Assuming all of your rents are due on the 1st of the month and you enforce Zero Tolerance, do you ever feel just a pinch of anxiety over who is going to pay rent this month and/or who is going to be late or just not pay at all ? I am not talking about being totally stressed out here (even though that could happen) but just a slight 'sinking feeling' in your stomach over rents that are due each month.

Oh goodness yes!

Absolutely do.

NE,

It's PTSD from the days when we DIDN'T have good tenants. Yes, I get the twinge. But mine is more all month long as many of my tenants are on odd rent paying days. 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th...

Roy you should have a buffer to cover this in your account. If you don't then maybe you should be the TENANT! (Living day to day)

Lets face it Roy it's the same ol' people every month "TESTING" us/you.

I currently have 3 potential "waiting" garnishments. 3 on no pay with the court right now-- dispos served the 8th waiting on court date. Pay me now or in 3 years from now through garnishment and @25% collection.

Roy you and others know we post here about collections and garnishment. My wife (partner) and I discussed this yesterday. IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY-- I know crazy--- it's knowing these folks thumbed their nose at us-- maybe trashed the place and then tried to hide from it/us.-------- Then that checks comes in from garnishment and from the court-- October was 2 checks from 2 different courts totaling 5K. Yesterday not as good but paid directly from past tenants who don't want a garnishment showing. Had 4 of those.

The satisfaction is THIS: looking at the pics of the places that we got back and saying YEA there paying for it and every time they write a check or money is withheld-- it's going to the LL. That be us.

And then you get this:

"Good Morning we are leaving Dec. 29th..." Another one breaking their lease. And no Brad, they have no money to pay an ELT fee, because the reason they are leaving is that both their cars flooded during Hurrcane Michael and were totaled. They had to get new ones, down payments, etc. (It happened all over the island.) So now she is afraid of the place, says everytime it rains she freaks out.

Repeated stress can be harmful to your health in the long run. Find out how to control and avoid stress at the beginning of a month.

Fellow LL's here,

Don't get me wrong here,..I am not losing any sleep over this 1st of the month 'fear of the unknown' here. However, when most of your tenants live their lives on a paycheck to paycheck basis`,...anything CAN happen and

eventually WILL happen. It is just that small degree of uncertainty that happens when rents are due that creates an uneasiness with me. When all rents have been paid, any stress I may have 'imagined' just disappears into thin air.

MYOB,

I have the financial buffer you mentioned,..but I think you have missed the point I am trying to make and it has to do more with Zero Tolerance than anything else.

One thing I hate doing are evictions,..they are costly, time consuming and just piss me off when a tenant does not pay rent and does not move out. When a tenant decides not to pay rent, it that fear of having to file another eviction is what creates the stress here. I am not even sure if Stress is the right word here,...it just irritates me when I have think about what happens next when a tenant does not pay by the 7th day. I know I have to 'drop the hammer' on the 8th day.

I look forward to the 1st, I like money. Most of ours pay, sometimes a little late, but then there is the late fee!

Yes, we are a Mom & POP and do things a little differently than a lot of you (sometimes meeting people half way for the rent when they live 20 miles away) and giving people a little more time to pay us than we should. But I have spent a lot of time searching for bargains, and coordinating remodels with my hubby and the handyman and I enjoy seeing the fruits of our labor.

Roy irritated and stressed 2 different birds. Stress will kill you.

ROY "Boy" I never miss your point. Got it loud and clear.

Ally NJ did you even start the eviction? Why March is December no good? How long does it take to get someone out in NJ?

WMC -- very heartfelt when it comes to others hurting. Fact is -- "it's life". When I think of others "reasons for not paying" I ask myself what would my mortgage company do for me? Would they say Hey MYOB it's OK -- that contract means nothing cause your car was flooded. So not to be heartless but it's life. Cars are flooded-- is no reason to SKIP out on your lease.

MYOB,

Don't call me Roy"Boy". That irritates me more than a deadbeat tenant. However, the license plate on my F-150 reads ROYSTOY and you can say that if you have to say my name with something else that rhymes.

That's a super cool license plate! It sounds like your truck is fun to drive.

I understand how you feel. Like WMH, I have a bit of PTSD from one deadbeat tenant, and sometimes I feel a twinge of something when I don't receive rent checks by the first of each month. It's not the money, but it's just thinking about the previous deadbeat tenant that makes me think about countermeaures, rearranging plans, etc just in case.

Roy I apologise.

After being a landlord of rental property going on 40 plus years,

I learned how to deal with problem tenants. Any issues with rent not being paid on time is the fault of the manager, me! I take responsibility.

As I've said before, sometimes when you buy a problem property, you have to learn to work with your tenants. Sometimes I'll adjust he payment day from the 1st to the 5th -- allowing the tenant to collect and cash their social security or retirement check.

But after a tenant becomes a problem, I let them know it's going to be real easy for me to evict them and deal with a another tenant -- one who will be serious about paying the rent on time and not making excuses.

Each time I purchased another apartment complex because the prior owner had poor management skills, I'd get into a pickle collecting rent -- like bleeding a turnip.

Yes I get a bit worried if I have several that seem to be struggling at once. I think it relates to the economy overall too.

The fear factor from the media, the stock market, and local jobs news.

It’s a little uneasy when things start to falter.

I try and say, “Well it it all goes downhill, I won’t be alone!”

I also wanted to add that feeling uncomfortable means you’re pushing the boundaries. I’ve found it to be good. When I’m comfortable I’m not expanding and this is an expanding universe. If you’re not expanding you actually are going backwards. IMO

Thanks Sandy for your thoughts here. Yes, I am definitely 'pushing the boundaries' mainly by charging above market rents and keeping tenants on a short leash (not lease).

One of the owners that I manage for asked me once if they should stagger the rent due date so that they could have money coming in all month - at the time they had 3 or 4 units and thought using due dates like the 1st on one property and the 7th on another and the 14th on a third, etc would get them money each week.