Counting on Nicky

This is the last week of March and my last chance to make it to my 16k quota. There seems to be only one thing that is standing in the way of reaching that goal: my upstairs tenant of property Alpha, Nicky.

Nicky still hasn’t paid the second half of March’s rent. She paid $401 at the beginning of the month and nothing since. I thought that she wouldn’t have a problem after she moved in her welfare friends, but I guess she was wrong. That, coupled with the baseball-sized crack in her windshield and the lack of noise coming from the upstairs apartment, leads me to believe that she’s not doing well in her attempt to play landlord. See, this is why I don’t allow tenants to move in people to help them with rent, particularly when they move people in that don’t work. Most of the time a tenant in that situation will move in a friend, and few things are worse than mixing friends and money. The bad news is that if Nicky doesn’t pay the money by the end of the week, I will fall short of my 16k quota for March. The good news, however, is that if she doesn’t pay the money by the end of March I can finally evict her at the beginning of April.

When evicting a tenant, one has to make sure the tenant can’t pay the money owed between the time the eviction is filed and the court date (which is usually 7 days). If, for example, I file for eviction now she could probably come up with the $399 in a week. I would have wasted $75 for filing the eviction and it will all be for naught. However, if I file for eviction in April she will have to pay the $399 PLUS the $800 owed for April’s rent. Not only that, but judges are more likely to rule in the landlord’s favor when the amount owed is larger. I thought that I would have to wait until her lease is up in May to get rid of her, but if she can be out by the middle of April and I can get the place ready in a week, then I can hopefully get a good tenant paying higher rent before the end of April.

Nicky has a history of surprising me and finding ways to somehow pay what she owes, but I hope it’s different this time. I’d much rather miss March’s quota and have new and better tenants for May than to make this quota and have to deal with her for the next two months. While tax season is still here, I’d also like to take advantage and have an empty utilities-included three bedroom apartment ready for those with money to pay. Last year taught me that it’s better to lose money and get the better tenant than to gain money and keep the crappy tenant. Stable rent from good tenants will be the life blood of my business, and I have a shot to get a better tenant faster if I can evict Nicky next month. All Nicky has to do is continue her irresponsibility for six more days, and then I can begin the process of being Nicky-free sooner than later.