A dear friend of mine called me the other day to tell me that he has to get rid of his tenants. They have 
not paid the rent in over 5 months now - OUCH! This friend knows that he is much more tolerant than I am of a nonpaying tenant.
For me, if they don’t pay, they don’t stay. Period. It’s not rocket science.
It’s a business and I treat it like a business.
You do the math. If they don’t pay their rent, then the burden falls on me to come up with the money to pay the mortgage payment. I can’t just stop paying, just because they do, although I know many landlords that do.
I just finished an eviction. They had been with me for 15 months. The tenant’s wife left him, probably because he couldn’t get a job.
I didn’t get the rent, called him, then went knocking on his door, “Oh just give me till next Tuesday,” he begged.
“Well, did I hear that your wife moved out?” I knew she was the one paying the rent.
“Well yeah, but I’ll have the rent Tuesday, okay?”
“Are you working?” I asked. “Well no.”
“Are you starting a new job?” I asked. “Well, no.”
“Do you have someplace you can go to get the rent? Do you have family here?” I continued. “No.”
“Okay, so how are you going to have the rent for me on Tuesday? Do you have any of it right now?” I prodded, “Well, no, not really.”
“Well, then you’ve got to go. I'll give you till the end of the weekend to get out. You can go peacefully, or I’ll have to evict you.”
The tenant got most of his things out and then decided to get belligerent. He told me he had no place to go, so he was staying. Apparently, he had spoken to some of his friends, as he was getting ugly about it. "It will take you months and months to get me out." he hissed. I had never seen this side of him before, although I do know that money difficulties can change people.
This is not the first eviction I have done, nor will it be the last I ever do, unfortunately. It's the nature of the beast, with multiple rental properties. Luckily, though, they are few and far between. Thank goodness!
I served him with a 3 day notice. He didn't pay or respond. So, I filed the eviction papers and had my final judgement and writ of possession inside of a month. He left. His security deposit covered the loss of rent and there were no damages to the house. The house is back up for rent.
It's not a game for me. The burden of the monthly payment falls on me if the tenant doesn’t pay. It’s a business, and I treat it like a business.
Back to my friend of over 10 years, whom I love dearly. He has a heart of gold, to his detriment. I have helped him buy and sell over 18 investment properties. He is so lenient that he gets himself into a mess with tenants. He gives too much and is taken advantage of. I advised him years ago to stop buying rental houses. He knows I feel this way about him being a landlord, as I remind him that he is too nice. Tenants LOVE him! I really do not care to do his property management for him.
So, for his tenant living in his house, rent free for the past 5 months, time is overdue for getting them out! He is going to serve the 3 day notice. Don’t know where they’re going to go without any money. But, they always come up with something.
Landlords must cut their losses with a non paying tenant. Some are of the attitude that maybe they'll pay money they owe someday. The further they get behind, the less likelihood that the landlord will get their rent.
GET THEM OUT AND RE RENT TO A PAYING TENANT!
As a footnote, if you haven't done an eviction before and are unsure of how to proceed, you may want to contact a real estate attorney that specializes in evictions.
This article is authored by Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL Realtor, Brevard County Florida's Space Coast.
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Sandy, I love the "business tone" you took in this post and with the tenant husband. You are not being cruel to these people, but factual. They have to be responsible or you will be for them. Go get them, and help that lenient friend landlord guy. Men are too nice sometimes. Train him how to do property management right.