I think of myself as a great landlord. I provide quality housing and prompt communication with my tenants. If there is an issue, I don't ignore it or hope it just goes away.
Still, I can't help but send subtle messages to tenants when they take advantage of my kindness. I have one tenant in particular who has never paid his rent on time. He always pays before the end of the month and has never been two months late, but that isn't good enough.
My tenant works outdoors, pouring concrete. I bet it gets hot out there. He sent a text message last month saying he did not think the air conditioning was working properly. This happened to be around the 15th of the month and I still hadn't seen the rent for May. I didn't respond to his text.
When my tenant finally called me about the issue, I told him I was going out of town for a couple of weeks. The weather was mild so I wasn't too concerned about it.
Yesterday I took a look. It isn't something I know how to fix. The unit may be low on coolant, but that doesn't make much sense because I had someone look at the unit and repair a leak before my tenant moved in. Could the leak still be there?
Anyhow, the tenant called three times yesterday. Is that audacity? I mean, the 12th of the month, rent is due on the 1st. I told him last month this paying late has to stop. I do have an HVAC tech scheduled for Friday, but how do you call your landlord three times about a problem when you are almost two weeks late on your rent?
I welcome anyone who disagrees with me to let me know. I think I've made my opinion clear: if you owe someone money, don't expect any favors. Do you think my best tenants - the ones who pay me on time and don't call me to change a light bulb - have to wait?
Your actions seem reasonable to me. If one is slow to pay the rent it shouldn't be surprising that repairs are slow to be done.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your late charge? On a late mortgage payment its usually $50 or more. Logically, if he paid you late, then you pay late and incur $50. Tell him you can't afford the HVAC hit because your budget is over from his continual late payments.
ReplyDeleteMy late charge is hefty as I charge $25 plus a daily amount for every day that it is late. I've been lenient with this particular tenant because I like the way he maintains his house... Of course, that makes it hard to collect a late fee since I was nice to him at first. Lesson learned. The good news is that he did finally pay his rent for June. The bad news is that I have to pay $4,050 to have a new A/C installed.
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