Strategies For Collecting Rent On Time And More Efficiently
If you own rental properties in Portland OR, or elsewhere in the United states, you know that collecting rent on time is critical when it comes to building a reliable cash flowing portfolio of rental properties.
Sadly, since 2020, it’s been more common than not to encounter tenants who don’t pay their rent on time because the pandemic changed the rental market drastically and now mini landlords must deal with one or more tenants each year that are not paying their rent on time each month.
Thankfully, there are solutions that you can utilize to deal with those tenants who don’t pay their rent on time in this article, will offer you several alternatives that you could turn to to simplify the process of dealing with such tenants and getting them back on track with paying their rent on time.
Clearly Outline When The Rent Is Due, And When It’s Considered Late
As a landlord, one of the first things that you should do before renting to any tenant is to make sure that your lease clearly defines when the rent is due and when it’s considered late.
For example, most landlords commonly expect rent to be paid by the 1st and if they have a grace period, they expect rent to be paid no later than the 5th because after the 5th it’s considered late.
If you don’t clearly define when the rent is due, you can expect tenants to take advantage of that loose definition in pay you the rent on time sometimes but then other times they’ll be late.
Send A Late Rent Notice
Another important thing to do when a tenant pays their rent late is to send a late rent notice. This official notice will serve as a reminder that their rent is due, including the amount owed plus any late fees that the tenant will be expected to pay.
Also, comma the letter must clearly define the day and time the rent is expected to be paid and the legal consequences that the tenant will be facing if they don’t meet their obligations.
Always Communicate With The Tenant
Let’s face it, even though it’s difficult dealing with the tenant who hasn’t paid their rent on time, the most important thing that you can do as the landlord is to communicate with them.
You should have your tenants phone number and e-mail address saved so that you could both call text and e-mail them to let them know that you’re trying to reach them to resolve their late rent payment.
Communication is important because in some cases there may be a reason why the tenant has not paid their rent on period for example they could be away from their rental property and unable to get back in the hospital or dealing with a job loss or a temporary financial situation that they need may need to resolve. Either way, it’s important to reach out to them to discuss what’s going on with their life and help them get their late rental payment back on track.
In some cases, tenants who are behind on their rent may be apprehensive to reach out to you to let you know what’s going on with your personal situation. If you start out your relationship with the tenant in the beginning by letting them know that you’re here for them and willing to work with them should these things occur, it’ll be less likely that your tenant will reach out to you when they’re going through a difficult situation rather than avoiding your calls, ghosting you and doing everything they can to avoid having a difficult conversation with you regarding their rent.
Be Flexible With Late Payment Solutions
If the tenant that is currently behind on their rent has been historically a good tenant who’s paid their rent on time in the past, don’t hesitate to offer them late payment solutions.
For example, you could offer them the ability to pay half their rent now and then half of their rent at the end of the month. This gesture will show you the tenant that you still care about them, their personal situation, and are willing to work with them to help them get back on track financially with you.
Make Paying Rent Easier For Your Tenants
Another easy and convenient way to help tenants who pay their rent on time get back on track is to offer them more options for paying their rent the ability to pay their rent online with every conceivable payment method that they have available including credit, debit, PayPal, zero and any other payment option that they could use to easily get the rental payment to you.
If you’re willing to stay flexible and work with your tenant, including accepting whatever payment method that they must work with, this is another easy solution that you can utilize to get tenants were late paying her rent back on track and ensure that paying rent will be easier for them in the future.
Hire A Property Manager
There’s no doubt that dealing with tenants who don’t pay their rent on time can be a major headache. The good news is that hiring an experienced property manager to collect the rent for you saves time, money, and the hassle of having to do it all yourself.
At Rent Portland Homes – Professionals, we have decades of combined property management experience in the Portland OR area including rent collection. This means that you could rely upon us to collect your rent on time each month, deposit the funds in your account without you having to deal with the stress and hassle of collecting the rent yourself.
To learn more about the services that we can offer you, contact us today by calling (503) 646-9664 or click here to connect with us online.
Get more strategies for dealing with tenants who pay late by clicking here.