Mediation for Results

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T-3 Letters

Please read before deciding your strategy and selecting a letter:

What if you need to pay the rent late?
You may have an unexpected emergency. You may be receiving checks regularly on a certain date that makes you unable to pay on the first day of the month.   There may be any number of legitimate, reasonable situations for which you need to pay the rent late.

When you rent an apartment, your landlord will likely tell you that rent is due on the first day of the month. State law upholds this. Whereas some landlords are strict about tenants paying on the rent date, others are more flexible.

Tell the Landlord!
If you are having trouble paying on time, it may feel easiest to just pay late without telling the landlord, hoping he or she doesn’t bother you. Paying late, even once, without acknowledging it, may cause some landlords to start an eviction action. Although landlords like these may be inflexible whether or not you tell them, many others will be flexible when you acknowledge that the rent will be late.

Of course continuous late payments without any acknowledgement may eventually lead even flexible landlords to initiate an eviction action. Although these landlords will likely contact you to address late payment concerns, your lack of acknowledgement may likely lead your landlord to withdraw any flexibility and pursue eviction.

At Mediation for Results, we’ve heard many hundreds of landlords tell us: “If she had just told me she needed some time, I would have worked with her, but she never called me and I could never reach her.”   So, if you can’t pay on time but do contact the landlord, however hard or embarrassing this can be, your landlord will be more likely to pursue a payment plan or other arrangement that can enable you to keep your apartment.

Plan for your situation?
Before contacting your landlord about late payment, remember; both doing nothing and doing something have consequences. You need to create a plan before you contact the landlord:
-   Ask yourself if you can realistically pay the rent every month, or is it unaffordable? If the rent is just too high, asking to pay it late won’t solve your problem, and will keep you in the same irresolvable situation each month. To find helpful resources on these issues, see T-5 letters, which deal with a rent that is too high or unaffordable to you. Additionally, you can go to our ‘Tips and Resources’ Section in this Website in order to learn what funding sources might be available.
-   If you just need more time to pay the rent, then you should explain this to your landlord while also reassuring him or her that you are a good tenant who deserves some flexibility.

How to Pay?
You will next need to figure out how you’re going to make the payments. Can you pay the entire arrearage at once or in installments, and how much time do you need? Do you have a relative or friend who could lend you the money? What public or private charitable services may be available to help you? This is a time when you need to swallow your pride in order to ensure shelter for you and your family and there are resources and people who understand and want to help.

Being Considerate can Work Best
Getting the landlord to empathize with your situation may depend on how much he perceives that you are considering his or her situation. How could you help him or her out in exchange for your paying late? Could you help him handle the trash, keep the basement or garage organized, coordinate with contractors? Also, consider letting the landlord know how you’ve already been helpful, in case he is not aware.

Remember, your landlord does not have to accept a late payment. However, through communication you may be able to help him or her understand your situation and become more flexible to your circumstances.   Even if she or he doesn’t give you everything you want, you will likely be in a better situation because you did communicate.

Keep a Papertrail
Establishing a paper trail through letters like those below can help you to both secure landlord flexibility and strengthen your case if you end up in court.
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Pease Select the letter below that best suits your circumstances:

T-3, Letter-1:
Situation: Tenant needs to pay rent later just for this month; there has been no discussion yet; this is the first letter to landlord.

T3, Letter-2:
Situation: Tenant can make a partial payment towards the rent now but needs to pay balance of rent later for just this month.

T-3, Letter-3:
Situation: Tenant needs to pay rent later every month; there has been no discussion yet; this is the first letter to landlord.

T-3, Letter-4:
Situation: Tenant needs to pay rent later every month and is offering to make a partial payment to fill the gap; there has been no discussion yet; this is first letter to Landlord.
Note: This builds on T3 Letter-3 by adding a commitment to pay an extra amount to cover the number of days you will be late the first time. This offer of an extra sum may be necessary if you feel it will persuade landlord to accept a regular, later payment date.