Need Urgent advice: Rent Arrears

[kathryn d]

Lenders are also not interested in hearing excuses as to why the mortgage payment is late. Too many "lates" and they may think twice about renewing the mortgage.
We too have heard all the excuses as to why rent is late.

It is in your best interest, to never let this happena again.

I wonder when lenders will want to start seeing the rent payments, as proof an applicant is a good risk with a mortgage.

 

[Dazz]

instead of saving up i helped my brother pay his student loan this month cause i thought my bank would take care of my rent, but i was wrong. ahh

Hmmm....that was a very unwise decision.

Always place your Landlord above almost all of your other spending priorites....that way you'll always have a nice roof over your head.

Everything else can flow from that stable base.

The Fed Govt has it's own system, where students can rack up loans, incurring interest of only 2 or 3%, and only payable from your brother's future earnings.

This paying back of your brother's loan does not in any way shape or form out rank your Landlord in any way.

 

[Macca]

Maybe you should ask your brother for the money back. If you paid his loan then he should have some spare cash.

It may even be worthwhile you guys sharing and then your rent will be halved.

Another possibility is that you always pay your rent on time and then your brother has somewhere to camp if he doesn't pay his.

I can see you have learned the hard way from this so you just need to store it away in your head and move on to studying for your exams.

Good luck !

 

[jakemarquee]

I fail to understand why are you guys taking it so personally ? probably cause you'll feel what if this happens to us ! Well guys firstly I guess you'll should really stop judging. It was one off and moreover i was looking for advise which would let me know if im getting a notice to vacate slapped on my face or not. So chill out people. Would appreciate if you'll stick to the original question rather than deviating from it.

 

[luckyone]

Don't stress Jake, people on here just get all touchy when they hear about tenants paying a bit late. You've got a reason for it and have said you'll pay next week. All good so long as you do and then don't get behind again. Everyone makes mistakes.

 

[Property Meister]

I fail to understand why are you guys taking it so personally ? probably cause you'll feel what if this happens to us ! Well guys firstly I guess you'll should really stop judging. It was one off and moreover i was looking for advise which would let me know if im getting a notice to vacate slapped on my face or not. So chill out people. Would appreciate if you'll stick to the original question rather than deviating from it.

I dont think anyone is taking it personally,

Imagine if your work decided to pay you late by 2 weeks or whatever,

you'd take it quite personally, for some people, rental income is the be all end all, not all landlords are heartless rich pricks

because of what has happened, your landlord may not renew your lease at the end, its up to the landlord what they do

 

[Aaron_C]

As a tenant, if you think you're right, you probably are.

 

[DEC]

I dont think anyone is taking it personally,
Imagine if your work decided to pay you late by 2 weeks or whatever,
you'd take it quite personally,

I'm sure in this instance jakemarquee would be off crying to FWA as fast as he could

for some people, rental income is the be all end all, not all landlords are heartless rich pricks

True, for some, the tenant has effectively stolen money from them.
Because of jakemarquee's selfishness or thoughtlessness, some LL's will have had to forgo their own needs so as to meet their obligations with the bank, all so as to keep a roof over their poor tenants head.

because of what has happened, your landlord may not renew your lease at the end

LL's need reliable tenants, tenants that meet their obligations first and put their wants 2nd
Why would they want unreliable ones?

its up to the landlord what they do

It will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[DEC]

You've got a reason for it

An incredibly weak reason

 

[DEC]

I fail to understand why are you guys taking it so personally ?

You have effectively stolen/withheld funds from your LL because you chose to spend the money elsewhere.

It was one off

So you say, but how will the LL know that?
You signed a contractual agreement to pay the rent on time by a certain date and you shown you are not reliable because you have broken that agreement.
Why should they suddenly believe you now?

 

[kathryn d]

I fail to understand why are you guys taking it so personally ? probably cause you'll feel what if this happens to us ! Well guys firstly I guess you'll should really stop judging. It was one off and moreover i was looking for advise which would let me know if im getting a notice to vacate slapped on my face or not. So chill out people. Would appreciate if you'll stick to the original question rather than deviating from it.

We are investors..and you asked a question.
Most of us have all heard 'it will never happen again'..only to have it happen the very next month.

We are giving you very good information, and insight into how landlords view late payments.

If you hang around Somersoft long enough, you will find we always deviate from the original question

 

[skater]

I would count it as a bad mark myself and a sign of an unreliable tenant.

and then make sure you stay 14 days in front as per the terms of your contract

Look, I personally wouldn't worry about a once off slip. Everybody has something happen at some stage, that is unavoidable. What you need to do from here on in is make sure that it WAS a one off mishap. Show the PM and the LL that you are reliable. I feel that DEC is being a little harsh on you and that coming here and talking to us has proved that you are genuinely trying to do the right thing, but please, learn from it.

Long story short, no you won't be evicted yet, but you need to get your finances in order. Many tenants don't realise that some landlords count on that money and by being in rent arrears you are affecting their family life. Regardless of the student loan, you know how much rent is due each month and the roof over your head should be your number one priority.

What Lil said above is the very heart of the problem. Many tenants view their LLs are rich because they own an investment property. Well......newsflash........many LLs have only the one investment property and that one investment property costs them a lot of money each and every week. While the rent might be a certain amount each week (lets say $300pw), you will find that for many LLs they are paying another $300pw just to keep a roof over YOUR head. That's right! They are subsidising your cost of living, because without your friendly LL, where would you live?

Now lets look at those costs for a moment shall we? Firstly the LL has to pay their mortgage, usually a whole lot more than the rent they charge you to live there. Then you have insurance, LL insurance to help when their scum-of-the-earth tenant destroys their property (no, I'm not saying YOU are scum-of-the-earth. I'm just saying that there ARE that kind of tenant out there, I've just had one), rates, water rates (again, the tenant only gets the water usage, we have to pay the rest) management fees, maintenance etc.

So, a LL is just a regular guy, hoping that one day their investment property will make a difference to their future. In the meantime, they forego a heck of a lot of $$ each and every week that they could use elsewhere to subsidise the lifestyle of their tenant, often going without many things that others take for granted, like a nice dinner, movies, holidays etc.

Now, can you see why some of the LLs get a little testy, shall we say, if the tenant does not fulfill their part of the contract, and pay late, or worse still default?

Always place your Landlord above almost all of your other spending priorites....that way you'll always have a nice roof over your head.

Essentials should always come first. Rent/Mortgage, food & bills. The rest is discretionary.

 

[Jaggannath]

Look, I personally wouldn't worry about a once off slip. Everybody has something happen at some stage, that is unavoidable. What you need to do from here on in is make sure that it WAS a one off mishap. Show the PM and the LL that you are reliable. I feel that DEC is being a little harsh on you and that coming here and talking to us has proved that you are genuinely trying to do the right thing, but please, learn from it.

Exactly my thoughts, and I'm a landlord. One mistake is an error, but it's now in your court to prove you're a worthwhile 'risk'. Helping your brother pay his loan is admirable, but you'd want to make sure of your own situation in future before being noble. No point having his loans paid off and no house

 

[DEC]

Everybody has something happen at some stage, that is unavoidable.

Of course they do, but this

i helped my brother pay his student loan this month cause i thought ...

does not fit into that category IMHO.

un·a·void·a·ble/ˌənəˈvoidəbəl/
Adjective:
Not able to be avoided, prevented, or ignored; inevitable: "the natural and unavoidable consequences of growing old".
Synonyms:
inevitable - inescapable - ineluctable - necessary

To me it sounds like "I had more important things to spend my money on than your rent"

 

[Ideo]

Of course they do, but this does not fit into that category IMHO.



To me it sounds like "I had more important things to spend my money on than your rent"

For me, a once off is a once off.

If it's a pattern then I have an issue.

Seems to me that the rent is paid in advance. And if the landlord needs that 25% to make a payment then they are sailing a bit too close to the wind imo. Cash contingency is always required in these situations. You never know if a property is going to be empty for a bit or similar.

If you chose to base your finances on getting the exact rent every week, well, I love a mortgagee auction.

 

[bradcon]

Hold on, are you a student? You state you will have the money and your in the middle of exams?

If so having a monthly rent of $2300 plus is where your problem is (if i have understood this correctly)

My wife and i have a rent, of just over $1300 a month.

That means you are paying well over $500 a week in rent.

Your story seems to be missing important pieces for people on here to fully understand your circumstance. I know that having a rent that high seems excessive, esp. if you are renting on your own. You are paying over $27,000 a year in rent, when that money could be going into a mortgage. Worse still if you are not earning significant money in your job (if you are not a student) how will you actually live on the remainder of your income (I assume the national average is around $60K and you are paying almost 1/2 that in rent)?

This forum is full of LL's who are likely to not take your side. Its great to see many offer you sound advice but the reality you have broken your obligations for a non satisfactory reason and you should be concerned with the prospect of eviction (however unlikely it is).

Moreover than that given the details you supplied you should be more concerned with the root cause of your issue, overextending yourself financially.

Sorry to be harsh but hopefully this is a reality check you seem to need, and remember i am not a LL, i am a renter just like you. Respect your LL, they provide a roof over your head. By respect i mean pay on time, every time.

 

[Hamsandwich]

I think you are guys being a tad harsh here. Understandably every LL wants their rent on time - but hey property investing is risky because it has such a large human element.

I recall an occasion when I was renting that my housemate lost his job when his company went bust - he was late on the rent a few times because of that. The agency, and by extension the LL, dealt with the situation really smartly in my opinion - rather than jumping up and down and being litigious jerks about a situation that was beyond anyone's control they worked with us to make sure everyone knew what was happening and that the rent got paid and the relationship stayed on the up and up. In talking with the agent, they said the ones they worried about more were the people who didn't take it upon themselves to call and discuss the situation with the agency.

Maybe the OP's mistake was not in the same league as your employer going broke, but geez people we are all human, we all stuff up some time and he's gone out of his way to make it as right as he is humanly capable of. Frankly, unless this is a regular occurence, an eviction notice is an overreaction.

 

[kathryn d]

Hamsandwich,
Tenants are not our children. They signed a contract. They should have savings, or at least a credit card to borrow from.
I bet your friend still bought his smokes,beer, fuel?
It was YOUR responsibility to pay your housemates share (if the lease was that type)

Yes, it is nice when a tenant gives us a headsup that they are having trouble. Doesn't mean we come last on the list of being paid.

 

[Hamsandwich]

True, it's not a parent child relationship - but I still believe a bit of common sense can go a long way in a business relationship. The important word is relationship - we were in that place for another six months, surely keeping a good working relationship between us and the LL/Agent was in everyone's best interests. FYI I did cover his rent a few times when there was no chance of him paying it (******* never paid me back alot of it either).

In the OP's case i am assuming this is the first time this has happened - if he misses the rent on the 8/11 they can commence eviction then. He'll likely invoke all the legal hoo haa available to tennants if you send it to him now, he fixes the rent up next time it's due, and what have you achieved? The relationship is damaged.

It is obvious to me, that I would likely make a poor landlord )

 

[kathryn d]

True, it's not a parent child relationship - but I still believe a bit of common sense can go a long way in a business relationship. The important word is relationship - we were in that place for another six months, surely keeping a good working relationship between us and the LL/Agent was in everyone's best interests. FYI I did cover his rent a few times when there was no chance of him paying it (******* never paid me back alot of it either).

In the OP's case i am assuming this is the first time this has happened - if he misses the rent on the 8/11 they can commence eviction then. He'll likely invoke all the legal hoo haa available to tennants if you send it to him now, he fixes the rent up next time it's due, and what have you achieved? The relationship is damaged.

It is obvious to me, that I would likely make a poor landlord )

As a LL, we do see this all the time. They swear it will be the last time, but it never is. Nothing happened to them, so they figure the LL doesn't really mind.
Then they wonder why their rent is increased, or their lease isn't renewed.

Hoping the OP and other tenants who may read SS understand the implications of being late may have.