What happens if I am short on my rent...?

Question

My rent is $1500, and I only have $1300 because my paycheck was short because of an accounting error. According to my payroll dept at work I will not get my additional money til next paycheck on the 11th?

How should I approach this with my landlord. I have been a tenant for almost a year and have NEVER been late or short with the rent before. Any advice from landlords? Thanks.

Answer 1

Go to him ASAP and pay all you can and explain. If you can, show him the memo about the error. And try to start a rainy day cash reserve fund for the future.

Answer 2

If you were my tenant knowing you have been in the place for over a year with no problems I would take the $1300 you have with the understanding you would pay the other $200 plus a late fee by a certain date which may be the next month.

Answer 3

I've been a landlord for 30 years and I've dealt with tenants with financial difficulty many times. I've been a nice guy for most of these tenants but not for others. The difference? The ones I helped did two things; they were completely honest and they came to me before their rent was due.

Landlords usually have a mortgage payment to make on the first of the month and they count on the incoming rent to make that payment. If you wait until the first of the month to tell him you can't make your rent he gets blindsided when he can't make his mortgage payment. Understandably, he's not going to be very understanding.

If you tell him in advance and are brutally honest, what else is he going to do? You've just made it easy for him to do the right thing.