Hello everyone,

I am taking payment for rent via Zelle. But the issue is a tenant that I posted a 10-day notice for late rent. He owes $2900 and after the notice was posted he sent via Zelle $1000. So I don’t accept partial payments when the rent is late. And I don’t want to now re-post for $1900 and another 10 days.

So my question how do you handle partial payments with Zelle? Is there a way to refuse payment or do you just send partial pmt back, or do you re-post ?

For many of my tenants, they are not able to Zelle more than $500 a day, yet others who bank at same bank can Zelle more. No, I don't think the tenant who was limited was bs-ing. And, that tenant recently purchased a home, so I doubt their finances were terrible.

Double-check what your law is. Here in VA, these are quotes from the Law:

"No landlord may accept full payment of rent, as well as any damages, money judgment, award of attorney fees, and court costs, and receive an order of possession..." Note - FULL

BUT

"a landlord may accept partial payment of rent and other amounts owed by the tenant to the landlord and receive an order of possession....provided that the landlord has stated in a written notice to the tenant that any and all amounts owed to the landlord by the tenant, including payment of any rent, damages, money judgment, award of attorney fees, and court costs, would be accepted with reservation and would not constitute a waiver of the landlord's right to evict the tenant from the dwelling unit. Such notice may be included in a written termination notice given by the landlord to the tenant" Note- PARTIAL

I do not think that sending it back will do any good.

As mentioned find out what the law says about partial payments. Also find out if the T is putting another grand in tomorrow, in case he can only drop so much at a time. Either way he should have said something to you. Then again if he has been paying the rents before now that doesn't seem to be the reason.

I do not use Zelle but I thought you could refuse payments from individuals. If that is so and the tenant restarted the clock then refuse any additional payments so you can get him out.

Thank you for the comments. I didn’t know some states allowed partial payments and still allowed eviction to move forward… that’s Awesome!

Here it’s always been if you accept a partial you have to repost and the clock starts all over again.

So yes, a tenant could pay $5.00 and restart the clock for another 10 days and I would have to post again and continue to do this over and over.

6x6- yes my 10-day notice states payment is only accepted in FULL and in cash or certified funds. So there is that.

Zero- I agree, I’ll wait a couple days for the remainder. But to give some background, this tenant is new, it’s his 2nd month of rent and last month I gave him grace as he said he didn’t know how Zelle worked, even though at lease signing I offered to show him how to set it up several times and he declined.

Also there was damage done to the house that he said wasn’t his fault and I gave home the benefit of the doubt. This item was working when he moved in and cost $1800 to replace, though it was older.

So with this I feel it’s important to set the tone now for the rest of the lease. I am hoping he’ll pay the balance due in short order and it won’t be an issue. I will be texting him with a record of his payments and the balance due. And after a few days I’ll probably repost a new 10-day notice and make it clear that he can only pay in full with cash or certified check.

It’s always a gray area with landlording of weighing every situation to get the desired result, taking into account their attitude, actions, and what they say to determine the best course of action. I try to be flexible, but also strong if necessary. It’s definitely interesting.

Thanks again for all your help

Everyone is such a wealth of knowledge and I appreciate you

Thank you for the comments. I didn’t know some states allowed partial payments and still allowed eviction to move forward… that’s Awesome!

Here it’s always been if you accept a partial you have to repost and the clock starts all over again.

So yes, a tenant could pay $5.00 and restart the clock for another 10 days and I would have to post again and continue to do this over and over.

6x6- yes my 10-day notice states payment is only accepted in FULL and in cash or certified funds. So there is that.

Zero- I agree, I’ll wait a couple days for the remainder. But to give some background, this tenant is new, it’s his 2nd month of rent and last month I gave him grace as he said he didn’t know how Zelle worked, even though at lease signing I offered to show him how to set it up several times and he declined.

Also there was damage done to the house that he said wasn’t his fault and I gave home the benefit of the doubt. This item was working when he moved in and cost $1800 to replace, though it was older.

So with this I feel it’s important to set the tone now for the rest of the lease. I am hoping he’ll pay the balance due in short order and it won’t be an issue. I will be texting him with a record of his payments and the balance due. And after a few days I’ll probably repost a new 10-day notice and make it clear that he can only pay in full with cash or certified check.

It’s always a gray area with landlording of weighing every situation to get the desired result, taking into account their attitude, actions, and what they say to determine the best course of action. I try to be flexible, but also strong if necessary. It’s definitely interesting.

Thanks again for all your help

Everyone is such a wealth of knowledge and I appreciate you

From experience, even some of the most pro landlord judges, will bend over backwards to assist a tenant if the tenant is genuine in trying to pay rent owed. I have even had DJ ask the tenant if they needed more than what was allowed in the lines of the law to pay the difference owed.

So if you really want someone gone, and sometimes that is the case - its not just about money. In those cases, make sure you provide a secondary reason for your filing. A history of late payments can not be changed - there is no way to change history. At best, you can only try to make the present that much better. Training tenants is a huge part of what we do as landlords.

Ray, I was about to suggest getting a list of lease violations together as well.

Sounds like the OP wants to keep the tenant and is just getting started in a training phase.