Collecting Late Rent
I have one SFH and the tenants have been there about 3 months. They haven't caused any trouble yet, but have not paid May's rent. It was due on the 1st and is late as of today. They don't have a home phone but they had cricket cell phones since the woman worked for cricket. In the last month they have both quit or lost their jobs (I only found this out by calling the businesses) and they don't have the cricket phones anymore. I went to the house last night (a 30 mile drive) and her kids said that they both went to work at the Whirlpool plant. I left a message for them to call me, of course. I called Whirlpool and they have no record of new employees because they come thru a temp agency. I called the temp agency and they wouldn't give me any info at all because of privacy laws - although they did admit that the woman does work thru them. They seem to be working an afternoon or evening shift. I can't drive out there during the day and I can't call them. What is the best way to collect? Should I call a property manager or a collection agency? If so, what is a reasonable fee to pay?
Well - the bad news is you're probably gonna have to drive back out there. The good news is you have 2 responsible people that understand the severity of the issue or else they would just sit at home.
I understand their pain - I was laid off by Cricket 2 years ago... anyway.
I would drive back out or mail a letter certified outlining the following issue:
1. You understand their issue.
2. You would like an immediate response as to when you can expect payment or at least partial payment. Get a FIRM DATE!
3. Put in the letter that if you don't receive a response by ... that you will have assumed the worse and will not delay in evicting them from the property.
In the first letter you need to send is the first warning of non-payment. This is something that is usually required by all states to get the ball rolling on eviction.
Get the letter out today. Lookup your eviction laws for your state.
You should first look into your state's specific landlord-tenant laws and follow the procedures that you are required to follow by law.
GOOD LUCK
I don't want to evict them, I just want to hire someone to handle the collections. They aren't bad people, they just have to be micromanaged and I don't want the bother... any ideas?
I would start eviction proceedings immediately myself. This isn't being cruel. It is simply running a business. Just about every person who rents is going to have financial trouble from time to time. In times like these, it up to them to either seek help from friends, family, church, or government agencies. If you start taking financial responsibility for your tenants you are going to have a hard time both emotionally and financially. I'm sure you can think of many friends or charities that you know without a doubt could use some financial help. They are the ones you should be helping. Just my two cents.
Usually when this happens to me, I serve a three day notice to pay unpaid rent with eviction if they don't pay after 3 days. If they are not home I post it on the door. This has worked well for me. I usually get the rent within the 3 days or the tenant had no plans to pay me and then I had the paperwork to start the eviction process. Good Luck.