How To Deal With Late Rent Payment?

Hi Buddy,

I have rented out my apartment in Bangalore. However, I was very much clear about the rules that the tenant is supposed to obey while staying in my house. I told the tenant that I am not going to entertain any habit of paying rent late every month. I would like to enlighten you guys about the steps that I follow in avoiding and dealing with any such issues.

How to deal with late rent payment?

• Check your payment history and lease documents

Check your records again to verify sure the tenant is actually late with the rent, as stupid as it may appear. Landlords occasionally make mistakes regarding when something was paid (or not paid) because they keep better records on paper than they do in their brains.

Most leases have a provision allowing rent to be paid three or five days after the regular due date. You are obligated to abide by the terms of the lease if you've checked twice and determined that the tenant is actually late.

Normally, the lease will include a late fee; however, if it doesn't, you cannot elect to impose one later. And keep in mind that late payment is still a violation of the lease that was signed by both parties, effectively turning it into a breach of contract, regardless of how you personally feel about any late-rent issue.

• Send a late rent payment letter

The tenant would then be given a notice of unpaid rent in the following step. This document informs the tenant that the rent is past due. If the rent isn't paid in full very soon, you'll have to take additional legal action, and the letter should warn you of this. It should also include a summary of any fees that are owed, including late fees. After the rent is due, it can be handed to the tenant in person, emailed, or affixed to the unit door.

Keep a copy of this notice for your records; it will be useful if you need to demonstrate in court that there was a pattern of late payments. Law does not mandate this action; it is merely advised as a temporary measure. A sincere but forgetful tenant may be reminded, but other tenants will take it seriously if legal action is threatened.

• Phone call

Before or after serving the late rent notice, you might call the renter to find out what's going on. However, to avoid harassment claims, this only needs to be done once (which is very illegal). The benefit of communicating with the renter directly over the phone over sending a Late Rent Notice is that the phone conversation accomplishes the same goal. Try to avoid replacing a phone call with an email because of this.

• Notice of Pay or Quit:

This is the formal beginning of the eviction procedure and is a more formal document than the late rent notice. It can be given in person to the tenant as soon as the rent is past due and demonstrates to the tenant that you are serious about taking legal action.

This notification must state your intention to evict, the total amount due (including all late fees), and the time frame for making full payment. If you have an eviction lawyer, they can draft this for you.

• Use the legal system

Get an eviction lawyer if everything else fails and the tenant still isn't paying. File a tenant-landlord lawsuit as soon as practicable (i.e., after the Pay or Quit waiting period expires).

• Take prompt, continuous action. Enforcing the rules will demonstrate your commitment to your late tenants and assist stop them from falling further behind on their payments.

• If you suspect the issue may go to court, try not to take partial rent payments and never accept even a single dollar. Accepting partial payment frequently nullifies any prior legal proceedings you may have taken, such as Pay or Quit letters, and restarts the eviction process (if you have already started it).

• Keep written records of everything. In the event that you and the tenant come to a compromise, have them sign a document outlining the compromise and provide them with a copy.

I would like to conclude here as I believe you guys by now are aware of the process of dealing with issues of paying rent late every month. I hope this helps:)

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