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Can a landlord refuse payment?

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deonda

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania


A friend of mine defaulted in rent. She had gone to the Lycoming County Assistance Office and they offered to pay 400.00 of her rent as long as she made the remainder payment of 265.00. When the Assistance Office contacted the landord to issue the 400.00 payment he refused. All this happened before the landlord went to the court to file a formal eviction. Is he allowed to refuse the payment of 400.00?
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
deonda said:
What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania


A friend of mine defaulted in rent. She had gone to the Lycoming County Assistance Office and they offered to pay 400.00 of her rent as long as she made the remainder payment of 265.00. When the Assistance Office contacted the landord to issue the 400.00 payment he refused. All this happened before the landlord went to the court to file a formal eviction. Is he allowed to refuse the payment of 400.00?
**A: yes, L is allowed to refuse partial payment.
 

mayjones

Junior Member
Okay, my landlord would not accept payment. So, I called the courthouse to see what I could do.

If your landlord will not accept your rent, you should save it because you may have to pay it at some point in the future. Like when he/she files for eviction.

If the landlord refuses to accept your rent payment, you should attempt to pay the landlord again, in person, if possible, and bring a witness with you. The purpose of having a witness is to be able to prove that you tried to pay the rent, but the landlord wouldn’t accept it. This is a good precaution because many landlords will say that tenants never tried to pay rent. Make sure the person with you is willing to go to court and say, "I was there and he/she would not take the payment".

If this doesn’t work or if seeing the landlord is not a possibility, put the rent in a safe place. Don’t spend it. If you have to go to court in the future, the judge will want to know if you have the rent. It is best if you deposit the rent money into an account. This way, the date of the deposit will reflect that you had the rent money, but the landlord wouldn’t accept it.

Another way to prove you tried to pay the rent and it was not accepted is to record the attempt to pay. Barrow a small recorder from someone and tape the landlord. I have mine one tape yelling at me and saying he wont take it. He left it on my voicemail. Some people think they are beyond the laws reach and we may not like the way they act. Let him/her act that way at some point the rope you gave them will come to a sudden stop. And, in the end they always hang themself.

However, in hardship cases like your friend the landlord should have took the money. That is if your friend has not made a habit of paying late or not paying it all. Ask the person that offered the money to the landlord for a statement that say the amount offered and date it was offered. When you go to court show the judge the letter. Your friend has the right to explain what happen. Bring any proof you have that will show that your friend has not made a habit of not paying or late payments.

Though a landlord files eviction in most cases you have so many days you can pay your bill in before going to court. Your friend could ask Lycoming County Assistance Office to make the payment to the court instead of the landlord. Then take the amount you said you would pay to the court and pay the rest. If Lycoming County Assistance Office will do this for you they will want to know you have the rest of the money. Or, if you have someone that will loan you the money barrow it before asking Lycoming County Assistance Office. Have your part of the rent in your hand before asking them for help.

Even if you have made late payments on your rent your landlord must give you written notice to stop making late payments. If your landlord has not done this then by law he cannot file for eviction. Some courts do overlook this law and it is wrong... However, if this is the case tell the judge that he has never gave you written notice to stop paying late.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:

Ellerge

Member
Mayjones said 'Even if you have made late payments on your rent your landlord must give you written notice to stop making late payments. If your landlord has not done this then by law he cannot file for eviction. Some courts do overlook this law and it is wrong... However, if this is the case tell the judge that he has never gave you written notice to stop paying late.' I had to laugh! I have been a LL for many years and I have never heard of such a thing! If this was said in jest, it worked - I needed a good laugh today. If you were serious, and you know ANYTHING about Landlord/tenant Law, then you know this is not correct. Ask whoever told you this to tell you the provision in the State Statues that says this. S/he cannot because there is no such thing! Saying that a LL must give written notice to stop making late rent payments is up there with not having to pay rent if your job moves you over 50 miles or you can break a Lease without penalty if you buy a house or you can withold rent if the Landlord does not fix things in the rental house. As for a Landlord accepting partial rent - some tenants believe that a Landlord cannot evict them as long as they pay something on the rent. If this were the case, every tenant in America would pay one cent (something) on their rent knowing the Landlord cannot evict them - ridiculous!
 

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