What to do if my tenant has refused to pay full rent by first of each month since there is a grace period of 5 days?
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What to do if my tenant has refused to pay full rent by first of each month since there is a grace period of 5 days?
What can I do to get him to pay full rent by first of each month, the lease states, “Due without demand: The monthly rent is due without any prior demand from the landlord to pay it and is to be received by the landlord on the 1st day of each month. This means that you owe the rent without any type of billing, invoicing or notice from the landlord and that it is tenant’s sole responsibility to ensure that the money is in the landlord’s possession on the 1st. Failure to pay your rent when due is a breach of this lease”.
Asked on January 4, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
From what you quote, even if there is a grace period before the tenant can be evicted for nonpayment of rent, he is under a clear obligation--it is a term of the lease--to pay by the 5th. That means that when he does not, he is still breaching the lease. You can send him a Notice to Cease, reiterating the relevant lease language, providing examples of when he's breached it, letting him know this is breach, instructing him to stop breaching, and finally telling him that if he continues to breach, you will seek to evict him for lease violations. Then if he continues to pay late, you can bring an eviction action based on lease violations.
Of course, if you are ultimately getting paid everything owed you, albeit somewhat late, you want to ask yourself whether it is worthwhile evictinig a paying, if annoying, tenant, since eviction is your only tool.
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