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To "FYI IN CA"...aka Arnie Been a LL in CA for 30 years now. I've done enough evictions but thankfully not too many because: I DO serve the pay/quit between the 2nd and the 5th of the month (usually the 4th or 5th). My late fees kick in on the 4th. There is NO mandated grace period for late fees OR eviction process in CA. I don't worry about late fees because I file for eviction no later than the 7th or 8th anyway and never request late fees NOR do I keep late payers so I don't have any late fee practices for the judge to question really. I think I have one family that pays them maybe once or twice a year. Virtually all of my rents are paid on the 1st..a FEW on the 2nd early morning. If not they hear from me and they KNOW what will happen. I never go for late fees in court..I go for possession only initially and don't even file the money judgment until the possession is granted and done. If they don't pay in the 3 days, they are OUT of my place and there is no turning back once I file. I use a law firm too which really helps getting priority scheduling with the courts AND getting default judgments very quickly. I am very up front about ALL OF THIS when I first rent to people. I have low end units and some applicants are used to LL's who perhaps like the one above do NOT serve pay/quits early..I usually find this out when I call to get references. And if I don't get a LL reference preferably two that I VERIFY really were their LL's they also don't rent from me. I tell them..that may have been how your former LL was but I am not rich and that is NOT how I do things..you pay you stay, you don't you won't. I then tell them...do us both a favor don't rent from me if you know you can't pay every month on the 1st. FYI in CA aka Arnie, I've NEVER lost an eviction case and haven't had to do many considering my years in the business because of strict consistent enforcement of my agreements from day one for all tenants. I'm sure you know that you can only require cash after a check bounces FOR THREE MONTHS now. You can however keep on saying NO personal checks after they bounce which it sounds like you have??? I guess insisting on cashier's checks or money orders? Money orders are a bad thing though in my book but that's just me. I usually check funds in any questionable tenants account BEFORE I deposit and have caught a few potential bouncers that way...and got them all paid up still before the 4th with bad check fees, etc. You really should consider NOT using fixed term leases in CA especially if you are "slow" to serve pay/quits and/or enforce the terms until you become so frustrated you want to take action "all of a sudden" like asking about the credit reporting. This only encourages deadbeats to take further advantage of you. With MTM unless in a rent/eviction controlled area, you can simply TERMINATE the tenancy with NO REASON giving proper notice. To answer your specific question: Reporting to credit? The credit agencies don't even "take" a report unless a creditor has a debt owed that is at LEAST THIRTY days past due. Their entire database is made up of 30/60/90 days late, etc. So it won't "ding" them until at least 30 days late and umm if rent is ever 30 days late the tenant should already be an EX tenant of yours and OUT on the street before the end of the CURRENT month they are late for!!!!! Or darn close to it!!! If you, however, sit back and continue to ALLOW them to pay late for a long period AND sit back and collect late fees..sure a judge will say you made your bed now lie in it and that you have implied acceptance of their habitual lateness. And to be honest...THAT looks more greedy to many judges (collecting lots of late fees) vs acting on non payment right away and consistently. If you have consistently evicted late payers right away and served the notices consistently within CA law with a solid rental agreement and history, you will prevail. If you have a good solid written agreement (reviewed by and/or drafted by CA attorneys who do evictions for a living and represent ONLY LLs) ENFORCE it as much as CA law will allow you to which actually we are quite lucky (outside of horrific rent/eviction control areas). But if you use a poor agreement that says due on X late on X then..well..you also have made your bed there. CA law allows pay/quit to be served the FIRST DAY the rent is late which is the 2nd unless the 1st is a holiday or weekend..then you must wait until one full business day is over until the next day to serve. But yes that is EXTREME and most wait at least a few DAYS. Failure to serve early on YOUR part will not constitute an emergency on the judge's part..or the tenant's when you suddenly decide it's too much and you're tired of it though. What is worse if one tenant finds out you have let another habitually pay the rent late w/o being evicted they can and will try to use that against you with their own case. Most of mine have been served on the 4th or 5th...occassionally the 6th or 7th if a holiday weekend was involved...for example if I had one late this last month. If they pay within the 3 days they stay for ONE time..if I serve again and they pay in the 3 days..USUALLY I terminate their tenancy and they KNOW why even though I don't have to state a reason. There really is no excuse to let deadbeat tenants get away with paying the rent so late. And if you don't charge late fees until the 6th or so...CHANGE THAT to the 4th!!! Again if you used MTM agreements you could CHANGE THAT RIGHT NOW with just a 30 day notice. With a fixed lease YOU are stuck with the agreement and terms in place until it is over. In my 30 years doing this, I have never once used a fixed term lease and NEVER WILL. That way if you have "irritating" deadbeats that pay every month on say the 7th right before your pay/quit expires you can just terminate their tenancy and wave buh bye. And you can change terms including rent anytime you feel you need to for business reasons. I really hope you havent' let these tenants go so long that you will not be able to prevail in court..but it's quite possible. And THAT is what will ding their credit..a judgment. If you give an inch, they will continue to take an extra inch every single month. The best time to enforce your written agreement is from DAY ONE of the tenancy and even before then..during the agreement review/signing process. Good luck..but no..reporting to credit bureaus for late rent...not reality unless of course you let them go 3-4 months!! BUT if you EVICT them for non payment they will have a civil action for possession against them AND the money judgment on their credit which is good for 10 years and renewable for another 10. In CA we are very fortunate..we can garnish wages, levy bank accounts, attach liens to assets, etc. to collect. If you own in a rent control area...well..my advice would be to SELL and buy in a NON rent/eviction control area!
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