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  • 'Notice(s) To Quit' delivered but not officially served...

    This has been going on (off and on) for a few years now. We have an agreement with the property management that while we cannot pay the entire amount on the 1st of each month, we will pay something each week (or so) until the rent is paid up, always by the 1st. We were a bit behind in February and March due to mom's surgery and associated loss of income and they were aware of this. March was paid in full on time though.

    Every so often, we will get a "Notice To Quit" hand-delivered (NOT officially served as we are not asked to sign anything--if neither of us are home, it is simply taped to the main front door so in theory there is no proof of receipt...). Those can only be enforced (not sure if there's the same restriction on issuing) if a three-month period passed with no payments. Most of the ones we've gotten have a balance owed of one month or less. Interestingly, I found the exact same form letter online.

    We got another one today (and just paid today)...our lease was renewed earlier this month. They did this last year too. When that happened I was able to talk to a housing lawyer through an aid agency and was told that they cannot legally do anything if we have an existing lease and good payment history (which we do).

    I'm just curious if there's a way that we can get these 'love notes' to stop (besides doing what we already do). It's a bit stressful; we know what we owe and don't need the official 'reminders'. At this point we think it's just a scare tactic (which in itself may be illegal if there is no good reason other than owing a bit more than they think we should).
    "I am quite confident that I do exist."
    "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

  • #2
    I don't believe it is a scare tactic or anything to do with you guys exactly. Landlords are really restricted on how any why they can evict, and it takes a minimum amount of time no matter when they start the process. That first letter is a start to the eviction process for non-payment, ensuring the landlord is able to evict any non-paying tenants in the shortest time frame (around 4-5 months). If they were to wait until the rent was a month behind or longer, it still starts with that letter and takes the same minimum amount of time, just that they have lost one months rent before they started. They would probably do it for any tenant who was late even 1 week on the last 10$ of their rent, just so the process is started and in case of a bad or non-paying tenant they lose the least amount of time and money possible.

    I doubt if you ask the landlord to stop they would, it is a protection of their asset (a rentable apartment). And while the housing lawyer is correct that with a good payment history they cannot do anything, if the balance is not paid, they are already started on the long eviction process. If they keep renewing your lease and your payment history is reasonable I wouldn't worry about these letters, but they will probably keep coming.
    Pain and suffering are inevitable...misery is optional.

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    • #3
      Listen to NC.

      Myself, almost monthly I get a late notice from either the cable company, the electric company, or both. I always pay them before their grace period is up, they never give me shit, and all is well....and has been been for years. (We've been in this apartment, with all the utilities in my name, since November of '05.)

      They do this because they have to, and I ignore these notices because I know the bills will be paid in a timely fashion. I am often late because I collect all the bills from my roommates at the same time I collect rent, to make life easier for all of us, and not all of the local utility billing cycles are lined up with my rent. C'est la vie.

      Relax, and treat these notes as merely perfunctory junk mail, which is what they are. If they were any more than that, these people would not have renewed your lease.

      "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is
      Still A Customer."

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      • #4
        They just raised the rent (again), so I figure they think 'hey, this tenant can't pay on time all the time so we'll get someone who will'. We know the process is involved and unlikely (my state is extremely tenant-friendly and there are additional factors stacking a deck in our favor). Just another annoyance of low-income living I guess -_-

        (we are on a housing assistance waitlist but it's about six miles long and the only reason we got on it initially was a glitch that allowed applications when it shouldn't have)
        "I am quite confident that I do exist."
        "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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        • #5
          Quoth Dreamstalker View Post
          They just raised the rent (again), so I figure they think 'hey, this tenant can't pay on time all the time so we'll get someone who will'.
          Rents are going up nationally. The housing market really hasn't recovered all that well, and many people still can't afford to buy or get financing even if they can afford it. So I wouldn't read too much into the rent going up.

          My rent in California went up every year, and I always paid on time. Ditto North Carolina.

          I think NC also hit the nail on the head.
          They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

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          • #6
            The last place I rented had a rent increase every year, small, but still an increase.

            I'd be shocked to find a property that didn't happen to, especially since the one I was at had contracted landscaping, contracted maintenance, parking areas that needed resealed every few years... and with the cost of fuel going up, the contractor bills were probably getting bigger for them too.

            It just sounds like they have a policy of starting the process whenever someone is late, no matter by how much or how frequently or how often they pay up, the same thing as getting an automatic "past due" letter when you miss a payment. I wouldn't worry about it and certainly wouldn't read anything malicious into it.

            If you have to stop and THINK for a second if something is due to bureaucracy or conspiracy, it's always the former, someone who wants you out won't make it a secret.
            Last edited by Argabarga; 05-05-2014, 02:57 PM.
            - They say nothing good happens at 2AM, they're right, I happen at 2AM.

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