Tenants & Late Rent Excuses

Question:

Why do I have to chase my tenant for rent and listen to his brain-numbing excuses?

Answer:

Because he’s an inconsiderate douche-bag, that’s why.

One of the most frustrating aspects about being a landlord is having to chase rent and listen to a bunch of lame excuses to justify why the rent hasn’t been paid.

For the last three consecutive months my tenant has been 8-17 days late paying rent. Granted, he eventually coughed up the doe, which I do appreciate, but the process of extracting the money has been tiresome and beyond irritating. I’ve had to endure excuse after excuse of the lowest quality. Lucky me.

What gets on my tits is the fact that he doesn’t even have the courtesy to give me notice, I have to waste my time chasing him. If his memory fails for legitimate reasons, he can always refer to the Tenancy Agreement T&C’s as a reminder.

In other words, the asshole has no excuse.

But just for shits and giggles, let’s quickly cover a few of the comical excuses I’ve had to endure…

My Tenant’s excuses for not paying rent on time in October

Excuse #1 Last month his excuse was that he was “working away”. Ok, so what? Transfer the money into my account as USUAL! In this day in age, you can transfer money from pretty much anywhere.

Excuse #2 Then he said his boss was paying him a week later than usual, so he didn’t have the money in his account. Brilliant. Let’s blame your boss then.

Excuse #3 Then he kept telling me he would drop off the money and then fail to do so because of “transport issues”

Bear in mind, these were the excuses for just one months’ worth of rent. I’ve had to ensure three months of this shit.

Anyways, eventually, after 14 days of waiting around and sending SMS “reminders”, he posted cash through my letterbox. I’m still not entirely sure why he never transferred the money electronically. It seemed a bit odd, but I couldn’t be arsed to question his methods because he did pay rent. Probably by flogging crushed-up paracetamols to school kids.

My Tenant’s excuses for not paying rent on time in November

Rent was due on the 10th (AS USUAL)… it never arrived.

Again, I had to send him a text message enquiring why rent hadn’t been paid. Here we go again.

Once again, he said he would drop the cash through my letterbox in the coming days. I still failed to understand why. Why not just continue transferring the money electronically as previously? Why go through all this hassle of coming to my house with cash?

Excuse #1 “I’m working away a lot, so I can’t drop it off until I’m back in town”

That line has become a classic in its own right.

I don’t know if the guy got a new job or what because he NEVER used to “work away”, and he never used to pay cash. All sounds rather sketchy, right?

But whatever, he can suck dusty ol’ wrinkly ball-sacks for a living for all I care, just as long as he pays rent and stops giving me bullshit excuses that make me want to blow my brains out.

I wasn’t at all surprised when the cash wasn’t deposited through my letterbox when he said it would be. So on we go to excuse #2.

Excuse #2 I was greeted with a text message apologising, saying that the cash machine had swallowed his card, consequently was unable to withdraw cash. He assured me it will be done in the next few days *slaps forehead*

And again…

After a few more days of chasing and being ignored, I eventually caught eye with the cash-envelope laying on my porch floor. He was 17 days late in November, and 12 days late the previous month. It’s not the end of the world, but terribly frustrating all things considered.

Seriously, the excuses, they were so embarrassingly cliche, yet he had the balls to rinse and repeat them.

Bottom line…

Ok, so I know people go through rough periods; most landlords expect rent to be late now and then. It’s part of the business. However, what’s not part of the business is the barrage of incoming bullshit excuses and delaying tactics. Just be straight with me and I’ll be cool (mostly).

I can legitimately accept tenants making late payments as long as it’s not too frequent, and as long as it doesn’t come attached with dog-shit excuses. Also, as said, I shouldn’t have to “CHASE” for rent, that’s what makes me shit my pants the most. Cut the crap and have some common courtesy by telling me 1) you’re going to be late and 2) when I should realistically expect to receive the rent 3) updates on any further delays.

Anyways, I’m relieved he paid, but slightly agitated by the current process. I wonder how next month will pan out…

Rant over.

What’s the worst excuse you’ve received from a tenant, and/or have you had any serial late payers?