Robbie Needs a New Book Club

So, for any one of you who stumbled across this site (Welcome! I promise you had to stumble to get here, as this is the least-read blog in all of cyber space. I am ok with that), and don't know the back story, I was once a landlord. There has been lots said about that in the past. But it can be summed up like this. I was once a landlord to a gazillion properties out of state. There was good stuff. There was bad stuff. There was more drama than necessary. The end.

My pal Robbie called me last night. He has been a landlord for about 12 months. The house in question is in the Phoenix metro area, but when he told me where it was, I wasn't willing to drive by the neighborhood in broad daylight with the car doors locked to see it. Anyway, Robbie has a tenant who has been struggling. And Robbie, being the epitome awesomeness (he really is pretty great), has been helping him out and giving him ample chances to take care of what he needs in order to pay the rent.

Except, Robbie is missing the experience to read the subtext of a few glaring messages from his tenant. First, the tenant has adulting issues. Second, the tenant doesn't give a rodent's posterior if Robbie is helping him out. The tenant is essentially taking advantage of Robbie's nice guyness.

Anyway, this past month Robbie accepted half a rent payment from his tenant with the understanding that the tenant would pay the other half last week. Now I know several of you are graduates of my How To Manage Rental Properties program and can guess what happened next. But for you new folks, here goes... The tenant hasn't paid the rest of the rent.

 I will wait here while you all gasp in shock. Take your time.

Robbie called me last night, asking if there was anything that can be done. You see, he read a book that said tenants will work with landlords who work with them. Tenants will be happy to hold up their end of the contract if a landlord cuts them a break. But, Robbie did not read the Arizona Landlord Tenant Act, which will supersede the above referenced book if Robbie needs to evict. And unfortunately, Robbie's book does suggest taking a partial payment if a tenant needs a break. After all, the tenant is happy to pay the rest in a timely manner. I wish I was making this up. I really do.

The critical error of course is that because Robbie took a partial payment, Robbie cannot evict the tenant until the next month rolls around. Robbie has agreed on a reduced rent amount this month, and there is nothing Robbie can do about it in the short term. In the long run he can deduct that amount from the tenant's security deposit, which I am sure Robbie is expecting to return because the property will be in tip-top condition when the tenant leaves. But barring that doesn't happen, Robbie will have to sue for the remaining rent. All of this legal process can be started as soon as the next month rolls over. Meanwhile the tenant knows that, because apparently he read the same book Robbie read.