Tenant Problems, trying to be diplomatic

I have a tenant who has not paid rent since August, where she was $100 short. She has been late every month since February.

She owes me late fees of $30 per month for Feb, March, April, May, June, July, August, Sept. and now October.

Her total balance as of this writing is $1410.00.

She called me last week and stated that she would be out by the end of this month, and to just keep her security deposit as the last months rent. (this was a phone message, not a converstation). She added that she was sending a money order for $200, and would pay another $200 every month until the debt was paid. Needless to say, the money order has not arrived, and she has conveniently misplaced the receipt for said money order.

Now, before going on, let me admit that I am NOT a good landlord. I have allowed this to go on for FAR too long.

I have now retained another tenant that has paid a deposit and first months rent effective November 1.

My question is, what can I do to ensure that the current tenant will, in fact, leave the premises on time, so that I can fulfill my contract with the new tenant.

Of secondary concern is how to go about getting the money that is owed me by the current tenant, in light of my poor management to date.

Should I sit back and hope, or should I pursue collection efforts for what is owed me?

Thanks in advance
Tim

Inform T that you kept the answering machine message & expect her to be out by 10/31. You have abtained another tenant to move in on 11/1 & if she holds over, you'll charge her $50/day for the money you have to spend to put the new T up in a hotel until she leaves. Inform her that you'll be doing a final inspection on 10/31 at 4 pm if she wants to be there. When she gives you the keys, have a friend hand her the summons & complaint for small claims court. (You can't hand it to her yourself.) If there don't appear to be any damages, sue her for "$1410 or damages as proved at trial for unpaid rent & late fees." If there are likely to be damages, sue for "$1600 or . . . & damages". Have the suit filed & court date set *before* you go to the final inspection. That way, even if she skips town, you get a default judgment against her.

Since you don't like to deal with problem tenants, you might consider hiring a property management company that has a reputation as hard-asses. They'll keep your tenants current on rent or get them out promptly. The extra rent you get should be more than the fees they charge.

Good luck.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws. ppls@qwest.net - please include some facts so I know who you are!

[This message has been edited by Tracey (edited October 10, 2000).]

Thank You, Tracey. Your advice is appreciated.

Another dilemma that I need to understand has to do with the lease. The original lease was provided to the tenant in January. I asked her to read the lease and get back to me with any changes that she might want to see in the lease. She phoned back and stated that she would like the lease term changed to six months as opposed to the 1 year that the lease stated. I orally agreed.

I failed to obtain a signature on the lease, and simply forgot about the matter. The six month oral lease has now expired.

Under these circumstances, are we both still bound by the original, unsigned contract, or is there no contract at all? The crux of my question has to do with my ability to claim the $30 per month late fees. They are stated in the lease, and orally agreed upon, but no signatures were obtained.

I assure you that my next tenant experience will be quite different!

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by TimC:
Another dilemma that I need to understand has to do with the lease. The original lease was provided to the tenant in January. I asked her to read the lease and get back to me with any changes that she might want to see in the lease. She phoned back and stated that she would like the lease term changed to six months as opposed to the 1 year that the lease stated. I orally agreed.

I failed to obtain a signature on the lease, and simply forgot about the matter. The six month oral lease has now expired.

Under these circumstances, are we both still bound by the original, unsigned contract, or is there no contract at all? The crux of my question has to do with my ability to claim the $30 per month late fees. They are stated in the lease, and orally agreed upon, but no signatures were obtained.

I assure you that my next tenant experience will be quite different!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Since there is no written lease agreement the tenant is on a m/m lease on terms following the L/T laws. Since T did not sign the lease, T can dispute all the late fees since there was no agreement in writing to pay them.

What state are you in? Some states have laws specifically addressing the effect of a delivered but unsigned lease. If you're lucky enough to live in one, then you can charge the late fees based on the written lease.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws. ppls@qwest.net - please include some facts so I know who you are!

I am in NY.

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by TimC:
I am in NY.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Peter is from NY.

I didn't find an undelivered lease law in NY. For future reference, the NY L/T laws are in the NY Consolidated Laws, Real Property, Article 7. [url="http://assembly.state.ny.us/cgi-bin/claws?law=99&art=7"]http://assembly.state.ny.us/cgi-bin/claws?law=99&art=7[/url]

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws. ppls@qwest.net - please include some facts so I know who you are!