Helpful Tips on How to Avoid Late Rental Payments

Written by admin on April 22nd, 2011

Owners of rental properties usually have problems on renters who are habitually late on paying the rent.  In every contract for such kind of business, monthly rent is important in the agreement.  Aside from how much is your rent, the schedule of the payment should be firmly observed by the occupants.  In this line of business, may it be residential or commercial, tenants must guarantee the owners that they will pay the rent on or before the due date.  But landlords have already accepted the fact that this issue is unavoidable.  Regardless how you avoid it, there will still be irresponsible residents who do not observe the schedule.

In business, adverse cases such as this should be counteracted.  And the best solution is to think of strategies on how to prevent it.  Take some of these great suggestions on how you can tackle this issue.

Remind the tenants on their rent days before their due date.

Renters, particularly those that are busy and go on out of town trips often, do not remember when is the exact due date of their rent.  They have a hectic schedule and thus personal matters such as this is normally taken for granted.  As the owner, it is your responsibility to remind them of their obligation.  You can give them a note or talk to them maybe a week before your expected date of payment.  Do this politely so that you will not offend them.  If some of them will be out on that day, make a necessary arrangement.  Ask if they will be paying the rent before they leave or just settle it as soon as they come back.  In cases like this, you have to be considerate. 

Oblige them to pay additional charges for late payments.

Paying monthly rent is already a big slash on the budget, if you will be charging extra fines for not paying on time they will surely settle it on or before the due date.  This technique will encourage the tenants to be prompt in paying because this amount is an added expense on their part.  Your lease contract must contain all the necessary information on giving sanctions for late payers.  This includes how much is the fine, when will you consider it late and how are you going to compute the fine, is it on a daily basis or flat rate.  Things like these must be clearly explained to the renters during the negotiation so as to prevent complications in the future.

Do not be hard on your residents.

There can be cases that your occupants are having financial or personal issues and thus they are unable to meet the due date.  In cases like this, be considerate enough and talk to them.  Make them understand that you can allow this to happen only once.  If they will still encounter the same problem in the future, they will have to look for ways not to do it again because will no longer tolerate late payments.   You have to bear in mind that you must observe equal treatment to all your tenants.  Do not give favors to those tenants who are personally close to you.  Be fair when you impose penalties.

In this line of business, issues such as these are inevitable.  There are some individuals who are very slack on their personal responsibilities.  If you think that your occupants are already habitually doing it, you can expel them.  However, before doing that, you must have necessary supporting documents to prove their negligence.  Keep a record of their late payments, as this can protect you from any legal actions that they will file against you.  It is already expected that they can be offended and thus they file legal charges as their way of revenge. 

The best thing you can do to avoid late rental payments is to clearly explain in your contract what you consider to be past due rent and the possible penalties you will require.  In this way, all of you will have a pleasant business relationship all throughout their stay.

 

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