Tenant not paying rent

irvineinvestor

New member
What are some options you can do with the situation where the tenants refuse to pay the rent because of this COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act? The lease is up in October and it seems like they're not willing to pay and planning to live there until then. We don't want to do any threatening or involve lawsuits with this on them though. Any similar experiences or knowledge on this? Also if something like this happens often these days and starts to pile up, won't that be kind of like last mortgage crash where both tenants and the owners not being able to pay the mortgage? 
 
Be careful what you put your hope into with these programs. From what I've been told both Landlord AND Tenants must apply, then Tenants must fall under certain income levels for there to be any reimbursement. Might this work in lower rent communities? Sure. NPB, OH, and parts in between? Might be tough. Would love to hear more from anyone who has applied for this relief. Is it real, or simply a mirage.
 
I've got an anecdote of a rental in Manhattan. Tenant had many issues and was not paying and was very scared and was avoiding communication/contact. My buddy went out there and once he was actually able to talk to his tenant and calm them down, they eventually cooperated and applied for the relief and my buddy is getting compensation now.
 
Thank you for replies. The Rent Relief website says it has to be for the case of missing payments from April 2020 to March 2021. Our tenants' missing payments started from June 2021 so it might not work for us as of now unless they update their system. Not sure why they've limited up to March and extended the Tenant Relief only.
 
How frustrating.  Did they give you a sob story or you think they are just taking advantage of the situation?
 
In reality, there is not much you can do.  Once you start threatening them, they will probably do a google search and realize THEY hold all the power in this situation.  Then they might demand you pay THEM money and forgive their back rent to leave the property without any damage.

I was in a similar situation and lost the last 2 months of rent, but tenant left on their own without damage.
 
They probably are taking the advantage, but maybe they're really short on their finance. All previous tenants have been good, but I guess meeting those bad ones eventually is inevitable. We might just sell the home, but wanted to see what other options would be possible. Listing the home while they're living might be another tough situation. Maybe wait until October and list when they leave? Then we probably lose 4 months of rent.
 
irvineinvestor said:
Thank you for replies. The Rent Relief website says it has to be for the case of missing payments from April 2020 to March 2021. Our tenants' missing payments started from June 2021 so it might not work for us as of now unless they update their system. Not sure why they've limited up to March and extended the Tenant Relief only.

It was extended to September 30 2021 and increased from 80% of the rent due to 100% of the rent covered.
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/06/28/g...-moratorium-extension-additional-legislation/

I have a tenant who applied for the first round and it worked well.
 
Doesn't this will affect their next rental? As any future  landlord can contact you for reference? It is a short sighted move as this would leave some bad history they can save some rent now, but in the future they have to pay a lot more to find a willing landlord. Unless they are saving rent to buy house.
 
My parents are facing this also. They applied through that government's website since the tenant refused to pay, but they still haven't got anything. The tenant applied too. Anyone knows how long it takes to get the missed rents from this relief program?
 
if we are about to become a landlord, what steps we can do to protect ourselves? lower the rent price to create a bidding war and ask for 2 month security deposit and 1 year prepaid rent?
 
The California Court Company said:
if we are about to become a landlord, what steps we can do to protect ourselves? lower the rent price to create a bidding war and ask for 2 month security deposit and 1 year prepaid rent?

This depends largely on where you are acquiring the property... tenant rights vary greatly depending on the city and state.  If you are unfamiliar with an area it's a good idea to hire a property manager initially to help you navigate the local market.

If you don't want to use a property manager than it might be a good idea to hire a local agent to help you with the process to find and screen a tenant.  Things to look for are good credit scores and high income but those just reduce the probability of getting a bad tenant, if you happen to get one there's generally not much you can do if it's in a tenant-friendly area like Socal/Norcal.

At the end of the day it's important to remember that missing out even a years rent is not really a big deal in the time horizon of owning an investment property... your payments are still paying down principal and your property will still appreciate in the long term.  And conversely if you're looking for something that needs to cash flow right away or make money quickly then a real estate investment is not your best bet to begin with. 
 
Mety said:
My parents are facing this also. They applied through that government's website since the tenant refused to pay, but they still haven't got anything. The tenant applied too. Anyone knows how long it takes to get the missed rents from this relief program?

We had to go through the county in our case (https://www.shra.org/sera/), it took around 1 month.

With AB 832 they now have to go through all previous payments made to adjust.
 
hamilton said:
The California Court Company said:
if we are about to become a landlord, what steps we can do to protect ourselves? lower the rent price to create a bidding war and ask for 2 month security deposit and 1 year prepaid rent?

This depends largely on where you are acquiring the property... tenant rights vary greatly depending on the city and state.  If you are unfamiliar with an area it's a good idea to hire a property manager initially to help you navigate the local market.

If you don't want to use a property manager than it might be a good idea to hire a local agent to help you with the process to find and screen a tenant.  Things to look for are good credit scores and high income but those just reduce the probability of getting a bad tenant, if you happen to get one there's generally not much you can do if it's in a tenant-friendly area like Socal/Norcal.

At the end of the day it's important to remember that missing out even a years rent is not really a big deal in the time horizon of owning an investment property... your payments are still paying down principal and your property will still appreciate in the long term.  And conversely if you're looking for something that needs to cash flow right away or make money quickly then a real estate investment is not your best bet to begin with.
I've been told high income doesn't necessarily mean the tenant is good. I've heard those higher income people are generally more PITA to deal with. Good credit is a must though.
 
Need advice for a friend:  His story made me mad.

Tenant is an overseas student who stopped paying rent last year due to covid eviction moratorium.
Tenant now owes about $35,000+ in back rent
Tenant was going to be evicted in OCT due to CA eviction moratorium being over, but tenant paid OCT in full.

Can my friend still evict this leach?

Tenant says if evicted, he will have no where to go due to trashed credit from the 1 year of non payment.
The tenant stopped paying last year to take advantage of the COVID non evict moratorium.
My friend can't get landlord covid assistance because it wasn't a covid related stop payment.

What to do?
Property is in Riverside county if that matters.


 
I?m confused, this is what the CA eviction memorandum says:

?Tenants generally are protected from eviction for nonpayment of rent due between March 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021, if that nonpayment is the result of a hardship related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the tenant has paid any required portion of the rent.?

The tenant is still required to pay 25% of the rent in order to be protected (Tenants are required to pay at least 25 percent of the rent they owe during the period September 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021).

He could have been evicted a while ago I would think.
https://www.courts.ca.gov/44660.htm:? As of October 1, 2021, a tenant may be evicted for any legal reason, including failure to pay rent.?
 
zubs said:
Need advice for a friend:  His story made me mad.

Tenant is an overseas student who stopped paying rent last year due to covid eviction moratorium.
Tenant now owes about $35,000+ in back rent
Tenant was going to be evicted in OCT due to CA eviction moratorium being over, but tenant paid OCT in full.

Can my friend still evict this leach?

Tenant says if evicted, he will have no where to go due to trashed credit from the 1 year of non payment.
The tenant stopped paying last year to take advantage of the COVID non evict moratorium.
My friend can't get landlord covid assistance because it wasn't a covid related stop payment.

What to do?
Property is in Riverside county if that matters.

If the tenant and the landlord both submit to that government  website posted by someone in previous page, the unpaid amount will be covered. The government will pay even though it might take about 1-2 months to process.

If possible, your friend should reject OCT payment in order to proceed eviction. Once the landlord receives any amount, I heard it might get complicated. It?s also important when the lease contract is due. If it?s past due, it?s easier to evict than still being in contract period. Also if the reason for tenant removal is because the landlord or the family member moving in, it?s better on the landlord?s side.

If your friend is thinking of eviction, he/she might already have the lawyer. The lawyer would know better how to handle this, but I also hear resolving with the tenant directly and forgiving some amount might be cheaper than going through the court and all that. If the tenant is really having a hard time, and the landlord is financially doing fine, then the landlord should be willing to work something out. But you never know if the tenant is just being sneaky and trying to take advantage of all sorts of ?legal? terms.
 
I believe the tenant actually paid the minimal amount, and did not go zero payment/month in the last year.
The tenant is using the CA law and moratorium to pay as little as possible to drag out his stay.
Tenant says he'll leave by end of year, but the dude is a liar.  I say better just kick him out.

The OCT payment was made in full so that my friend could not evict him.

The tenant also sub let some of the rooms in the house to make extra money in the past year.  Not sure if it's the case now.

I'm probably not getting the full story.  I would have evicted the dude long ago.
Friend says he's talked to lawyers about this case, but they have varying degrees of opinions.

I believe the tenant can pay, but since he's on student visa, doesn't care about trashing his credit in USA. 
So he's just making money off my fool of a friend.


.............and that's why you don't rent to people who don't care about their credit..............

 
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