Collecting the Iffy Rents

My normal rent collection period lasts from the 1st to the 4th of each month. On the morning of the 5th, I post 3-day eviction notices for everyone who hasn't paid and they owe a $50 late fee if they pay during the 3-day notice period (before I file the eviction in court). That's my procedure and I follow it strictly.

This month, I had (have) a couple of interesting situations going on. The first case was a tenant who called me on the 4th to say that they were moving out. No notice, no rent for the month - nothing - just a call. They said that they would be gone in the next 3 days. I told them that I would be posting an eviction notice on the 5th, and that if they weren't completely out during the 3 day period, I would file the eviction in court and it would be on their record. I do this to motivate the tenant to actually get out and to actually allow me to evict them if they don't leave. It's a common ploy among professional tenants to keep promising to leave, all the while living rent free (without any intention of leaving) for whatever period of time the landlord will allow.

Now, here's the twist on this particular tenant. He called me yesterday to say that he got the eviction notice I put on his door. He said that he was already in the process of moving, but wasn't absolutely sure that he could be out by the 8th. He asked if he could pay a third of the rent to allow him to stay until the 10th. Since I was in town, I told him that I would stop by. A few minutes later, I arrived at the house to find the tenant and his father carrying stuff out of the house. Since they were evidently moving, I did accept a third of the rent to allow him to stay until the 10th. Needless to say, I'll still keep his security deposit to cover the lost rent from his failure to give proper notice and for any damages. The risk in doing this is that if he doesn't move, I won't be able to evict him until next month because I accepted partial rent. I believe that this tenant is actually leaving and therefore I accepted the money knowing the risk involved.

The second situation this month is a low-income, Section 8 tenant who didn't pay her $95 portion of the rent. I originally believed that she was avoiding me, but found out today that she has been admitted to a local mental facility. This is the same tenant that a neighbor told me was taking illegal drugs. I placed an eviction notice on her door on the 5th and I place an inspection notice on her door yesterday, so that I could inspect the apartment today (to make sure someone still lived there). When I entered her apartment today, I discovered that her dog was still there and that the apartment was a MESS! I took pictures of the apartment and the mess while I was there. Since the tenant wasn't there, I decided to go to the local mental health facility to see if I could determine what was happening. Since I have several mental health patients in a couple of my apartment buildings, I work with these agencies on a frequent basis. I asked to talk to the administrator of the facility and told her that I would be evicting the tenant if I didn't get the $145 rent and late fee by tomorrow. The administrator said that she will talk to the tenant/patient and call me back. I'm sure that the mental health facility doesn't want her evicted, so hopefully they will arrange for the rent to be paid. If not, then I WILL evict the tenant. It's sad that this will probably happen, but my business is renting apartments, not providing free housing to the mentally ill.

I'll let you know how this all works out!