Tenant Scenario: Rent Still Not Paid by the 5th

If rent has still not been paid by the 5th of the month call the tenant. Find out why they have not paid. If they give flimsy excuses you may want to consider posting a demand for rent or possession (Start Eviction Process).

If you feel the tenant wants to pay, and they have been an otherwise good tenant, work out a payment plan. You may accept partial payment and then come to an agreement about how the remainder will be paid.

Make sure to write out the terms of the payment plan and have the tenant sign it or it's difficult to enforce.

If your tenant has lost their job they will likely have trouble paying rent. Come to a reasonable solution that gets them out of your property quickly without them doing a lot of damage.

You may consider asking them to be out in 2 weeks and waiving any lease breakage fees so long as the property is in good condition when they vacate.

There may come a time when your tenant refuses to pay rent. Find out the reason why they feel they do not owe rent.

If the tenant does not have a valid reason to not pay rent then start the eviction process.

Provide the tenant a Demand for Rent or Possession.

Upon service or post of Demand tenant has 3 days to pay rent in full. The 3 days starts the day after you post the demand.

• Notice can be provided by landlord or attorney
• Make an effort to serve to tenant in person (no sneaking up & leaving on the door in the dead of night)
• You may Post to the door if the tenant is not home or no one over 15 years of age is home
• Mail a copy of the Demand to the tenant on the day it is served
• Certified mail is not required as the Court will assume the mail was delivered
• You must accept full payment if provided with-in the 3 days
• Partial payment can be refused
• If you usually allow rent to be deposited directly into your account notify the Tenant that this has been temporarily suspended (this keeps them from sneaking in a partial payment which may slow the eviction process)

Hire an attorney to handle the eviction process and serve the initial notice.

If you choose to serve the tenant the first notice yourself and the tenant fails to pay in full in the 3 day period, then hire an attorney to handle the eviction process from there on out.

If the tenant pays in full in the 3 days no further action towards eviction need be pursued. Should you have acquired any legal fees while serving notice to Pay or Quit you may bill those back to the tenant.

Inform your tenant of any late fees or legal fees they may owe. Send them an itemized invoice via email and regular mail. You can request separate payment of these fees or roll them into next month's rent.

Be diligent about attempting to collect in a timely manner as any delay can be used against you if you end up in court to try to get the fees paid.

Once the tenant is out, make any necessary repairs to the property and start advertising for new tenants.