Every landlord wants a reliable renter who always pays rent on time. However, you may occasionally encounter tenants who consistently pay rent late. Whether you’re currently dealing late payments, or if you’re concerned about a tenant’s payment behavior, there are a few things you can do to help rectify the situation.
Establish clear communication
Engaging a renter in an honest conversation can sometimes help you resolve the situation amicably. Your renter may be dealing with issues or new developments in their personal or professional life that affects their ability to pay rent on time. For example, a job change that results in a lower salary or new pay days could impact a tenant’s rent payment schedule. For this reason, a one-time honest conversation with your renter should be your first course of action. The information you gather should guide you moving forward.
If you decide to draft a new lease due to the change in a renter’s circumstances, you’ll want to enact new rent payment guidelines. Consult your local ordinances when drafting a lease agreement to avoid any legal issues, especially with late rent fees.
Communication will also be helpful if all a renter needs is a gentle reminder. Provide some reminders approximately one to two days before the due date to foster a positive landlord-renter relationship.
Check your lease documents
If after having a conversation and making any adjustments your tenant continues to make late rent payments, turn to your lease agreement. The agreement should describe what action you should take, including how long the grace period should be, late fee charges, and other legal actions that you can pursue if necessary.
Document the process you undertake from here for personal records and circumstances when deciding to initiate a legal suit.
Send a late rent notice
This official document is one you should send to a tenant who always pays rent late. The notice informs the renter about the rent payment guidelines. It serves as a polite reminder that the rent is due according to the lease agreement. While the document might not be legally binding, it may prompt the renter to pay the late rent.
A late rent notice also shows the next steps you are willing to take if rent continues to be late. Most rental agreements state that rent is due on the first day of each month. For this reason, you’ll want to send a prompt notice on the sixth or the 11th of the month to give the tenant a five-day grace period. A formal notice also reduces the late fee charge.
You may want to write a late rent notice that best depicts your situation with a tenant paying rent late. This late rent notice can serve to acknowledge that you have not received a timely rent payment.
Present the document to the renter in person, email it, or attach the note on the individual’s door. Following up this written communication with a telephone call can ensure your renter has received the notice and understands that the renter is late in paying rent.
Use an online rent payment tool
Allowing your renter to make payments online can help encourage renters to make rent payments early and easily.
You can use landlord resource tools available through Zumper to send rent reminders, maintain rent payment records, and provide you and your renter easy access to these records.
An online rent payment tool could help encourage a tenant late paying rent to make timely payments to you.
Send your renter a payment or quit notice
Dealing with a renter who is always late paying rent can be stressful. If all the above efforts don’t work, you have a legal right to initiate the eviction process. The eviction starts when you serve a payment or quit notice to your tenant for violating the lease agreement.
This statement indicates the eviction notice, the amount of rent due, all fees incurred, and the due date of payment. You may find it more effective to serve this notice in person, but local laws can dictate how to serve the notice in good faith. Be sure to send an extra copy by mail as well for your backup records.
Seek legal redress
If the notice doesn’t serve the purpose and you decide to seek legal action, do not accept partial payments from the renter. This activity on your part could override the legal action that the above notice intends to fulfill in a court of law.
Engage the services of an eviction lawyer who can help you file a complaint in court. Prepare all the documents that show your tenant always pays rent late.
While the legal process is underway, treat your renter with dignity. Do not threaten to turn off the utilities or prevent the individual from accessing the property, as this behavior may be considered harassment on your part.
Acquire rent default insurance
The legal proceedings could take time, potentially months, leading to a loss of rental income for you. Rent default insurance can compensate you for the loss due to late payment by renters.
A renter who consistently pays rent late is something that landlords may have to deal with from time to time. However, you don’t have to let tenants always late on rent prevent you from disrupting the renter-landlord relationship.
As we’ve seen, simple actions such as sending polite reminders and having open conversations with your renter can help resolve the situation. Suppose these open communication channels don’t provide the results you desire. In that case, you can send an eviction notice to the renter and seek legal help to address the situation with the renter and help you obtain your late rent payments.
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