Consider this scenario:
A tenant had rented a house for four years and gave their 30 day notice to move in accordance with the requirements of the lease. However, in the last month of their tenancy they were late with their rent. They kept promising they were going to pay the rent due. The owner decided not to incur the cost of eviction procedures since the tenant was moving anyhow. They finally turned in their keys but did not bring a payment for the final month’s rent. When the house was inspected, it was found that the tenant had left the house in a damaged condition. The deposits will cover the last month’s rent but what about the damage for which the tenant is responsible? Here are some steps to avoid this happening to you:
1. Find good tenants.
McMath Realty currently has less than 1% of tenants paying late and even a smaller percentage of tenants that get evicted. Why is that? We ask that owners price their properties correctly so that we have numerous qualified applicants. We do a thorough background check on every tenant and encourage our owners to accept only tenants that meet our criteria. When we do have an eviction, it is usually on a property that came into management with a tenant in place where these procedures were not followed.
2. When the tenant pays late, McMath Realty automatically sends a five day notice to terminate the lease.
Under Arizona law, the five day notice and supporting documents can be sent to the attorney after an appropriate amount of time. The attorney then secures a court date and notice is delivered to the tenant. At the hearing, the judge will issue a judgment and a forcible detainer. He then gives the tenant five additional days to pay all monies including court costs. At the end of that 5 day period the constable may be called to perform the actual eviction. What has just been described to you is the eviction process. This process can be stopped at any time by the tenant paying the amounts due. Incidentally, the lease requires that the tenant pay for any legal costs incurred to collect their rent. These costs become a part of the rent due. Should the tenant not pay rent, and an actual eviction takes place, the cost will be $250.00 to $500.00. Should an owner decide not to follow the eviction process and later want to sue the tenant for damages to the property, the costs begin with a retainer fee to the attorney, usually around $2000.00. Stopping the eviction process takes away any leverage the owner has for collecting the rent. One should always begin the eviction process with the 5 day notice and refuse to stop the process until the tenant has paid all amounts due.
3. It is tempting to get caught up in the tenant’s personal problems.
Many tenants will try to recount their personal tragedies and ask for forgiveness on their rent. Ask yourself if you really want to provide free housing to this tenant. Most tenants who are not paying rent are also not taking care of the property. Curiously, we have never had a tenant offer to pay more rent because of difficulties in a rental owner’s life. Seldom is a tenant totally without other options for shelter. Almost always the tenant has made some bad choices and is now asking Mr. Owner to participate in the consequences of those bad choices. This alone is a good reason to employ a professional property management company like McMath Realty Property Management.
Weldon McMath – McMath Realty Property Management