Do I Have To Accept Rent Paid By A Charity On Behalf Of A Tenant?
My tenant can't pay her rent and went to a religious charity (that I give a lot of money to!!!) to ask help paying her rent. The charity sent me a letter requesting my info, including my social security number, which I am hesitant to give out.
Aside from not wanting to give out my social security number, I have a moral objection to receiving money from this charity. My tenant is not destitute. She has a job, she is not disabled, she has an educaiton - if she can't pay her rent she can always move in with her family. I met them; they appear to be good, decent, God-fearing people. 
Plus, they live less than 1 mile away from her right now.
I give money to that charity because I THOUGHT they helped people in NEED! If I accept this money, to me it's like I paid her rent!! I don't do Section 8 for this same reason. I pay taxes and I don't want my tax money going to pay some loser's rent. Again, to me it's as if I am paying the rent.
I am a great landlord - I treat my residents with a lot of respect and I make a lot of concessions to keep them happy. But I am having trouble swallowing the fact that this tenant asked a charity to which I contribute to pay her rent. I'd prefer NOT to receive any rent at all.
Some of you probably think I sound like a big Scrooge, but I really believe in holding people RESPONSIBLE for their actions.
Bottom Line: Is it illegal for me to refuse the rent payment from this charity?
Well, moral issues aside, legally you don't have to accept the rent from this group BUT you also can't evict for failure to pay.
IMHO, you can either let her have a month for free OR take the rent money from the charity (and stop donating to them if that suits you) knowing that they mostl likely will not pay her rent forever. If she cannot afford the place she'll ultimately leave or get evicted.
Just keep in mind that a judge most likely wouldn't rule in your favor in an eviction proceeding if rent was offered (no matter what the source) and you refused it.
I don't think you are a scrooge, I just disagree with you. Does it say in your lease agreement where the money has to come from??
When you pay a monthly mortgage payment does the bank ask you where you got the money from?
You seem like a charitable person based on the whole of your post. If you want to make decisions about the charity you contribute to perhaps you should be a board member of this charity, or whatever vehicle they use to make decisions about who to help.
Hope you make the right decision, I don't know if it's illegal though.
my .02 worth
scott
as nyj said you can refuse be then you can't evict. she has made arrangements to pay her rent whether its to your liking or not. it should not matter to you if you give to charity you are doing so in good faith. its for your sole not theirs. its no different than if a drug dealer gav e her the money its "not" your responsibility. take the money. don't begrudge this person its not worth your time..........................kenmax
greetings
i agree with both sides, she shouldnt get a free ride, which i think is a big problem in our world today. but on the other hand she could need temp help.
but why would they want your ss# and i dont think i would give it, i wouldnt give it to my renter if she requested it when she payed rent. granted it probably for tax purposes, but cant they just accept letter of rent due? :-?
Thanks for your opinions and thanks for not being harsh - I was afraid of the responses I might get!
Update: I just talked to the tenant and asked her is she was having any problems she wanted to tell me about and she said "No, everything is fine."
For what it's worth, she doesn't have a child, but she does have a live-in boyfriend who makes $575 every 2 weeks (I confirmed his salary and hers). Geez, the rent's only $415 (electricity included) and water is only $25/month. They have no car to pay for, walk a short distance to work.........
Her father called me and said she was just having a little bit of a problem "Getting started".
Also, I am sending to a letter to the charity to politely voice my concerns. And I am NOT giving them my SS#.
Your messages have encouraged me to accept the rent from the charity and then see where it goes from there. I really appreciate your opinions. Thanks!
I would not gie out my social security number in this situation – What do they need it for?? No reason!
Good Luck!
[addsig]
I had same thing recently with Salvation Army with one of my renters. They said they need my SS# to 1099 for tax purposes. I am not comortable with it either.
I only have a few rental properties left and they are all under contract to be sold soon. Won't be soon enough for me.
When you have your property under management by a professional property manager, you get a 1099-MISC at the end of the year for all the gross rents collected on your behalf.
I strongly suspect that the same holds for this charity. They will issue a 1099 to you at the end of the year for the rent given to you on your tenant's behalf.
It should not be a big deal since you are reporting all the rent collected on your schedule E. In the case where you get a 1099 for a portion of the rent you collected during the year, that amount is already included on your Schedule E as "Rents Collected".
Cash is cash. I would rather the money go in my pocket. I pay taxes and have section 8 tenants, same sorta thing in my book. It is great that you have a strong set of morals, but morals aside this is a business. You can still take pride in being a great landlord and put you faith in the fact the charity is actually checking the situation out carefully. If you feel they are not - maybe you should look for another chairity to give too.
I definitely don't agree with your 2 cents. Don't mean to offend.
For the record, her father called ME. I didn't call HIM.
Well actually the calling the father part was beside the point. It was just the kicker. But like they say everybody has an opinion.