About a year ago, I got a new tenant. She paid the rent on time for a few months then she started to pay late. From past experience I knew that was going to be the trend. She asked if she could pay the rent in two payments and I agreed. Then her boyfriend moved in so I thought that there wouldn’t be any rent issues because there would be two incomes. No. The first half of the rent started to get paid late to the point that instead of being paid on the first of the month, it was paid halfway through (when the second payment would have been due). So the second payment ended up paid at the end of the month.
I let things go because they were paying and it’s a pain to go through the process of finding new tenants. Then Covid hit so I was also more forgiving because I wasn’t sure about their work situation. The problem now is that they have fallen over a month behind. I cashed their second payment for November’s rent a few days before Christmas. We are not into January and they haven’t paid anything for December. I believe her boyfriend is now unemployed so they are down to one income but, she originally rented the apartment by herself.
My wife is telling me to kick them out. We don’t rely on the rental income for survival so it won’t hurt us financially. The thing is, there is Covid, her boyfriend isn’t working, they have pets. It’s the middle of winter. Where can they go? It would be very hard for them to find a place because most won’t allow pets (especially a pit bull) and they probably won’t be able to come up with a security deposit and first month’s rent. I guess if they have family who will take them in that would be an option but I don’t know what that situation is like for them.
Obviously, if they continue to fall further behind, they will have to leave but if I do tell them to leave, I want to also give them some time to figure out where they will go. If it weren’t for Covid I would have moved sooner to let them know that they need to pay on time or find a new place. I also love animals so I don’t want her dog to end up in a shelter if that becomes her only choice if she does find a new place.
My wife thinks I’ve been patient and compassionate enough but I don’t like the idea of putting someone out on the street under these current conditions. Am I just being a bleeding heart pussy? I have evicted people before so it’s not like I’m afraid of taking that step it’s just the way things are right now with Covid and some people’s ability to work. I know there must be some posters who are also landlords, so I was wondering what you thought. Even if you aren’t a landlord what do you think?