I get this question often.  Usually it is from a landlord that is frustrated because a tenant is always paying their rent late.  Lots of landlords wait until the 28th to finally do something about it and then want to file an eviction.  Here are some tips to fix the problem or get the tenant out:

• Next month, file the eviction immediately when the tenant is late (typically on the 6th) with no warnings.  The tenant is responsible for paying you rent.  You are not required to chase them down for it.  This should either catch them off guard not prepared to pay you and they will need to move out, or they hopefully will get the point that you are serious and start to at least attempt to pay on time.
• Even if the tenant pays up after they receive the eviction notices, they are still responsible for all the late fees and eviction court costs.  Don’t let them get out of that!  I used to have a tenant that always paid late, but  about a day or so before I was going to file the eviction.  Consequently her rent was essentially $50 higher than it should be.  Every month!
• Stop by their place on first of the month looking for the rent.  In fact, I know several landlords that simply come around on the 1st of the month and personally collect the rent.  Then there is never an excuse that the check is in the mail.

Once the tenant sees you are serious and you still want to get rid of them, see if you can come to an agreement for them to move out the following month peacefully. Just part ways friendly.  Otherwise, most tenants that have trouble paying will eventually slip up and not be able to pay and then they will get evicted.

None of these are sure bets, but there are several ways to attempt to collect your back rent:

• Bribe the tenants that if they pay you all the back rent, you will in exchange expunge the eviction from their record.  While this sounds like a good idea, most tenants are not willing to pay up to several thousand dollars to get this done.  They don’t see the value as most are able to rent new apartments despite an eviction on their record.
• Take them to small claims court and get a judgment against them.  This is fairly inexpensive to get a judgment against the tenant.  You simply go to court, file some paperwork, have the paperwork served and then go to your court date.  Very similar to processing an eviction.  The judgment will prevent them buying most major purchases like cars and homes and will hurt their credit.  Unfortunately, you will only get paid if you work on the collection yourself or they need to pay you off to fix their credit.  I only do this if I believe there is some chance they could pay me back in the future or they have a decent job.
• Lastly, you can hire a collection agency or an eviction attorney to go after the tenant and the money.  While there are many different types, I have had some success with one recently that has been able to collect on a 3 year old debt.  You can imagine my surprise when I got a check in the mail for $100.  Not much, but more than I ever expected!  Keep in mind that most collection agencies will charge you 50% of the amount recovered.  I figure 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing especially when all I have to do is fill out some paperwork!

Collecting the back rent can be done, but you need to work at it and be consistent.  If nothing else, it will make you feel better that you are not letting this tenant out of owing you money.  I know I like that part!