Property Beta is my favorite property even though it only makes me about 350 a month, compared to Alpha's 500. It's in a prestigious neighborhood and only cost me about 6k plus closing costs, which I made back in a year and a half. The tenants that I have in there are both long term and dependable. The downstairs tenant, Carver, pays a low rent of 535 (market value is 650) but does all the maintenance work for free, plus put on a brand new roof for only 1700 in labor costs. Stan, my upstairs tenant, is also dependable but a bit of a pain. This month he gave me a problem that I've never had before.
Stan sent out his rent on the 7th of this month and let me know he was going to be a day late with his rent beforehand, so I waved the late fee. By the 13th, the rent hadn't shown and he said he gave his friend the rent money to deposit. I immediately assumed he was full of shit and sent him a 3-day notice to pay rent or quit. The day before I was to file for eviction, he called me over and showed me proof that he sent the money and that someone had cashed it. I have never dealt with this situation before, so I looked online for legal advice. Between what I read and my common sense, it's normally pretty easy to determine what the law says (and much cheaper than calling a lawyer). The law basically states that, as long as the tenant has the receipt, that the landlord can't do much. My thought was that he should he liable for the rent anyway, then go after whoever stole the money and cashed it to recoup his losses. There is, however, another twist to this tale.
On the day before I was about to file for eviction, I had asked Sha to pick up rent for me, as our businesses share the same P.O. Box. Because Stan leaves the money order almost blank, Sha or his wife may have mistakenly deposited it, thinking it was for them. Because of this, I'm not going to make any decisions until we see who cashed the check, a process that may take a month or so.
I find Stan's attitude very annoying but I respect his honesty and work ethic. He works his ass off and is never without a job. Once a job closes down, he has another job by the end of that week. The one time he got into financial difficulty, he did a payment plan and actually followed through it perfectly. His rent is usually right on time and, if it's not, he will always let me know beforehand and give me time to decide on whether a late fee should be charged. If it turns out that Sha or his wife deposited it by mistake, then there's no problem. I can just get my money back from them and leave it as an honest mistake. If it's a name I don't recognize, I'll have to make a decision. Do I throw out a normally reliable tenant and rent the unit for 50 to a hundred dollars more? Or do I keep the tenant and have him go through all the legal wrangling that will most likely result in me not getting anything back? I don't know the answer to this dilemma, but I do know that I need to come up with a routine solution to this problem should it ever occur again. I have some ideas but will have to consult my lawyer Marvin Wassle on this one. Sometimes the internet and common sense isn't enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment