Hopefully, your tenant screening process is rigorous and detailed enough that you’re placing tenants in your Phoenix rental property who have a history of paying rent on time. The best way to avoid late rent payments is to screen tenants well before they even move in.
However, even good tenants run into financial problems, and you might find yourself in a situation where rent hasn’t been paid on time. This can be disruptive to your own finances, and you want to resolve the situation as soon as possible.
Today, we’re talking about your options and why your timing is so crucial.
Serve a Pay or Quit Notice
Check your lease agreement, which should include your rent collection policy and information on any grace periods you might provide. Once rent is officially late and you still don’t have it, serve a Pay or Quit Notice to your tenants. This gives your tenants formal notice that rent has not been received and they must either pay the amount that’s due or leave the property. In Arizona, this is typically a Five Day Notice, which means your tenants will have five business days to resolve the outstanding debt before you can take further action.
File for Eviction in Court
Usually, tenants will pay within those five days because they don’t want the eviction process to move along. However, if you don’t receive the rent, you’ll need to go to court and file a complaint for a special detainer action, which is an eviction proceeding. You’ll receive a court date and your tenants will receive a copy of your complaint and a summons to court.
We strongly recommend that you get legal help if your case moves towards an eviction. While the process isn’t terribly complicated, even one small and innocent mistake can get your case thrown out, and then you have to start the whole process again. Establish a relationship with a good eviction attorney ahead of time and do not wait days or weeks to take action in this situation.
Accepting Partial Rental Payments
During the course of the eviction, your tenants might contact you and offer to pay part of the rent that’s overdue. Whether or not you accept this payment is up to you, however we do recommend you have a strongly worded agreement in place before you accept any money. Have your attorney or a professional Phoenix property manager draft a waiver agreement so you can move forward with the eviction if your tenants do not honor the payment agreement.
We have an entire other video blog dedicated to partial payment agreements.
Start Looking for a New Tenant
If it looks like you and your tenants are not going to work out a payment agreement or the ultimate action will be an eviction and a vacant property, start looking for your new tenant as soon as possible. You’re already losing rent on the tenant who isn’t paying, and you don’t want to suffer through a long vacancy period once that tenant is removed. There’s a good chance you’ll be able to rent the property out before your existing tenant has been evicted.
This is a complex and emotional process if you’re managing your own rental property. Tenants have a lot of advocacy groups to help them when they’re facing an eviction. If you’d like some support as an owner, contact us at Service Star Realty. We’d be happy to help.
