Collecting rent can be a painful experience or a smooth transaction. As a landlord and it doesn't matter if you're a good one or bad one, you always want to make this situation as smooth as possible and stay within the law of your state when collecting rent for your rental property.
Its best to make leases so that rent is due on the first day of the month for all your properties. This way, you dont need to keep track of when each tenant should pay rent. When the rent is due on the first day of the month with a grace period with no late fees but if rent is not paid in full or is paid late, you charge a late fee as stated in the lease.
You will have a tenant delays paying rent beyond the fifth day. You have written in your lease that you can charge an additional amount a day until rent is paid in full. The reason for this is you want to make sure that the rent payment is one of the top priorities for your tenants.
Even in some cases with your best tenants, if their rent is not paid by the fifth day of the month, you have to deliver them a notice to pay or vacate the premises. Its always best to front all your situations personally and in a nice manner.
When you can deliver these notices to tenants and length of time the notices allow for payment or vacating the premises depends on the state. But remember, if your tenants have trouble paying you by the fifth of the month, and they promise they will pay by the fifteenth of the month, how are they going to come up with next month's rent by the first of the following month?
Its best not have or let this situation drag. You want to face the problem head on now and you might be able to salvage a rough spot for you tenant and rental property.
Now in some cases as a landlord, you can make arrangements with tenant to pay you a certain time frame. But you must let them know if they miss one scheduled payment in full, the legal process will begin and take it course which would not be good for them because their record would be blemished with an eviction.
Always in a nice way and because its the truth, you can let your tenants know that you have a bank loan and you rely on their rent payment to help make your mortgage payment. Let them know you have a mortgage payment due on the first and the bank doesn't care whether you collect the rent or not. They just care that the payment is due by the first or they charge a late fee. This approach has gone a long way towards getting the tenant on your side and painting their late fees in a light they understand. So this is why I really can say collecting rent can be a painful experience or a smooth transaction.