New landlord what to do

First question is do you have a written lease?

Ladybug...I hope you have a signed lease!! I rent...and my rent is due on the 1st. If I pay after that date I pay a $32.00 late fee...if it is after the 4th...I pay that plus $6. a day till it's paid...my landlord doesn't call me.( I had been late twice with my ipdl mess)..but it is written in my lease.

We rent too & have a similar lease as to morning.

Do they live close enough to you that if you don't have the payment on Tuesday that you could go knock on the door looking for it?

Maybe you could threaten to download them ... j/k.

On one hand, the "it's in the mail" line is the most common stalling tactic; on the other hand, if it was a lie I tend to think she wouldn't have called you first -- she would have waited for you to call her to use it.

So maybe it's not a lie. I actually have had customers tell me they mailed a payment, I don't get it for two weeks, but the post-mark on it is definitely date 2-weeks prior. Maybe your post office is taking a while.

I would say wait until Tuesday. If not in the mail then, either call her or pay a visit. Make it more of a guilt trip, like "You know I still haven't received the check you mailed, and I've got to make to mortgage payment on the house." At that point ask her to to write you another check, and promise that if you receive the other one you won't cash it.

Maybe if your cash flow is at a point where you need the rent before you can pay your bills, in the future you can collect it in person instead of having herr mail it. My dad used to own an apartment building, and I remember once a month I would drive with him to go collect all the rent.

No it's not like that not getting the rent from the house is a big deal as the house payment is only $500.00 a month, yes we do have a lease that I typed up and I know there is mention of a late fee charge, just don't know should would be such hard a$$'s or just let it slide. Part of me says well let's see how long it takes and the other part of me is pretty p'd right now.

Either way thanks you guys for listening and giving your advice, it's been awhile since I rented anything.

ladybug

I guess I could threaten to download them don't know how serious they would take me considering I am 5'2" and weigh 100 lbs (LOL). I could take my really mean (not) 100 lbs scared of a thunderstorm german shepherd with me jk.

Does anyone know what download really means?

ladybug

Download is just something the CAs use to threaten others with!!!

You could wait until Tuesday,that's your decision. But the thing is, your house payment is due on a certain day or you pay late fees, there's should be too.

If you don't want to confront them, write a letter explaining that they need to take into account-the weekend, any holidays, etc., when mailing their payment, so it will get there on time-otherwise from that point on, there will be a late fee..

Good Luck..KAren :D

I wouldn't let it slide. The first time you let things slide then it happens over and over again. My mother in law has rented properties for about 10 years now. The house is in a small town and the rent is pretty fair considering the excellent location.

She took the nice rout when it came to people being late on rent, not paying the full deposite.. ect. It bit her in the butt many times.

You can be firm without being mean.

FYI you are right, before the girl handed me the deposit check which she wondered if she made it out to me, I politely told her no my husband is the one you make the check out to. It was at that point that I politely explained to her that I was the muscle, jk but that my husband was the nice guy. However, my husband is someone that you don't want to owe any $ to as he is a pain the rearend if yu don't him back immediately, which is why he has $ and I never do and never ask to borrow any because of all the lectures. Thanks for the advice guys.

ladybug

That post was me forgot :oops: to log in.

ladybug

I agree with FYI, dont' let it slide! It's a lesson to be learned for her that u will not accept late payments! If u give in once it'll happen over and over!
Good Luck lady,
Ang

so is there a lease or not?

Luke

Yes we have a lease for 12 months.

ladybug

Good, then the law is in your favor. Ya got to do what ya got to do.


Luke

Hi Ladybug. I agree with everyone. Letting it slide might give her the impression that it is ok to be late all of the time. If you really, really want to give her a break this time, maybe writing her a letter explaining that you will let this go as a one time courtesy, but remind her that they signed a document which stipulates that there will be penalties if they are late with the rent again then all of the penalties will apply. I know that our payments are due on a certain day, and the bank we pay mortgage to doesn't care if it is in the mail or not. They want the money on the day it is due and whether we have to physically take it to them, or not doesn't matter. It sounds like you are trying to give them a break and from a personable stand point, I think that is great. :-) But, you have to take care of yourself, too, and I think that by forcing her to be responsible, you are helping her alot more than if she is allowed to slide on things. :-)

I agree with all or your comments, this is how nice of a guy my husband is, the day after they moved into which was on Friday, they cooked spaghetti on saturday and used the garbage disposal to get rid of the spaghetti :roll: and plugged it up so therefore we had to call the plumber out to take care of it.

Now I know from experience that there are certain things that you shouldn't put down the garbage disposal especially in a older home that spaghetti is one of them becuz the noodles swell up. My mom made this fatal mistake not once but twice in a month, needless to say my dad could have killed her.

So since the plumber was already there why not put a toliet and sink in the laundry room for them :twisted: ...as the one sister is living in the walk out part of the basement and therefore we didn't want her to have to walk upstairs to use the bathroom :twisted:

I know I am sounding bitter but the more I think about this it's making me mad. My house, which is 107 years old is out in the country ( 6 1/2 acres) and by no means is anything anyone would want to move into needs a new bathroom and new kitchen. Because of all of the termite damage it cost us $21,000.00 to get that house up and ready to rent. Oh well thanks for letting me VENT!!!!

ladybug

Wow, Ladybug! He sure is a nice guy. It sounds like you and your husband have gone above and beyond for your renters. Make them pay that late fee! $21K???? That's alot of money!

Tell me about it, thank god my old boss is an attorney, a very good real estate attorney and is handling this for us. He is filing the offical lawsuit paperwork this week so we will let the games begin.

ladybug

Nice! :-)

goodluck ladybug, hope all works out for you. Sorry this has happened.

Along these same lines...

I got a letter from an attorney on 9/26 saying we had a new building owner. Attached was a notice from the old owner saying my lease was transferred. For the last 4 years I always had to pay my rent in the building office. The new notice said to mail our rent to some new address.

Not wanting to get off on a bad foot, figuring now I need to give some lead time for the mail, I mailed my rent check to the new address on 9/28.

All week I have been checking my bank and the check hasn't cleared. Yesterday, there's a note taped on my door that says "There has been some confusion about where rent should be sent..." (Actually I wasn't confused at all; the letter was very clear where to mail it). Apparently, we're still supposed to be paying the rent inside the building office and pretend like they never sent the first letter out. And now they want another check.

I have half a mind to tell them "How about since I followed your directions, then you pay $25 so I can stop payment on the first check. Otherwise, drive over to that other address and my rent is in your mailbox somewhere."

Lady, I agree with everyone. Unless you have already said it's ok and thats written in the lease then leave it. But if not, they will start to walk all over you if you let this slide.

For me I pay half of my rent on the first friday of the month and the second half of the rent on the second friday of the month. But I only send them 2 envelopes a year. I will give them 6 months worth of checks at a time. It saves me money and they know they have the checks when they need them. But paying my rent this way was written in my lease. Plus we will do any repairs that are needed to both places ( We live in a duplex) unless a pro is needed. Then we let the landlord know. We will call and tell him that the repairs were done and when he is in town he will pick up the paperwork and pay us if we had to buy anything. So then he doesn't have to drive the 50 miles one way to fix a minor problem, and I get an easy payment plan for my rent :wink:

Good luck

Well we got our rent check today in the mail one was a check from one sister dated 9/30/07 and the other was two money order's dated 10/05/07. My husband wants to go ahead and send them a notice about the late fee of $30.00 which is suprising considering how nice he has been to them. I don't blame him though we have spent alot of money on this house and they did sign a lease with it all spelled out in their about late fees. Oh well, I bet they will call next time they are late.

ladybug

They called this time didn't they? I would nicely tell them next time to include the late fee with the rent. You can give them one free month (free of late fees that is) because this is family, but you don't want to continue letting it slide. Business is business and family is family. YOu have to be able to keep it seperate even when your business is with your family. I learned that the hard way and it was not pleasant.

No they didn't call this time, he told me that he is just going to call them instead of sending them a letter warning them that if it happens again there will be a late fee. I told him no that he doesn't need to call them that we should send a letter to them so that we have proof..am I wrong to tell him that?

ladybug

No Lady you are not wrong. This way you will have proof. Because if you don't then they can say, well we didn't know. I hope this will not be an on going problem for you. Good luck.

I hope not either...my husband likes to come off as a nice guy where as I am the BIitch..and basically told them that when she mailed her rent check. I told him tonight that I am pissed about him telling me he is going to call them..They are young girls and it figures that he would rent two young girls. :twisted:

ladybug

SOrry lady. It was SEpt that she called, but not this time. Misread first post sorry. If your husband wants to call them, let him, but I would put it in writing also.

Lady, I have rented a house to various several people over the past seven years. I have been very reasonable about the rent amount and I ensure all repairs are made in a timely manner. The renters went trough a relly bad time about two years ago and I let them slide about the rental payment becuae I really felt sorry for them (I wold not have survived what they went through). They kept getting later and later on the rent until it was comming at the end of the mont. I sent them notice of intent to evict if they did not catch up. It straightened them right out. I still get the rent check about the 5th of each month (it is due on the first) but I get a 10 day grace with my company so I have not charged them yet. They do know that after the 10th, it is a late fee and they do put it in the check. Once you give and inch, some people will take a yard, and then a mile. I am now of the mindset Business is business. I also am of the mindset it never happened or does not exsist if it is not in writing. I also ensure I have proof they received it or acknoweldged it.

I totally agree with you roxy...I am going to send them a certified letter know matter what he says. According to the lease I, I have as much of a right to act on this matter as he does so I will just handle it the way I see fit. And who cares anyway..I understand to being in a financial troubled spot, but come on...at least they could have called again this month...I know it shouldn't be a big deal but when you are only in the 2nd month of a 12 month lease and they are already sending it late..what does the future look like?

ladybug

Ugly....I am with you Ladybug. You have to look out for yourself. And there is nothing wrong with making a person follow the requirements in a lease. They mortgage company makes you follow your loan agreement don't they. And if they are young girls, they need to learn what is expected before they adopt this habit and make things worse for themselves in the long run.

Roxy is right, they need to learn while they are young, hopefully! My youngest son had to learn the hard way, what he could afford in renting, and what he couldn't.

I,too, would do everything in writing and certified, that way there is not a chance that something comes up and you can't back it up.

I'm with you, I believe in helping others, giving them a break,etc., but there is a fine line between helping and enabling. I know, I have crossed it many times!! This way, it is well understood what is expected of them, and when

Good Luck :D Karen