The best way to ensure your rent is paid on time is by carefully screening your tenants, and only renting to individuals who have a record of on-time rental payments and responsible tenancies. Having consistent rental collection policies in place will also help you get your rent in when it’s due. Make sure your tenants understand that you take this seriously.
At Castle Property Management, we have a zero-tolerance policy for late rental payments. If rent is late, we do not hesitate to begin the proceedings that may eventually lead to eviction.
Rent Collection and Your Lease Agreement
Your lease should state explicitly how much rent will be every month, when it’s due, whether there’s a grace period, and how it should be paid. The lease should also outline any consequences of late rent, such as late fees or other actions the landlord might take. This is a document that both you and your tenant have signed, so rent collection simply becomes a matter of lease enforcement.
Sending a Pay or Quit Notice
Our tenants know that rent is due on the first, and late after the five day grace period that we have in place. If rent is not received by the end of that fifth day, we send a formal Pay or Quit Notice to the tenants. Usually, the rent and the late fees are paid in accordance with this notice, and we don’t have to take any further actions to collect the overdue rent.
Late fees are paid to Castle Property Management to cover the cost of collecting the rent and filing the notice.
Beginning the Eviction Process
If rent is still not received after the notice period, we contact you to discuss our option to evict the tenant. Even if we begin the eviction proceedings, they can be stopped once rent is received. However, the property owner is responsible for attorney’s fees and court costs once the eviction process begins. The cost will depend on how far along we are in the process, and when the tenant finally pays. We try to recover those attorney’s fees in the court proceedings, but that reimbursement is never guaranteed.
Our eviction rate is low, and we always work hard to avoid evicting a tenant. If you have any questions about how to ensure rent is collected on time or anything about Ashburn property management, we’d be glad to help. Please contact us at Castle Property Management.
