Is error made on Landlord Rental Increase Letter binding?

[kconlon]

What is the name of your state (Arizona)?

My father is a landlord of a tenant whose lease converted to a month to month lease after being there a year. This was several years ago and it has proceeded on a month to month basis since. This tenant is consistently late on payment, sometimes by months, and my dad feels bad charging the late fees, so hasn't. Technically, they owe thousands of dollars in late fees to my father, but he feels bad trying to collect.

Last month, he decided to raise the rent closer to market value by $45 and sent them a certified letter advising of such. In that letter, he also let them know that as of March 1st, he would begin charging late fees associated with any past due rent going forward.

For whatever reason, he also erroneously mentioned, since they are a month past due already, that come February 29th... all rent is to be current. His point was, come February 29th, if rent is not current, starting the next day, March 1st, late fees would now be charged because he has never charged them in the past according to the original lease agreement.

He is now worried, because, they never paid January, he has a feeling they won't pay on Monday (February 1st) because the wording in that certified rental increase letter sent, referencing that they are to be current by February 29th, seemingly gives them until then to get everything current when January's rent was due on the first and went unpaid, and February's rent is due this coming Monday and will most likely go unpaid as usual.

In the state of Arizona, the day after rent is unpaid, landlords are able to send a 5-day Letter to Pay before they can take the next step in the eviction process. He does not want to give them until February 29th, two months seemingly free, to wait to see if they make everything current.

My question is:

1.) Is that letter binding? Is he now required to allow them to go two months with unpaid rent because he made an error with the February 29th wording on the Rent Increase Letter?

or

2) Can he start the eviction process by just sending them the 5-day Letter to Pay because they are now nearly a month overdue and about to be two months overdue?

Thanks

 

[latigo]

What is the name of your state (Arizona)?

My father is a landlord of a tenant whose lease converted to a month to month lease after being there a year. This was several years ago and it has proceeded on a month to month basis since. This tenant is consistently late on payment, sometimes by months, and my dad feels bad charging the late fees, so hasn't. Technically, they owe thousands of dollars in late fees to my father, but he feels bad trying to collect.

Last month, he decided to raise the rent closer to market value by $45 and sent them a certified letter advising of such. In that letter, he also let them know that as of March 1st, he would begin charging late fees associated with any past due rent going forward.

For whatever reason, he also erroneously mentioned, since they are a month past due already, that come February 29th... all rent is to be current. His point was, come February 29th, if rent is not current, starting the next day, March 1st, late fees would now be charged because he has never charged them in the past according to the original lease agreement.

He is now worried, because, they never paid January, he has a feeling they won't pay on Monday (February 1st) because the wording in that certified rental increase letter sent, referencing that they are to be current by February 29th, seemingly gives them until then to get everything current when January's rent was due on the first and went unpaid, and February's rent is due this coming Monday and will most likely go unpaid as usual.

In the state of Arizona, the day after rent is unpaid, landlords are able to send a 5-day Letter to Pay before they can take the next step in the eviction process. He does not want to give them until February 29th, two months seemingly free, to wait to see if they make everything current.

My question is:

1.) Is that letter binding? Is he now required to allow them to go two months with unpaid rent because he made an error with the February 29th wording on the Rent Increase Letter?

or

2) Can he start the eviction process by just sending them the 5-day Letter to Pay because they are now nearly a month overdue and about to be two months overdue?

Thanks

Mmm?

Pop's future intentions are to charge a late because he never charged a late fee in the past? In other words, he couldn't charge a late fee if he had done so in the past?

If that makes sense, then I'm in trouble!

Furthermore, the lease has expired. So, unless it specifically called for a fixed late fee should the tenancy convert to one at will (as it has) . . .

Then he needs to declare to the tenant before the end of a then current rental period that a fixed late fee will be charged effective for the succeeding rental periods. Which seems to have been done.

Is the letter binding?

First it is not clear from how you allude to it that it actually amounts to his agreement to forego the payment of all accumulating rent to February 29.

Even if so interpreted, the tenant could not point to any consideration binding him to it.

And since the tenant would unlikely be able to claim that he relied on it to his material determent, the doctrine of a promissory estoppel shouldn't apply.

All of which seems to answer your second question. Start the eviction process!

Me thinks you worry too much and pop needs to retire from the landlord business.

 

[FarmerJ]

can you help him understand that its time to get a new customer in that unit , they are taking him for a ride , if they still owe this months rent and the rent has gone up I predict it will just be worse.

 

[kconlon]

Yes, I have tried to convince him for the last year to get rid of them! He ended up sending them a text yes asking if they plan on paying January 1st's rent and they replied, "Yes, by February 6th." Unbelievable!

Then he further asked if they plan on being current by February 29th and they said yes. He just doesn't want them to leave without paying, so he won't have to go to court to get paid.

I had read some law that states that since he has accepted partial late payments without consequences, that he has essentially breached his own contract thereby making ir impossible to evict for this reason? Any truth to that?

Since the original tenancy was for 1 year, then went to a month to month, with the same contract "rules" binding, he believes he's able to evict for any reason given 3o day notice.

I told him to start the process!

 

[kconlon]

Yes, I have tried to convince him for the last year to get rid of them! He ended up sending them a text yesterday asking if they plan on paying January 1st's rent and they replied, "Yes, by February 6th." Unbelievable!

Then he further asked if they plan on being current by February 29th and they said yes. He just doesn't want them to leave without paying, so he won't have to go to court to get paid.

I had read some law that states that since he has accepted partial late payments without consequences, that he has essentially breached his own contract thereby making it impossible to evict for this reason? Any truth to that?

Since the original tenancy was for 1 year, then went to a month to month, with the same contract "rules" binding, he believes he's able to evict for any reason given 3o day notice.

I told him to start the process!

 

[FarmerJ]

( have you read any of this to him aloud or show it to him to let him read it himself ? ) In many states when a landlord accepts a partial payment then the landlords claim for unpaid rent is denied and the LL has to start all over from scratch. Yes I get it about wanting the money that tenants owe , been there, did that, BUT there comes a time that enough is enough most all landlords learn this sooner or later. But there really are tenants out there that once they get behind they keep stringing the LL along and there are plenty of tenants that have no problem doing this to any landlord, its cheaper for them too , to keep a landlord who wants to be paid on the hook waiting as the amount owed grows. I also get it when a landlord has a tenant that they can see is trying very hard when things in the tenants financial life blow up but tenants who don't want to risk being evicted based on non pay will also get very serious and do what they could as quickly as they could to turn it around.