Every Saturday is collection day at the rooming house. Had a tenant tell me that his rent was going to be late because he was "waiting on a check" and he would put it in the box on Sunday. He had paid like clockwork for several months, so I told him that I'd waive the late fee as long as the money was in the box on Sunday and he should text me when he deposited it. Come Sunday, no text and no money. Called and left message, no answer and no return call. Went there this morning and knocked on the door to ask what was up. He then tells me he only got partial pay for last week on his job and he can pay me this week's and next week's rent this Saturday. Mind you he would have accumulated $ 70 of late charges on top of his weekly rent of $ 130.00. There's no way he'd have all of that. You can not let these guys get behind like that.

Told him to have my money by 5:00 pm or leave. And guess what, no more waiver of the late fee either, so I need that as well. He was one of the earlier tenants where I'm not holding an advance week, so there was no week to live out. Around 4:40 pm as I was just about to head out the door with my LL Locks control key to change his lock and remove his access code when I got a call--money is in the box. Still made the trip, but got the money order instead.

Gotta draw the bright line in the sand.

I sure wish I could do that,..just change the locks on a SFH whenever the rent is 1 day late.

It All comes down to,

People, Policies, Procedures, Priorities,

and a Pinch of Politics.

GKARL,

Good for you! Stay strong!

Tip: waiving the late put you right back at square one “Pre-ZT” in his mind. That’s why he did not pay or at least call.

I want to encourage you to be All ZT. It works. And they “get it”.

Hope to see you at Convention!

I love your posts and look forward to meeting you.

My takeaway from GKarl's posts about his rooming house is that leasing C - and D grade homes to people living hand to mouth in the sir/apartment manner is nearly impossible to make profitable long term.

@GKARL, congrats on making it work! I still enjoy your updates on the rooming house.

@Sisco, true! Without the immediate lock out provision, it would take weeks or a month+ to get these folks out, during which time they could trash the property and run off other good residents.

I would likely be more relaxed with my screening criteria if I could legally remove non-payers within 7 days of no rent. As it is, the process for removing people who don't pay is too cumbersome and expensive to take a chance on someone who is borderline, so I have to screen much more carefully and when the money stops flowing the eviction gets filed.

GKarl I didn't see Zero tolerance either. But, I did see a win. A lot of posters hype zero tolerance, but they have a very odd definition of zero, in my never humble opinion. But, using a late fee system to make money for landlord, provide tenant with options, is a win.

Sysco, a friend of mine runs a very successful rooming house in a small community near my own house. Its right across from the police station, she knows the police officers well, and they work together. She runs a very tight ship, has many, many long term tenants. She focuses on having a culture of respect. The occupants mostly work heavy construction, work long hours, and just want a place to clean up and sleep. To assume they are mostly living paycheck to paycheck would be incorrect. Some are, most are stable, and have means. Just don't want to deal the the whole house thing. Kind of like the tiny house movement, only no need to worry about where to park the house.