Tenants rent was due on the 1st.

No rent.

They have deposit slips and are supposed to make the rent to the rental account at the bank, so there is a 3rd party handling the transaction.

This is clearly written in the lease. "We don't take rent payments directly". Always has been.

I check on them after the bank close on the 1st, when will you have rent. He says, "I'm not getting my paycheck until Friday"

OK I said. Please include the (small) late fee, per the lease terms.

Friday the 3rd comes and goes, and no rent.

I get a text from him saying, "I will make rent tomorrow. I didn't want to go tonight I have to walk to the bank."

Okay. So the bank is halfway across town. And this morning its 13'F.

Not to mention a snowstorm is coming tomorrow, and the bank closes on Saturdays at noon, and of course is closed Sunday.

I just didn't reply last night.

I do not want to get into the business of driving tenants around at their need. I know he does not have a car, but that is his own business.

Would you get involved in something like this?

Would you get hold of him at 11, and offer to pick up the money. Because that implies you're going to be driving across town and doing it every month.

What would you do.

Sorry, clarification.

Rent was due on the 2nd this month (banks were closed on the 1st because of the holiday).

That's when he said he'd have it on the 3rd, now its the 4th.

If he doesn't get it in by noon today, it will be almost a week late Monday already (the 6th).

I'm sure you're familiar with how fast it goes.

Frankly if they get past a full week, the following month's rent is affected. Its never good.

Sounds like most of the Red Flags

should have been seen during the screening /

application process.

WWID ? Buy a bucket of Aspirins.

It took about 4 times to train the elephant family to take their money orders/checks to the LOCAL bank that I set up just for that purpose of depositing rent. It's about a 3 minute drive tops to this bank. If they had to walk to the main branch it would be about 10 minutes.

At first they were trying to get me to "swing by" and pick it up personally, um no.

@Plenty MO have you actually had rentals before?

You sound like a tenant pretending.

If so you definitely need to try leasing yourself.

@RB TN you may as well blame me for renting property at all and for Original Sin. So this is my fault for not reading his mind in advance? What happened to free will lol.

We live in a digital world. I would have them pay via an app like Zelle. Most banks have that app.

Or have them do a mobile deposit to your account with his phone.

JP: Clearly you have not met Plenty. Stick around & you will learn from her experience.

What I would do: Immediately send (I would have already)a property written notice of non-payment including all the required verbiage & information. It sounds like you haven't done this. I would have done this the morning after rent was due & unpaid - 3rd, by email. In my rental agreement we agree to electronic communications & choose email as the primary method.

Then, as soon as your laws allow, go file for eviction.

What you are doing is teaching the tenant that they are in charge & they can pay - or not - whenever they want.

Keep coming back here & you will be exposed to better ways to run your business.

As DJ said. Train them now or it will continue to decline. Uber works pretty much anytime day or night. I would also start looking into accepting electronic payment so you can eliminate this excuse and improve everyone's life.

I would not drive the tenant to the bank, However, I would drive over there on day five and post the pay or quit on their door.

Rent is due on or BEFORE the 1st in our lease. If the 1st falls on a holiday, pay by the 30th or 31st. My tenant can pay all month long in small chunks if they want, but all of it must be received BY the 1st or what their due date is.

MikeA, I had not heard that this could be happening.

I still have a few that night drop a check at my CU. One refuses to learn anything electronic beyond texting and the other doesn't trust any of the electronic pay stuff.

We used to be able to scan checks with our phone and deposit it directly into the bank. Then they stopped allowing that to happen with business accounts. That stinks because I still get checks from my collections company as well as the occasional escrow overage and the one guy that is buying a property from me.

JP in IL

Plenty is an experienced LL with good ideas.

Elephants are smart and do not wish to be associated with the human race and certainly not compared to them, grins....

Welcome back, Duplexer...

Well, I wouldn't ask "what would you do" on a website full of experienced landlords and then turn into a snotty little turd when they recommend things you should have done.

"@Plenty MO have you actually had rentals before?

You sound like a tenant pretending.

If so you definitely need to try leasing yourself.

@RB TN you may as well blame me for renting property at all and for Original Sin. So this is my fault for not reading his mind in advance? What happened to free will lol."

My Eviction Judge did not understand why I needed the Rent Money to be paid on time, why I couldn't wait a month or two? So I asked the Judge did his parents teach him about the Birds and the Bee's. They Judge said why of course. Well I explained to the Judge these tenants (Man and his main squeeze) didn't have fathers and were raised by their grand parents. They were never taught about "money". Instead if they find any loose cash in their pockets, it can be spent on anything, ie vap, drugs, weed, wine or beer.

So I set up:

Direct Deposit, Wire Transfer, Bill Pay, Pay Pay, a Drop Box, Resident Manager who will accept rent from 5am to 11pm. And this wasn't enough to facilitate payment by these tenants.

This is an everyday issue in landlording, one that should be spelled out how to be handled in your written policies and procedures. Here's mine.

Rent is due on the first. Late fee of 10% due on the 2nd. If no payment or not caught up on a payment plan that I approve of, I file on the 8th.

simple. Cut. Dry. I never deviate.

This answers your question... Assuming you're okay with the answer.

I used to listen to excuses and "I'll have the rent by X". Have you noticed that "X" never shows up?

Unlike what the band Journey sang, there true is a time when you have to Stop Believin'. Money talks. Right now, you're getting the silent treatment. Nothing like an eviction notice posted on the front door to wake up the sleepy heads. Of course, they'll blame you for it, but so what? Deadbeats blaming landlords for their woes is nothing new.

This is why you MUST have written policies and procedures and you MUST follow them, always. No excuses. Write them down. Today. Then follow them.

1) Did they pay you yet?

2) What does your lease say if they don't pay you?

I recommend you follow the lease that both of you agreed upon initially, even (& especially) if the tenant elects not do so.

You will have to convince the tenant that this is a business decision and not personal. If you are felling that doing so is a personal issue, you probably should be outsourcing the eviction if the tenant elects not to follow the lease.

Part of the job of a property manager is to train tenants to perform routine task, like paying rent. If they are not paying rent, I would be asking myself, what else are they not doing. So I would be doing a health and safety walk through, perhaps you might find piles of trash inside the house.