Tenant lied about paying rent - Landlord Forum thread 360320

Tenant lied about paying rent by vkk on March 2, 2020 @07:05

The tenant owe 5 months rent from October up to today, February. I filed eviction ( understand it is too late). I went to his apartment for replacing a washer, then about a week later, she is starting to ask me for a receipt, claimed that he paid me February rent on that day when I was in the apartment, and didn't give him the receipt. Also, claimed he has 2 witnesses. Guess they are all his relatives. This is a bluntly lie.

I didn't like to accept cash, but lease didn't specify.

What should I say or do? I assume he will lie again in the court.

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Re: Tenant lied about paying rent by Garry on March 2, 2020 @20:44	[ Reply ]

I always accept cash. I prefer it over any other monetary instrument. But I always have a receipt book with me, to give the tenant a receipt for that money. It carbon copies to a yellow receipt copy, that I keep for my records, and the T gets the white copy. When you go to court for the eviction, your T will need to produce some sort of proof that they paid rent. A judge probably will not take a witnesses account of the rent being paid. Nobody has 2 ""witnesses" to watch somebody paying a LL rent. Go to court and hope for the best. NOBODY lets a tenant get 5 months behind in rent. If you can't manage your business properly, either hire a management company to do it for you, or sell all your properties, and get out of the landlording business.

Re: Tenant lied about paying rent by LAMAC66 on March 4, 2020 @08:23	[ Reply ]

SELF MANAGING YOUR RENTAL MUST BE ORGANIZED Self managing 1.Become an Expert on Landlord-Tenant Laws...read, read, read. 2.Talk To Other Investors...join local investors association/group. 3.Get Insured ...liability insurance as much as you can afford. 4. Automate Your Processes ..get property manage software. Plenty to chose from as cheap as $35/mo. Don't be that mom and pop type landlord trying to collect cash ect. 5.Screen Your Tenants Diligently ..this will reduce 98% of the problems renting out your place. Do not SKIMP here. 6.Picking the Right Rent..Just because your mortgage is 1k doesn't mean you can charge 1k in rent. Rent is market based and you get that from the comparables in your area. 7.Use a Legal Lease Agreement ...always base your lease of state law and get a landlord/tenant type attorney to review it. Last thing you need is a lease that will not hold up in court. 8.Perform Regular Inspections...i refer to these a maintenance and safety checks. At lease 2x a year no more than 3x a year. 9. Keep Up on Property Maintenance –...protect your investment so that it appreciates over time. This goes hand in hand with the periodic inspections. Catch little issues before they become big issues. 10. Get Ready For Tax Time...save all receipts from maintenance, time you spend at property doing repairs ect. Do not use a generic CPA. Go to a CPA who works with realestate investors exclusively and investor's who manage their own properties. They know all the deductions entitled to landlords. A regular CPA will leave thousands of dollars on the table and have you paying more taxes than you need to be paying. Most importantly treat this like the business it is. Don't half ass any of this and you should not have nightmarish stories to tell. You can do this. If you are not willing to put in the time and effort then hire a property manager. Good luck!