How To Collect Rent
State Your Expectations and Follow Up
Here are some tips for making rent collection less painful—for you and your tenants.
1. State your expectations: Make sure your lease states very clearly when rent is due, and when it is late. Go over the information verbally with your tenant at lease signing time.
2. Stick to your grace period, if you have one. Keep in mind that many tenants will take advantage and pay rent on the last day of the grace period.
3. State very clearly what the late fees will be for rent paid after the due date.
4. Do not bend the rules. You must treat all of your tenants equally. If you don’t apply the same rules to all your tenants, you could be accused of discrimination against those who do not receive preferential treatment.
5. Help your tenants pay on time: collect it in person. If you don’t feel safe or have the time for collecting rent, consider giving tenants a stack of addressed, stamped envelopes when they sign the lease. A stamp is a small investment to ensure rent is paid in a timely manner.
6. Do not accept separate payments from multiple tenants. Let them collect from each other and pay you with one check.
7. Do not accept partial rent payments. This could make filing an eviction suit impossible.
8. If a tenant bounces a check, do not redeposit it. Require a cashier’s check or money order to replace it. If the tenant provides a cashier’s check, cash it at the bank it is drawn on. And remember, you can legally collect a returned check fee from your tenant.
9. Look into online rent payment. Many of your tenants pay their bills online already, so make it easy for them to pay their rent, too. There are several services available that will handle the transaction for a small fee.
10. Enforce your rent rules: when tenants know you are serious about when rent is due, they are more likely to pay on time.
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