What would you do in this situation?

[raskolnikov]

I am currently living up in Queensland. I am renting my house in Victoria to a "friend". He is meant to put the money in every second week. Last week he didn't put the rent in. I called him today to find out what is happening. He gave me a sob story that he had the money in his wallet but lost his wallet before he could put it in my account. Although he has been pretty good paying the rent so far I am not sure whether he is telling me the truth or just expecting me to give him some sympathy and let him off without paying the rent this fortnight. Even if he is telling the truth I'm not sure why I should be the one to foot the bill. He is on the dole so it's going to be pretty hard for him to find the money to make it up. My initial thoughts are to tell him that he has until Christmas when I am down there to make it up, otherwise I will evict him and find a new tenant. Thoughts?

 

[TheKanga]

Tough Situation for you since it's a mate.
Giving him until Xmas to pay up seems reasonable.

 

[Gasometer]

Give him to Xmas.

If he skips rent again he has to do sthing in return like a household chore for a week.

Dont go past Xmas. It will and does end in tears.

 

[thegreatestteamofall]

depends how good a mate he is. The relevant legislation says he only needs to be 14 days in arrears for you to pay i think about $40 for a warrant to have the police evict him, you just need to send him some vcat paperwork formalising the arrears. the issue is that to get the paperwork done takes about 55 days.

 

[Brown Bottle]

I'd put the ball in his court. I mean, it's sad that he's lost his wallet and everything, but how does he plan to get back on track with the rent which is now overdue? Let him come to you with some options...

 

[dbcrow]

Ask him to pay an extra $20 or so per week until the amount is cleared.

 

[Partridge]

I am currently living up in Queensland. I am renting my house in Victoria to a "friend". He is meant to put the money in every second week. Last week he didn't put the rent in. I called him today to find out what is happening. He gave me a sob story that he had the money in his wallet but lost his wallet before he could put it in my account. Although he has been pretty good paying the rent so far I am not sure whether he is telling me the truth or just expecting me to give him some sympathy and let him off without paying the rent this fortnight. Even if he is telling the truth I'm not sure why I should be the one to foot the bill. He is on the dole so it's going to be pretty hard for him to find the money to make it up. My initial thoughts are to tell him that he has until Christmas when I am down there to make it up, otherwise I will evict him and find a new tenant. Thoughts?

Depends how serious you are about "rent". If the intention is seriously to rent it out and have money coming in, then I'd evict him immediately. His story sounds like horseshit. You're never going to get any money, and what miserable amounts he does give you, he'll make out he's doing you a favour.

Get him out, and get a proper tenant through the proper channels.

 

[raskolnikov]

and what miserable amounts he does give you, he'll make out he's doing you a favour.

Get him out, and get a proper tenant through the proper channels.

Funny you mention that. I charge him $50 less a week than I could be getting. I was down there a few weeks ago for a few days and he wanted me to give him some money for utilities while I was there.

I think I will tell him to leave when I am down there at Christmas. I can't really do much until I am there in person.

 

[Brown Bottle]

There's always something to be said for the Devil you know. Is he looking after the place?

 

[thegreatestteamofall]

Funny you mention that. I charge him $50 less a week than I could be getting. I was down there a few weeks ago for a few days and he wanted me to give him some money for utilities while I was there.

I think I will tell him to leave when I am down there at Christmas. I can't really do much until I am there in person.

Hire a property manager, will cost you between 3/6 % of the rent they collect and they can have him out asap, plus costs of the paperwork. if you wait till xmas, and he digs his heels in, you wont have him out till march

 

[raskolnikov]

There's always something to be said for the Devil you know. Is he looking after the place?

Yeah he does, which is one reason I've been hesitant to get rid of him. I've got other mates checking up on him and they say the place is always looking neat.

 

[coke_zero]

change the details so the money automaticly goes into your account as soon as the fortnight hits.

that or send in a fo fo bull dog to get that 'friend' out

 

[Poseidon]

Sell the house without informing him.

 

[Brown Bottle]

Yeah he does, which is one reason I've been hesitant to get rid of him. I've got other mates checking up on him and they say the place is always looking neat.

Without knowing how much you're charging him or what your house is worth, $50 a week is perhaps a reasonable discount / investment if it gives you peace of mind. I'm not convinced that Property Managers spend a lot of time managing your property, if you know what I mean.

 

[Plugger35]

Sell the house without informing him.

Might be awkward if the new owners move in and he's still living there.

 

[Full Wingspan]

Through my experiences with dodgy mates, you simply have to put the foot down. Don't take any shit and ask yourself - if you were in each other's shoes, how would he act/treat you?

 

[Inferno]

I get the impression he's lying, otherwise he would have called you surely?

Anyway like a few others have said just get him to pay $20 extra a week until he makes up for it.

 

[Punchy Bassett]

Without knowing how much you're charging him or what your house is worth, $50 a week is perhaps a reasonable discount / investment if it gives you peace of mind. I'm not convinced that Property Managers spend a lot of time managing your property, if you know what I mean.

I know exactly what you mean, so good ones out there but some absolute shit ones as well. My partner rents out two places and her manager is awesome no problems, I've recently started renting mine out different manager (was across town from the other two) and they are shit. I have to continually chase them up about things and calls are never returned etc.

In saying that above, I always get my rent on time though so might be better in the long run to get a property manager and either A) Your mate deals with them, or B) He gets booted out.

 

[checkraiseulite]

Give him a strict warning and remind him his rent money pays your mortgage and you can't afford to be getting stiffed (especially when you're cutting him a discount to market anyway) . Tell him he has 4 weeks to make up the rent or else he's out and that he should let you know rather than make up bs if he's struggling with money.

Don't mix business with pleasure either in future if you care about the friendship. Think you'll lose this one.

 

[JuddsABlue]

Raise the rent $20 a week until it's paid

If he skips again then you've got issues

Forcing him to make an extra lump sum has a higher chance of it turning ugly. Act like you're doing him a favor by allowing him to pay it off over time

Secondly, there's a reason 99% of people don't rent to people on the dole

 

[NSWCROW]

Prolly already mentioned but the fact that YOU had to call HIM speaks volumes....

 

[raskolnikov]

Prolly already mentioned but the fact that YOU had to call HIM speaks volumes....

Yeah that's what I said to him. He said that he had no credit on his phone to call.

 

[NSWCROW]

Yeah that's what I said to him. He said that he had no credit on his phone to call.

He's ****in you bro.
FWIW i like the " extra $20 per payment " method mentioned.......

 

[MoscowHawk]

Had the same situation with my flatmate. He's a fairly good friend, earn ok money, but he's just a magnet for bad luck.

For the 18 months I lived with him he only paid on time twice. Was constantly having to chase him for the money. He always had something going wrong with him, some bizarre situation where he'd be forced to fork out thousands of dollars without warning. Either that or he lost the money, or it was stolen, or the company didn't pay him the right amount.

In the end I said to him that I had nothing against him living there, but that I got a raise at work, and I have a solid girlfriend and we've decided to move in together, so I wouldn't be needing the flat share anymore.

The new flatmate is moving in today

So just make up some story (e.g. you're selling the place; your cousin is moving in coz they got kicked out of home or whatever reason). Make sure you give him a clear deadline to get out though.

 

[Ed_Gein]

Stamp the foot down. If you let him away with it, in a couple of weeks something else will come up and he can't pay the rent. And then again sometime after it. And before you know it, you're just about letting him live there for next to nothing.

I'd tell him what others have suggested. An extra $20 or so added on until it's paid off. Be firm with him and tell him if he doesn't agree to it you'll be looking into getting him removed. Remind him how cheap he is getting the rent there and how much more money you could get from someone else.