people not paying rent on time..

baguio

To any of you here that are renting out rooms via rent a room scheme (ie in your own house/not proper landlords)...


Do you have problems getting people to pay rent on time? Have been renting rooms for the last couple of years to keep mortgage paid - and i'm amazed at the number of people who have no problem in NOT paying on time - and usually not until asked!

I rented for years and can never remember paying rent late. I assumed this was normal behaviour for 99.9% of the population. Whilst i've had a few lads that never did have to be asked, i've come across a few lemons. Particularly now as rental in the small regional town i'm in has been spoilled by a glutt of new housing. Have had to drop my standards - and now have the worst lodger with regard to the above. Consistently late - and i know i'm going to end up at a loss whenever he decides to sling his hook as theres going to be outstanding bills.

Whats other peoples experiences?

godtabh

would setting up a direct debit be the easiest thing to do?

mikemac

I’ve often paid late. Like when I changed job and had to wait 7 weeks for my salary.
But I always told the landlord before the due date so it was cool.

People will do what they can get away with and if they reckon you’re not strict then realy, there is no incentive and no consequences to pay on time.
You have to start this from day one, it’s probably too late to sort your lodger out now.

Btw, not saying it’s you but many owner occupiers treat lodgers as nothing more than tools to pay their mortgage. They even get annoyed if you sit down to watch “their TV” . Living with an owner definitely deservers cheaper rent then the same room as a tenant as you have far less rights
Offtopic, that’s my own personal rant

luckat

I've rented rooms a couple of times and have never been paid late (though I have had a tenant steal money from me).

I always arranged that rent would be paid on a specific day: "What's your payday? Friday? OK, rent will be payable on Saturday morning."

Only people who ever had trouble were some Polish kids who came here looking for work before accession and couldn't find any - so we made a deal that they'd sand and varnish the place instead of paying rent.

When the neighbours saw their work, they started asking them to help in the garden, etc, and they would have made their fortune if they'd stayed.

baguio

micmclo wrote: »

I’ve often paid late. Like when I changed job and had to wait 7 weeks for my salary.
But I always told the landlord before the due date so it was cool.

Well, thats grand when its arranged - have no problem with that.

micmclo wrote: »

People will do what they can get away with and if they reckon you’re not strict then realy, there is no incentive and no consequences to pay on time.
You have to start this from day one, it’s probably too late to sort your lodger out now.

Yes, it seems thats true. Only thing with me is that if its clear to me that someones not playing fair, i'll go psycho on their ass :mad: - but it should never get to this. Forevermore afterwards, theres going to be an 'atmosphere'...

micmclo wrote: »

Btw, not saying it’s you but many owner occupiers treat lodgers as nothing more than tools to pay their mortgage. They even get annoyed if you sit down to watch “their TV” . Living with an owner definitely deservers cheaper rent then the same room as a tenant as you have far less rights

Having been on both sides of this particular fence - i hear what your saying. And I can tell you without any doubt, they ARE tools to pay my mortgage - after two years of doing it.
However, I don't have any problem sharing the house with them - as long as they're sound. They never have to clean anything - theres no rota - and all I ask is people leave stuff the way they found it. But heres the flip side. Its only when you share your own gaff that you really appreciate how others don't give a f**k for anothers stuff.
Furthermore, they don't have to have any bills in their names. In my case they get free broadband, sky and bins.
So its not necessarily a worse deal for lodgers. For the right lodger, its a better deal.

baguio

kearnsr wrote: »

would setting up a direct debit be the easiest thing to do?

Yeah, I always thought this would be my get out clause for anyone not coming up with the readies - but he gets paid by cheque (wasnt bs - he actually does!).

radioactiveman

A lot of owners are very house proud and never let tenants forget that they're staying in 'their' house but a lot of tenants don't give a crap as well. The landlord does still have rights in the house even just as an ordinary person living there - some tenants do push it to the other extreme and totally disregard the owner. You have to have a basic level of respect for the people living with you or it's not going to work out. With some tenants it doesn't matter how strict you are they'll never pay on time.

Clive

baguio wrote: »

Yeah, I always thought this would be my get out clause for anyone not coming up with the readies - but he gets paid by cheque (wasnt bs - he actually does!).

I don't see how getting paid by cheque would stop him setting up a Standing Order?

baguio

Clive wrote: »

I don't see how getting paid by cheque would stop him setting up a Standing Order?

Your right of course. However, the individual in question - his money doesn't last long enough for it to sit in a bank account for more than a few hours. Anyways, we will see how things go this week. Rent due last Friday. Asked for it yesterday and he asked if i could hold off until wednesday (knowing that i wouldnt be around from thurs onwards)- given him today as a deadline...

suimhneas

My rent use to be due the first of them month, i use to pay by cheque and always had it with the landlady (she live in another part of the cournty ) but always had it with her for the first of the month, but obviously she didnt really need my moeny cause she use to leave it without cashing for 3 and 4 months and then take the whole whack out then, use to annoy the hell out of me cause, honestly there were months where i just couldnt not afford to have 4G coming out of my account.

blue banana

I've always got lodgers to pay by standing order and I've never had a problem. It avoids ever having to bring up the issue of unpaid rent, but as you say the money has to be in the account in the first place!

baguio

suimhneas wrote: »

she use to leave it without cashing for 3 and 4 months and then take the whole whack out then

Yeah - thats poor form. Hard to manage your finances with that sort of thing going on.

baguio

He avoided me all of Monday - and dodged us this morning. Anyways, I found out that he was either laid off or sacked last week. This evenings conversation should be interesting to say the least.

In the unlikely event that I let him stay on, can his rent supplement application be beefed up so that it includes bills? ie. i tack on an additional 10/20 a week - so that way, he will have enough to cover bills? (otherwise, he wont). Also, isnt there a way that I can have the rent cheque paid directly to me?

And lastly, how long does it take for rent supplement application to be processed to the point of payout?


(btw, just in case anyone thinks i'm being harsh here, there are some situations where its impossible to help. To try may well lead to myself getting in bother...).

astrofool

Get them to set up a standing order, don't take them in if they won't.

I'd reduce the bills to as few as possible, or take them into account when setting rent, hard thing to do with rent a room.

Victor

baguio wrote: »

And lastly, how long does it take for rent supplement application to be processed to the point of payout?

I think it can take a few weeks, but he should be eligible for emergency payments.

MysticalSoul

Hope you managed to get it sorted. as someone who rents a room, have never had any difficulties with people paying rent - although I did have one lodger who thought she would not have to pay the standing charges of gas and esb once :eek:. I have had people pay either by direct debit or cash. Even though it is my home, it is also theirs. Based on what you have said here, this seems to be a recurring problem for you with this particular tenant, so if it were me, he would be out.

baguio

He told me his story yesterday. He said that he was applying for rent allowance. I've decided to go along with it - as I suppose I have to share some of the responsibility myself. I knew he wasn't the most stable of characters when I first took him on. But I did - due to the fact that tenants have become seriously thin on the ground due to a damn builder building a disproportionately (considering size of the town) large estate on the other side of the town.
Don't want my gaff turning into a doss house but I'll have to live with it.
On the flip side, there will be no problem with regular rent payments whilst he is out of work (will have this paid directly). The way the jobs market is turning, I might yet consider myself fortunate to have him - in order to keep the mortgage paid and the bank off my back.