Late payment of rent is inadvisable for many reasons…

When the Time Come to Pay the Piper

Paying rent on time is something that every tenant agrees to, at the very minimum, when signing on that proverbial dotted line. However, hardships are faced from time to time by everyone, and although a landlord might sympathetic, they will understand that the legal reality of the situation is that the tennant is simply obliged to pay the rent. For the tenant, even a single late payment could endanger much more than the tenant/landlord relationship.

Why It’s Inadvisable to Be Late on the Rent

Life happens! But that’s why there should be a backup plan involved. A tenant who is routinely paying the rent late is more than just a nuisance; legally speaking, a landlord could give the tenant an eviction notice simply for being 24 hours late on the rent. A poor repayment history could spell trouble for an individual’s credit rating or they could be seen as the instigator for fraud, especially if they’re using post-dated checks that are bouncing. Some landlords will give tenants a late rent notice and, depending on the specific rules of the country they’re renting in, tenants may have 14 days after the receipt of this notice to repay everything owed. Always ensure that the landlord gives a receipt for the payment, even if it is late. Some landlords will levy an interest charged or a late fee that compounds to discourage late payment of rent. If the landlord takes the initiative to report overdue rent to a credit rating history, it can affect the chance for future references and seriously hurt a credit score report.

Late payment of Rent is Grounds for Eviction

Those who demonstrate late payment of rent, goes the logic, have trouble maintaining a commitment and are likely to err again. This is why the law is fully on the side of the landlord as long as they are acting lawfully and go through the proper procedure for initiating an eviction. In most cases, there is an oversight board that is responsible for the procedural aspects of a landlord applying for permission to evict a tenant. This board will also hear cases of unlawful eviction and rule on them. A notice for late payment of rent or non-repayment must include the amount owed, the date of eviction and a space for the tenant to explicitly disagree, if this is the case. Keep in mind that, sometimes, simply repaying all the amount owed before the locks have been changed can diffuse the situation. But, a landlord is well within his or her rights to issue a notice to end tenancy, even if everything has been paid in full.

Many states and provinces have a rent reduction policy in place for issues where late rent payments is directly linked to financial hardship that may come from sudden increases in rent. This is especially true if the rent increase is justified by the landlord as being for repairs or improvements but no such activity actually occurs.