How to Make Sure Your Tenants Are Paying on Time

Summary: Late payments aren’t just bad for your real estate business, but it can significantly affect the way you run your property.

In order to be a successful landlord you have to lay down a strict set of rules within your contract to ensure that your tenants maintain responsibility. Remember, this is your investment, and it’s obviously one that’s cost you a significant amount. If you fail to realize this, you could end up losing your property and a huge chunk of your savings in the process.

This guide is designed to showcase how you can alter your contract to ensure that you receive your payments on time and in full.

Pay Attention to the Fine Print

If you want your rent, you’ll have to make sure you write it down in your contract. Are you expecting the rent check at the beginning of the month or the end? Can they pay in cash? What if they’re late? These are all questions that will directly affect the payment process.

If you’re expecting to receive your amount on a timely basis, be sure to add the appropriate late fees that your tenants must pay if they fail to provide their rent on time. However, be sure not to set a fee that’s ridiculously high or you could end up in some serious trouble.

In addition to this, you must also tell each tenant that you accept into your property that you take the rent payment extremely serious. If they’re having financial hardships you have to understand that this is still a business and you don’t have time to sympathize. While this does sound harsh, it’s also how you need to handle your property. After all, you’re not the one catching a break if your tenant pays late. And, if this becomes a repetitive habit, you’ll have to be the one to kick them out of your place.

Find the Right Tenant

In order to find the most responsible tenant, you’ll want to run a quality tenant screening background check to ensure that they haven’t been evicted in the past, have a reasonable credit score, and are timely on their payments. Remember, their credit report could be in your hands and it’s up to you to take an in-depth look at each serious applicant and see who’s responsible and who’s not. Be sure to make the right choice or you’ll end up with a boatload of stress on your shoulders.

Companies like Tenant Screening Services, LLC can provide you with a secure tenant background check for your property.