The Price Of Being Nice
I inherited a month-to-month tenant who got paid on the 17th of every month. Since I refuse to accept a different payment schedule for each tenant, I require all to pay by the 1st of the month. This was a problem for this for this tenant and she always ended up having to pay late fees. So being a nice guy, I proposed an idea which I thought would help her. I offered to use her security deposit for the next month's rent, and then have her pay for the following month by the 1st, plus an additional $50, which would be used to replenish her security deposit. This way, instead of paying late fees every month, she would pay $50 each month until the security deposit ($550) was completely replenished, and each pay day would now be about two weeks ahead of when she needed to pay rather than two weeks after the due date. Hope I'm making sense.
Anyway, she was very grateful for this offer. Both sides even signed a letter confirming all this. Unfortunately, the first payment after this agreement was the last payment. And even that didn't include the $50 needed to replenish the security deposit. We've since served her with the necessary 3 -day pay or quit notice, and have informed her that we expect her to move out at the end of the month. The only thing I haven't done is go to court to evict her as that would take more than two weeks, and would end up costing me more money. She's said twice that she is going to move out by the end of the month. But there's no security deposit and I've received no rent for this month. I'm furious.
By the way, can anyone suggest how I may be able to go about getting this money from her after she moves out? I have her social security number and would love to get this on her credit history.
By filing for eviction, you establish a legal path to a judgement, and subsequent wage garnishment, if needed. I would threaten her with this potential judgement and its negative consequences for her credit, first, and see where you go. Another path is small claims, but that's after she moves. It could very well be different in your state.