then, full rent ($700) was always paid on the 1st.

Two years ago, I learned that all of her children had moved out and are working and living their own lives now. My tenant called me to discuss the situation and I told her I could put her a bi-monthly rent payment plan, similar to the one that Brad20K uses. That worked out okay for about 6 months until she lost her job. She has another job now but not making her old higher salary.

On June 1st, she called with her usual first of the month sob story about how tough it is to pay rent (which is now $800/month) and wanted me to devise another rent payment plan, which I am not going to do anymore. I told her I wanted full rent plus late fees paid by the 7th. I doubt she will follow through with this.

So, my question is: how would YOU handle this situation? I already know what I am going to do here, but what would YOU do?

You've told her what you wanted/needed (payment in full with late fee, etc by a certain date). If she follows through with that... fine. If she doesn't, serve and move forward.

Non renew unless she fails to pay; in which case evict.

Another point... it doesn't matter how long they have been there. one month or 10 years... if they are not paying or following the rules then they need to be reminded who is in charge.

You can either adopt her or give her notice to vacate.

You might have to evict her since she can not pay your low rent, so she won't be able to afford anything else, either. So be prepared to do that.

Perhaps she will have some luck and her kids will kick in a little rent money since the landlord is getting balky about supporting their mother and is tired of supporting her. So give her the notice to pay or get out and maybe her kids will copme through for her.

Life is too darn short for me to adopt someone else's stress...I have my own, and my kids, and my grandkids...can't pay? Move.

"I already know my answer"

but I'm gonna start a round table discussion anyway

3 months ago, I had a talk with her and I told her you are living in a house that you can no longer afford. Her misguided response was "I love this house and I hope to buy it from you someday". I told her, "your water service has been suspended for non-payment,...doesn't that tell you something?"

Lack of rent and lack of utility service are two prime reasons to evict for me.

You might be doing her a favor by getting rid of her now. Maybe one of the kids will take her in until she finds a cheaper place to live.

RB,

What I would do:

DJ,

Since water is a necessity, down here the water dept. allows deadbeats to pay $15/week towards their over-due water bills, which could be in the hundreds. When the $15 is not paid, the water is cut off and a reconnect charge ($60.00) to remove the padlock is added to their over-due running total. I feel sure my tenant has water now but I was just trying to make a point with her once I saw the disconnect notice on her door.

DJ seems to be the only one that caught your question.

I'm still learning so I best not answer.

Why do you rent to these type tenants?

Had a tenant who got the electric shut off so many times that the main breaker failed. Not once but twice. Ended up arcing and ruining the copper busbar. I had to replace the entire breaker box after that.

I told her that if she had the electric shut off again she had to move. It happened and she bailed. I still had to file for eviction and damages.

6x6,

I have only used Brad20K's pay day on a few tenants and it does work for awhile but then something happens. So, instead of being late on the first payday, they are now late on payday #2 also. So, I end up chasing rents and additional late fees at various times of the month. I have completely stopped all pay-day rent plans I may have experimented with at one time or another.

Plenty,

My written policy is to evict if not paid in full by the 7th day past the due date. So that's what I always do.

I just noticed that RB/TN doesn't ever really post anything helpful at all. Ever. I thought the snarky comments were just to me but then I randomly searched and realized they never post anything of worth to anyone. I'm not even sure they own property or are a landlord.

Sid,

If this was 1st year tenant, I would file for eviction. However, since this tenant has been with me for 6 years and has paid rent for all of those 72 months, I want to play this one different and try to avoid a very costly eviction if at all possible. A 30 day Notice to Vacate will give her an opportunity to move out on her own terms instead of a court ordered move out. However, if she does not move in 30 days, then I will have no choice but to file for eviction. On side note, she is living in a large 3/1 house of mine that could rent for $1,200/month in today's market.

Sometimes good tenants turn into not so good tenants---or even bad tenants......

Treat everyone the same...no pay, no stay

Thank you, Roy.

Ken,

On Monday, I will post two notices on her door. One will be a 7-day P/Q notice and the other will be a 30 day Notice to Vacate. Now, if she pays rent, that will cancel out the 7-day P/Q notice but it will not cancel the 30 Day Notice to Vacate.

She can no longer afford to stay there so she needs to go; it will be in her best interest to do so. Alabama is very LL friendly so I would non renew/evict her.

Luckily, in NC, if you file for "breach of lease for failure to pay rent when due" instead of "failed to pay rent" (two different boxes on the form) paying rent does not stop the eviction if you don't want it to.

If you don't have a written lease, you have to check the second. But if you have a lease, then they indeed breached it by not paying rent.

Roy,

There comes a time when good residents are no longer good residents. It's usually a slow evolution so the LL does not notice until it's a big hairy problem.

Management means making the tough decisions BEFORE they get big.

"Work with me" = PayDayPlan.

If she cannot keep up with weekly rent she needs to fins a place she CAN afford.

I would help her move out to avoid eviction on her record.

"Mary, It's time to go before this turns into an eviction on your public record. Once filed it will be early impossible to find a new home."

FWIW We have moved decent renters into lower priced homes they CAN afford. Get a fresh application if this is a possibility.

BRAD

Brad20K,