Most landlords struggle collecting rent from low income tenants because their expectations are much too high. These people are generally not responsible or do not pay their bills on time.

Now, you should not just throw your hands up in the air and just accept there will be one big headache after the other. You simply have to train tenants, set deadlines, and have responsible consequences if they do not follow through.

In order to be successful with these type of tenants, you must expect the rent to be late, expect constant excuses, and for them to be irresponsible in almost every way. This is not to say that all of these types of tenants are this way. I have many low income tenants that are quite responsible, pay their rent on time, and do what they promise me. However, the majority of them do not.

To collect past due rent, you must deliver a 3 notice immediately following the grace period. We give our tenants until the 5th at 5:00pm as a grace period. I can’t tell you how many landlords are extremely lax about getting 3 day notices delivered. You cannot expect people to pay on time if you do no consistently enforce your rules.

Once the 3 day notice expires, you should call the tenant and set a “drop dead” date on when the rent must be paid with the late fee. You should always charge a late fee because the pain of paying that fee will change behavior. Many landlords will waive the late fee at the drop of a hat or never even ask for it. Once again, what incentive does the tenant have to pay the rent on time?

However, in the first year you must be firm and consistent. I do sympathize with them first and listen to their story. This is important because they will remember you were patient. I tell people that we are not friends or family and therefore I can’t loan them money. The rent must be paid first before any other bill. I tell them at least ½ of the rent must be received by the 15th of the month or I will file for eviction. The rest of the rent should be set up in a payment plan that would preferably be paid at the end of the month.

The longer someone has been with me the more flexible I will be. Sometimes, I insist the rent must be paid by the end of the following month and other times, I set them up with $100 a month extra rental payment until the past due balance is paid. The key is to find a reasonable payment plan once you know exactly what their financial situation is at the moment. The plan should also adjust depending on how good a tenant has been up until this point.

Delivering timely 3 day notices sends a clear message that rent is due. You need to do follow-up calls to determine if there is a problem or not. Sometimes, these tenants just are short and need an extra week or two. Other times, the tenants are in serious financial trouble because of a sickness or major car repair. I suggest setting up a payment plan that will work for both of you. Be careful of throwing out statements like, “the rent must be paid by the 15th or I will evict.” If the rent is not paid by the 15th and you do not evict, you have lost all credibility with the tenant in the future.

The author, David Lowrey, owns and operates a successful property management company in Tampa, FL. He also is a very successful real estate investor purchasing more than 60 rental properties over the last 12 years. In 2004 and 2005, one of David’s companies made Inc Magazine’s Inc 500 List for the 500 fastest growing privately held companies in America.

Please feel free to visit his website and http://www.NoVacancyNow.com

2201 E Busch Blvd Tampa FL