But, for those of you that prefer to use a softer approach, here is an example late rent notice:

Suzie Smith
1234 Main Street North
Tallahassee, Florida 12243

Dear Suzie-

This letter is to inform you that we have not received your rent payment for December 2010, which was due by December 5 at 5:00  PM.  This was for the rental period December 1 to December 31.  If you have already mailed the rent, you may disregard this letter.

At this time, per your lease agreement, you have been assessed a $50 late fee charge.  The total amount due is $1250.

Please send the total amount immediately to the following address:

Most Excellent Landlord
5555 High Living Street
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55112

Alternatively, if you need to discuss payment arrangements or have any questions regarding this matter, you can contact me at 612-555-1212.  Failure to pay the total amount noted on the above late rent notice may result in further actions being taken, including, but not limited to eviction.

Sincerely,

Most Excellent Landlord

This late rent letter can be modified as you see fit.  One option is to remove or modify the last sentence to make the letter more or less harsh.  Personally, I would always opt for a more strict and forward approach than a light one.  If you want examples, read one of your credit card or utility bills for sample late payment language.

Make sure to keep a copy of this rent late notice for you records in case you need to evict.  If possible, send the letter certified mail with a return receipt.  This will require the tenant to sign for it, proving they received it.  Alternatively, I have seen landlords use Fedex to send this late rent notice, knowing that everyone will accept a package from Fedex.  You can also have your letter served by a process server or the sheriff, but that can be costly.  Depending upon the situation, it may be worth the extra money to have the letter done correctly so when (notice I didn’t say if!) you get to court, you can prove beyond a doubt that the tenant was notified.

If the tenant does not respond within a couple days or refuses to pay, your next option is to start the eviction process.  Do not make the mistake of most landlords and wait weeks or even months before starting the eviction.  At court, bring this letter with you to show the judge that you gave the tenant ample opportunity and notice to pay the late rent.

You have done everything you need to do to get this tenant to pay rent by sending this letter to tenant about late rent.  It was their choice to make a late rent payment.  Don’t lose your nerve or get bullied into waiting any longer to evict.

Tenants that pay rent late can actually be more frustrating, in my opinion, than ones that never pay.  While this may sound strange, think about it.  Each month you are wondering if they are going to pay the rent and when.  You call, they give you promises, and you wait.  You spend time wondering what you could do different, when you should step up your enforcement, when should you escalate the non-payment to a notice of eviction.  In fact, I would much rather have a tenant call me up and say “I am not paying you anymore” than sit for days or even weeks to see if my late payers are going to pay me.

While I have not found any one size fits all for getting tenants to fix their late rent payment, these are some tips that may work for you:

• Make sure the tenant actually understands when the rent is due.  Some tenants are just not that organized and don’t really pay attention to when they must pay rent.  This may sound strange, but I have seen it several times.  You may also be the problem if you are accepting their rent at any time during the month without asking for it or explaining that it is due on a certain date.
• See if the tenant would be better at paying the rent twice per month.  Maybe they should send you partial rent each day they get paid at work.  This would help them stay ahead and insure you are getting your money in a timely basis.
• Send a late rent payment letter each time your tenant is late.  Maybe this repeated late rent notice will get them motivated.
• Charge your late fee each time the rent is past due and don’t waive it.  Mail the tenant a rent statement immediately the day after the rent was due.  This can serve also as a late rent letter.
• In some states, using a notice to quit, which is like a warning letter may also help you get them motivated.  This notice tells them they have 3 options:  pay the late rent immediately, move out immediately, or you will be evicted.  Strange as it seems, some tenants only seem to get motivated when they are facing eviction.
• If the tenant has a good job, but just seems to be lazy about mailing the rent, see if they would do an automatic bank transfer from their checking account to yours each month on the due date.  This may be an excellent way to both of your lives simpler.

Solving late rent payments is an important step in making the management of your rental properties easier.

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!