Rental arrears

[newhomebuilder]

Hi, first post here so I will see how I go!

Just received our rental statement.

After reading it it says that one tenant has paid until the 12th October and the other until the 15th.

Does this mean they are both in rental arrears?

I havnt had a call from our property manager, who im not totally happy with. Should have he called us and said your tenants are overdue in their rental payments?

I will give him a call in the morning, just want to get my info correct before I start an argument with him!

Thanks.

 

[wylie]

There is another recent post regarding just this subject, but I am not sure I could find it.

Perhaps someone else can find that thread.

Wylie

 

[Raddles]

Hi there
it may be your rental statement relates to September but the tenants have paid into October as well - can you check your statement and see which period it relates to?
if your tenant was in arrears by at least one week, you would be seeing a copy of the demand for payment of rental
I think you may be a little premature
thanks

 

[newhomebuilder]

The period was from the 1st October to the 15th October.

Shouldnt a tenant always be at least 2 weeks in advance?

 

[Xenia]

Normally tenants should be 2 weeks in advance. Look at the period it relates to? If they are not 2 weeks in advance they are in arrears!

 

[newhomebuilder]

Well one tenant has paid rent untill the 12th of October and the other the 15th of October.

Today been the 15th, which means they are both 2 weeks over due?

Other propertys on the statement have tenants paid until end of November.

 

[chrispy]

Not necessarily so. My Agent holds the rent until she has a month's rent then pays it directly into my bank.

Chris

 

[Raddles]

Hi there
obviously it depends upon what the lease says but I am assuming your tenants must stay in advance at all times - if you have a copy of your lease, check the period (normally 7 days) that a tenant can be in arrears before a demand notice will issue - once again check your lease to see the repercussions if the rent is not brought up to date. You may want to contact your agent to see whether they have been in contact with the tenants and there is any reason for the delay - given other tenants are already paid to November - but before you start anything with your agent - check the lease - as they may be just acting in accordance with that document
thanks

 

[BayView]

Can I just say that if you are getting a bit nervous over 2 weeks then you will be getting an ulcer far too early in life.

With tenants, who are usually not good money managers at the best of times, there will always be a bit of fluctuation. In a perfect world this would not be the case, but you know what I mean.

Find out from your PM what date the rent is deposited into your account, and only look at your account on or after that date.

Far better for the health. In any case, if the rent is overdue, the PM will take steps to contact the tenant and get it cleared up.

We have a property in Kalgoorlie which we bought in 2003, and it had a young, single guy in as a tenant when we bought the place. He had been there for 18 months when we took over, and stayed with us for another 2 years after this.

Great tenant, but he was regularly late paying the rent. Not by much; a week, a few days, but I was getting notices in the mail from the PM every other month saying that he was in arrears and a notice had been issued. Turns out his pay weeks didn't coincide with the rent payment dates all that often. You think he would put it aside in readiness; you know - a budget?

After 6 months of this, I stopped worrying about it. Over the period of each year, his rent was pretty much on time, give or take a week.

Most PM's will try to sort out the problem before bothering you with it unnecessarily. They get to know who are the prompt payers, who are the stragglers. They deal with this stuff every day and know what to do, and will usually only contact you if it looks like getting out of hand.

 

[melsteve98]

Generally tenants have to pay two weeks rent in advance at the beggining of the lease. They are then entitled to live in the property for two weeks before they pay rent again. Rent does need to be paid in advance, not arrears, but this simply means it is paid for that period before they live in there for that period. So they can pay two weeks rent say, on the 15th which would take them to the 29th. They can then live there for that time, and pay rent on the 29th. They are therefore paying rent in advance. Many people confuse the two weeks rent in advance at the beginning with thinking the tenants have to always be two weeks ahead, but this is not the case.

In other words, the tenant paid to the 15th is not behind unless they don't pay rent today. The tenant paid to the 12th is three days behind. The most a property manager can do at this point is ring the tenant, but really it's not a big deal. Many people simply have a pay day that doesn't coincide well with their rental due date and will chronically be a couple of days behind. Believe me, if the manager rang you every time the tenant was a couple of days behind, that's all they would do all day.

If the tenant reaches 7 clear days behind, at the 8th day they can be sent a notice to pay rent. So your tenant who is paid to the 12th could be sent a notice on the 20th if they don't pay rent by then. This is when the manager should be letting you know. After another 7 days they can be given an eviction notice.

This is how in works in Queensland, possibly its a little different in VIC but I would say the rent in advance part is correct otherwise you would definitely have heard from the property manager. So in other words, I think you can relax because it appears your tenants are really pretty up to date. Hope that helps.