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Original poster

Tenant Always Pays Late

128 replies

el1zabeth · 03/08/2019 22:40

I have a tenant who, for the last 8 months is always late with the rent. When she moved into the house 2 years ago, she would pay in 6 monthly chunks which was great.

At the beginning of this year she had a nasty altercation with her boyfriend (who also lived at the house) and he left. I asked if she wanted to remain living there with her 2 little children, and did she want to continue to pay in 6 month lump sums. At the time she said that she did want to stay, but would it be okay if she paid month to month until she decided what to do, so I agreed.

Since then, I have always had to text /email /phone her to remind that it's time for the rent (due on 1st of each month) and each time I try to make contact it takes days before she responds, and there's always some excuse such as "sorry I didn't see your text, one of the kids must have got hold of my phone and read it" or "I tried to transfer the money but someone has hacked into my online account so I need to go to the bank to sort it" and other similar scenarios. I am always having to pretty much beg for the rent, and it's making me pissed off. It's MY house and she already underpays (according to the going rate by around £100 monthly) I have bills to pay from the monthly rent, which ok, I usually have sufficient in my account to cover them, but it's not the point.

She's now late again, and her latest excuse yesterday was that she was out for the day and the (alleged) standing order that she set up, she'd accidentally set it for the 9th of the month which is eight days over the contract due date.

My husband thinks perhaps it's time to give her notice to vacate, but I'll feel bad knowing that she did have a terrible time at the beginning of the year and she has two very young children to take care of alone. I know she loves living there plus she said the schools where she wants her kids to attend are in the right district, but this is a business and I'm not a charity and I shouldn't have to be the one who feels guilty asking for what is our money.

Would it be unreasonable to give her notice to get out, or do I simply carry on calling emailing texting and ultimately going to the house to collect the rent, late, each month?

OP posts:
user1486131602 · 04/08/2019 00:01

Here’s an idea, Call round and have a chat.
Find out what’s really going on and decide between you what’s best. If she plays you up again next month, issue the warning for the eviction as you will have warned her during your chat.
Whilst your there collect any outstanding rent! Drive her to the bank if you have to!

Original poster
el1zabeth · 04/08/2019 00:05

spornstar the only thing she asked us for after the breakup was that we would confirm she was now living on her own so she could claim the 25% discount for council tax. I don't think she is on benefits but I don't know for certain.

OP posts:
SofiaAmes · 04/08/2019 00:13

Wait so she would pay you six months rent at a time in a wad of cash?? And you never thought that was odd? Even monthly in cash. You don’t get given an inheritance in a chest of banknotes! Not even in Italy...:)

Original poster
el1zabeth · 04/08/2019 00:14

Hiphopopotamus Yes, the first 3 times she paid 6 months up front by going to my bank and paying it in - transferred from her own account if I recall correctly. Then when it was monthly she would pay me cash. I don't delve into how she gets the cash, other than one time she said she inherited from grandparent, all I want is the rent. It's a legal rental agreement and in no way underhand.

OP posts:
SofiaAmes · 04/08/2019 00:17

user1486 She already called round and had the chat...."
Sporn I don't understand your logic. If she's worried about eviction, surely not paying the rent on time is far more egregious to the landlord than asking to have the rent date changed to a date that coincides with when her income arrives (which is a perfectly reasonable request that I've accommodated more than once with a tenant). I have a friend who did that recently because her ex kept paying her maintenance late, so she organized with her landlord to pay rent every month on the 10th instead of the 1st (you just prorate the interim switching month).

TriciaH87 · 04/08/2019 00:32

I suggest sending her a message saying you understand as a single parent it must be tough but that rent needs to be paid on the 1st of the month as stated in the contract. If this date is not suitable she needs to request a new date eg 8th and pay the extra weeks rent in first payment in that date then continue monthly on the new date. Failing this you will be forced to give her notice to vacate.

FluffyHippo · 04/08/2019 08:40

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PookieDo · 04/08/2019 08:43

I was wondering if she was on HB now, because that date is 4 weekly and literally is a nightmare trying to tally the date up with paying your rent sometimes

1stmonkey · 04/08/2019 08:53

Sounds like you've done the right thing OP. Let her kbow she's on her last chance. Rent is due on 1st of the month. If it's not there, she's out. She has entered into a legal contractual obligation. If she can't meet that obligation she no longer gets the property.

1stmonkey · 04/08/2019 08:57

Hobby landlords like you have ruined the renting market in this country, all because of your greed and desire to make money without working for it.

Are you high?

Tenant has signed a contract to pay her rent on 1st of each month. Makes no difference what the landlords financial situation is. Landlord owns the property, tenant has to pay to live in that property. The very basics of the landlord/tenant relationship is that the landlord provides a safe environment and maintains it, and the tenant pays their bloody rent on time.

xsamix86 · 04/08/2019 09:05

Unearned income?? I'm sorry but even for a buy to let property which the landlord would have a mortgage on there will have had to have been a deposit put down, which OP would have had to earn! If the tenant had a mortgage the bank would expect the rent to be paid on time! Not days later each month. OP seems to have been very accommodating so far IMO! And I'm a tenant, not a landlord.

OP I agree with most whereby a warning would need to be issued, and had ur DH not already sent an email I would have suggested initially a 'chat' face to face to discuss, followed by a written warning and advising of the payment date. How she gets her money to pay really isn't of concern to you, you cant really do much about that, ur concern is getting ur payment on the agreed upon date and you certainly seem like a reasonable person. She is lucky to have an accommodating landlord and really needs to sort herself out or you will need to find someone else. We all have commitments and she signed the tenancy which is a binding agreement. If she couldn't meet the terms she should have advised u and this could have been sorted earlier, or moved out when she had the opportunity!

LatteLove · 04/08/2019 09:06

I’d serve her with notice of eviction. She’s taking the rip.

LatteLove · 04/08/2019 09:09

In fact I’d probably give her one last chance to sort out her payments on time and then serve notice if she didn’t.

I wouldn’t worry about the 2 kids it’s their mother’s responsibility to ensure they have a roof over their heads, not yours and she doesn’t seem that bothered.

user1483387154 · 04/08/2019 09:10

have you charged her late fees?

catwithnohat · 04/08/2019 09:19

By the sounds of it she's struggling on one income since the b/friend left.

I know you're the LL not a social worker but could you try and find out what's happening with her life and help get her life sorted out?

I hear other people saying she's taking the piss etc but where there's kids involved it would be really harsh to give her notice.

Just btw, rent in 6 month chunks? I bet there's a lot of people out there who couldn't stump up that kind of cash in a oner.

TheDarkPassenger · 04/08/2019 09:20

Surely she’s in a rolling contract now do the max you’ll get from her guarantor is one months rent. If you can’t afford to not have have her rent for 5 days how are you going to live between her leaving and someone coming in, not to mention advertising costs, repairs on the house and wear and tear costs to bring it back up to scratch!

MaxNormal · 04/08/2019 09:21

I know you're the LL not a social worker but could you try and find out what's happening with her life and help get her life sorted out?

That is not the landlord's role at all and would be a huge overstep and blurring of boundaries.

ArDali1 · 04/08/2019 09:24

It kind of sounds like she's purposely paying you late.
It could be that she wants you to evict her so she can go to the council homeless and they will then house her in social housing.
I may be wrong but people do this, it's shocking!

Mummyoflittledragon · 04/08/2019 09:25

I’m a professional ll. I agree about the hobby ll comment. Tbh op if she’s looking after your property well I wouldn’t serve her notice. Maybe she is struggling to be organised, thus the excuses are white lies and a defence mechanism or maybe she cannot get the money until x date.

For me, the possibilities are to remind her before the rental payment date and to ask her if she wants to change the date to x number of days later. However for that to work, she would need to pay the difference to x date and carry on from there.

Terminating tenancies so readily is the reason for the government changing the section 21 rules. Your attitude and the response by a lot of posters are exactly why this headache is happening to decent, professional lls.

happinessischocolate · 04/08/2019 09:38

I agree with @Mummyoflittledragon

OP try watching one if those dodgy landlord dodgy tenant programmes and then you might appreciate that your tenant isnt that bad.

I would have a chat with her, if she's now on UC she may get her money after the 1st and therefore you just need to change the date. She may not have mobile banking and struggles to draw all the rent out in one fo without going to the bank.

Also when you claim housing benefit or UC the landlord doesn't get asked, as long as you can show your rental agreement for the claim.

Isatis · 04/08/2019 09:40

Has she ever defaulted on the rent? No.

Yes, she defaults every month.

Is she in arrears? No.

Given that regularly underpays, I suspect she is.

thisisthetime · 04/08/2019 09:41

I wouldn’t go in all heavy handed. At the end of the day you are getting your rent, albeit late. It could be a lot worse. Dh is a professional ll and I’m sure you have to be in 2 months rent arrears before you can serve notice. Not completely sure but i know it’s not something he would do lightly especially if he was actually getting the rent. She’ll probably knock you for the rent, and you may end up in court to get her out or she’ll just leave on the date stated but you’ll get no rent till then. Can you have a proper chat with her? See what her problems are and if you can come to an acceptable arrangement?

Obviously you need to keep on top of it and step in straight away if she gets into proper arrears but at the moment it sounds like a bit of a chat may help. Plus she’s less likely to cause you proper issues if you’re a good ll to her and she feels you are trying to help her.

Juells · 04/08/2019 09:41

Your attitude and the response by a lot of posters are exactly why this headache is happening to decent, professional lls.

As a 'professional' landlord you'd be fine with the rent arriving late each month, and only after several reminders?

Yeah, sure you would. Hmm

Juells · 04/08/2019 09:43

...and I'd love to know what would happen if all the 'hobby' landlords pulled out of the market.

Blankscreen · 04/08/2019 09:44

I'm all for saying people need to stand on their own 2 feet but I feel really sorry for your tenant op.
How nice for you op that you have a second property that you earn an income from.

I suspect that it is something to do with a benefit claim and the timings making the 1st really difficult.

It pretty obvious that she's struggling since the boyfeiend left and whilst its not your obligation to do something about it being a decent human being and having a chat about changing the date etc wouldn't have been that hard. I doubt the lease refers to payment of the eent in cash but you've accepted that, so why not accept a change to the date as easily?

As for wads of cash that sounda suspect and if that is going into your account to pay your mortgage you need to be careful that you've not accepted he proceeds of crime and laundered the cash - Especially as you are a hard nosed business person/landlord.

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