Tenant always pays a day or two after the grace period

mike_3doorsSep 28, 2026

Conversation starter

I have a tenant who has been good for almost two years. She keeps the place clean and I've never had a complaint about her. The problem is her rent comes in on the 6th or 7th almost every month, and my grace period ends on the 5th. I charge the late fee and she pays it. My mortgage is due on the 1st though, so I end up covering it myself for about a week every month. Has anyone else dealt with this? I'm not sure if I should leave it alone or talk to her about it.

5 replies

  1. ✓ Marked as the answer
    tara.pmSep 28, 2026

    Not really. You still track rent by the month. Just make sure you keep enough in the account so the mortgage doesn't depend on her rent arriving first.

  2. kbuildsSep 28, 2026

    Whatever you decide, do it the same way every month. I once let a tenant's late fee go a few times because he was a nice guy. After that he didn't take the due date seriously, and it took a long time to get back on track.

  3. oldschool_raySep 28, 2026

    If she pays the late fee every month without a problem, the fee may be too low to make a difference to her. Either raise it at renewal or accept it.

  4. mike_3doors AskerSep 28, 2026

    I didn't know you could do that. Is it hard to keep track of when tenants have different due dates?

  5. tara.pmSep 28, 2026

    I would ask her first. When a tenant is late by the same couple of days every month, it's usually because of when they get paid. If she gets paid on the 7th, a late fee won't change that.

    A few of our tenants have signed a short lease amendment that moves the due date to just after their payday. We prorate one month so the amounts come out right and keep the same grace period. After that, the late payments mostly stopped.

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