What should I do if I can't pay rent?

[questions]

Due to unfortunate circumstances, I'm not going to be able to pay my rent this month. I should make next month's rent and be able to slowly pay off this month's rent over time. I know that this if going to make my landlord upset and I'd like to mitigate the conflict as much as possible and show that I'm trying to rectify the problem. What steps should I take to make this unfortunate situation more tolerable to the landlord?

[cicy33]

Generally when one does not pay rent on time there will be a late fee. Depending on where you rent will depend on what the landlord will say. If you rent from a "normal" person then sometimes you can talk to them and explain your situation. If you rent from a company chances are they are going to tell you tough cookies. I know it is not the best way to go but is there anyway to come up with the money from friends or even a short term loan? Rent is an area that you can incur the risk of being thrown out of your place. Whomever you owe the rent to is going to want a good explanation why you cannot pay if you hope they will work with you at all.

[disneysteve]

Certainly, the most important thing is communication. Contact your landlord right away. Let him know the situation and make it clear that it is a temporary situation that should be resolved by next month. Pay whatever you can now as a good faith effort to show that you will pay as you are able.

If you haven't already, make sure you cut every possible expense so that you can pay this money as soon as possible and you can start building a savings cushion so that this never happens again.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I always rented from small landlords who had about six apartments to rent. That meant I could actually deal face-to-face with the person I payed rent to. In my own renting situation if I had been unable to pay the rent, I would have tried to see if there was some non-cash way I could have paid. Could I finish the siding job on the sun porch he'd left incomplete for four weeks? Could I fill the cracks in the sidewalks and tighten the bolts on the outdoor waggling stair rails? Could I clean and paint any empty apartment he had? Could I do some photography for him? Did his lab (main income of one of my landlords) need any shelves, tables, etc moved, or any general cleaning done? Could I work off my rent by doing a thorough garden tidying, pruning, weeding, etc. at his house? Could I detail his truck for him? Could I clean out the barn (one landlord had a horse) for him? Was there any thing of my general labor, my professional labor, or my amateur knowledge that he would be willing to swap for the missing rent?

[snafu]

Are we to assume you often miss paying something as basic as your rent? I would be major distressed if you were my tenant as the financial institution that holds your landlord's mortgage and the taxation office will not forgive sums owed.

I would counsel that you can't afford to live in your current accommodation. Perhaps you would benefit by accepting a roomate to share the space. If that is not possible you may need to find an accommodation where you are the secondary room mate.

[graceful]

Certainly, the most important thing is communication. Contact your landlord right away. Let him know the situation and make it clear that it is a temporary situation that should be resolved by next month. Pay whatever you can now as a good faith effort to show that you will pay as you are able.

If you haven't already, make sure you cut every possible expense so that you can pay this money as soon as possible and you can start building a savings cushion so that this never happens again.

ITA with DS's advice.

However, it seems that re-reading OP's post suggests that he will be able to pay NEXT month's rent but not make up this month's rent at all except in increments.

It also seems that since OP is asking about THIS month's rent, he is already late as it is the 10th of the month already.

OP,

Talk to you Landlord. Explain that you are in a temporary bind. Make whatever partial rent payment you can THIS month and then work out a payment plan for the balance.

Promise to pay 9/09 rent on time on the first and in the future. Take the balance of what is owed this month and divide by 3 or 4 months at the most (2 would be preferable) and promise to make those payments either with your monthly payments or maybe on the 15th of every month as a separate payment.

Sit down and crunch your numbers first. Make sure your can make your promised catch up payments. It will be worse if you start falling behind on those. Your Landlord will lose all trust in you.

I am usually willing to work things out with tenants as long as they show good faith, who initiate communication, are in constant contact and are willing to pay their rent balance.

I am less sympathetic to those that don't call me and make me have to track them down and make me out to be the bad guy. I can tell a tenant who really tries and takes me seriously and one who is all talk.

It also helps greatly if you have a history of timely rent payments in the past. Tenants who have always paid their rent on time but have had an unexpected set back will get a LOT bigger leeway from me than a tenant who makes chronic late payment.

There are some tenants that I trust will make up any owed balances and those that I will start eviction proceedings asap.

[disneysteve]

I would also be looking into any possible source for this money. Even a cash advance on your credit card might be worth doing. Yes, you'll have to pay interest on the money, but then you have time to pay it off and your rent will be up to date.

I would NOT do a payday loan since the interest rates are insane, 200% or more.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

sanfu, you may have mixed up the info from the original post with what I suggested, because the person who is late did not say anything about labor. That was me. And what I said was just another suggestion. I have little doubt landlords want cash, not labor, from their tenants. I was just suggesting another possibility that might work in some instances. In these days, with 9+% unemployment, landlords are probably finding a lot of tenants late and hearing a lot of sincere promises to catch up on the rent, but some of those promises are not going to pan out, regardless of good intentions of the tenant. So there may be some landlord who is willing to swap labor for rent or for a discount on the late rent. If I were a landlord (and hell would have to freeze over first) I would rather have a tenant make himself/herself useful than do nothing at all and leave me with all the bills nonetheless.

What I suggested was something I had kept in mind if as possible track to try should I ever come on hard times when I was a renter. In fact, no, I never was late with rent. And I have not been a renter for 16 years now.

[cicy33]

I would also be looking into any possible source for this money. Even a cash advance on your credit card might be worth doing. Yes, you'll have to pay interest on the money, but then you have time to pay it off and your rent will be up to date.

I would NOT do a payday loan since the interest rates are insane, 200% or more.

While I more than agree with this, my only reason for suggesting a loan for this is because he could be in a situation of no place to live. Not all landlords care what the reason is. If you have no other option and the landlord says pay it now or I will begin eviction notice then I think I would take whatever option there is. It is reasonable to take a small loan pay it off quickly and be done. Some people have no options. Perhaps OP has an option for a low interest loan?

[disneysteve]

While I more than agree with this, my only reason for suggesting a loan for this is because he could be in a situation of no place to live. Not all landlords care what the reason is. If you have no other option and the landlord says pay it now or I will begin eviction notice then I think I would take whatever option there is.

Can they really begin the eviction process for missing one payment? That seems pretty extreme.

[snafu]

Mea culpa JoanOTA, I did indeed start in the middle and missed the OP. I see what you were trying to fix.

[cschin4]

What were the unfortunate circumstances? Having a place to live is pretty much should be your number one expenditure and priority.
Of course you should notify the landlord and explain your situation. And, most likely the landlord will let it ride because having a stable renting is much better in the long run for the landlord as well. But, if you don't pay next month or then start having a pattern of not paying on time, it is likely you will be evicted.

[cicy33]

Can they really begin the eviction process for missing one payment? That seems pretty extreme.

Yes they can start the proceedings immediately. The agreement is the rent is paid monthly. Granted they can't evict them that day but they can start the proceedings. and once they are started they can continue them even if you pay them later. Then the other problem begins finding a new house. When you rent from a person versus a company it is their house. They don't have to rent to you if they don't want to. All they need to say is we have chosen to no longer rent get out in 30 days. Renting is a dicey situation if you don't pay on time. When you pay a mortgage to a bank it is a little bit safer in that respect if you are late one month.

[DebbieL]

Yes they can start the proceedings immediately. The agreement is the rent is paid monthly. Granted they can't evict them that day but they can start the proceedings. and once they are started they can continue them even if you pay them later. Then the other problem begins finding a new house. When you rent from a person versus a company it is their house. They don't have to rent to you if they don't want to. All they need to say is we have chosen to no longer rent get out in 30 days. Renting is a dicey situation if you don't pay on time. When you pay a mortgage to a bank it is a little bit safer in that respect if you are late one month.

Here, the landlord can give a 10 day notice to terminate tenancy if the rent is 1 day past due. The tenant then has up to 5 days to pay in full. If they don't - they are out of there. In reality, I doubt this is usually practiced serving a notice to evict someone if they are a day late only one time.

[Hot dog]

I say definitely talk to your landlord. He is the only one that can truely tell you what you should do and then you can stop worrying. Make sure you cut all unnecessary spending. If I was your landlord and you owed and I saw you eating out or even buying shrimp and steak at the supermarket it would upset me.