Good Evening everyone, Just wondering if I can get some advice about my tenant in Victoria who's rent payment is overdue by almost 2 weeks, he notified me directly to say it would be late before it was due and I was fine with that. His reason was his employer owes him a few weeks of pay. He always pays on time and in the 1.5 years there has only been one other time when the rent was late and it was eventually paid. I do have a property manager but I always feel except for prompt transfers of my rental income, they are rarely proactive with these matters and when I contacted him and said 'have you noticed the rent is late', he paused a while before saying 'yes' and by his response it was quite obvious to me he wasn't aware that it was 7 days overdue. He was basically looking it up as I was speaking to him. Anyway, not to worry my call was mainly to make sure he knows about it and also not to hound the tenant just yet given he had already had the courtesy to warn me he had trouble with paying this months rent. My question is as it is almost 2 weeks I am getting concerned his employer is unable to pay him and this could affect him in the long run with rent payments, what is a reasonable next step given he is a good tenant in all respects. pinewood
If you have landlord insurance (or not) you still need to issue notices at appropriate times to protect yourself. I'd issue whatever notice is appropriate in your state to cover yourself. Two weeks is getting serious and catch up may be hard.
I have tenants who are late with their rent more frequently than they are on time .... Everything appears to be done on 'Island time' (they just get around to it whenever, and they don't have an email address, so trying to get ahold of them - to send documents and the like - is painful).
Your PM should be on top,of this and issue the relevant breach notice as soon as legally allowed. In Qld I think this was 8 days. Paperwork has to be in perfect order in case the tribunal or insurance become involved. If not, you run the risk of being seen to allow the situation to continue. And, as said, why is the tenant contacting you? Marg
Exactly. The PM is the go between. Otherwise save the cost and self manage if you actually "talk" to your tenants directly. Perish the thought.
I am definitely on a look out for a new PM! Wouldn't be posting my Qs if I had a good one I could leave everything to and trust. For that reason I am actually ok that my tenant has my number, I see advantages in this with my current tenant however until I have more experience I would not want to self manage so I still need a PM.
I find it is very hard to find anyone who is that on the ball. managing the managers is no joke, I just had a similar thing & think it is poor form & or bad systems that allow it to be that a client needs to tell a PM about arrears.
@dabbler, I don't understand why a good PM is in the minority. Is it the nature of this job that attracts a certain kind of people??? Would love to hear from the PMs in this group! Also why is the staff turn around so high which is one of the problems I have encountered and I am told this is common across the board. Anyway, my tenant has paid up! Hooray! Still doesn't make my PM any better as he didn't even bother to provide any excuse or apology on his part... he doesn't even seem to recognise where he has failed as to him, he has resolved everything so there is nothing further to concern over, nothing to pursue, nothing to rectify, end of conversation.
I am not a PM but I have been self managing on and off for the last 8-10 years in Melbourne. It really is not that big of a deal. just distance wise. I have one tenant in pt cook who is always late but has always paid up for the last close to 2 years now. I have attended VCAT in the past - unpaid rent, damages etc, sorted out bond issues, organized repairs or really some stuff I can do it myself anyway (like drilling a new towel rail, or patching a wall) like a 20 minute job. It really depends on people skills, problem solving and how you can negotiate outcomes etc. Each individuals are different as a tenant in Pt Cook and a tenant in Albert Park/South Mlebourne are vastly different.
