I was very surprised to see a couple people leaning toward the idea that you need a gun to collect rents if you own a rental property. I just wanted to offer a bit of insight as to what we do as far as collecting our rents (12 unit bldg).
First of all our building is in an OK neighborhood. Not perfect, but at the same time a mother can push her child in a stroller down the street and feel fine. From day one we met with each tenant and gave them our P.O. Box address and six months worth of addressed / stamped envelopes for the payment of their rent. Without exception everyone transitioned into our system flawlessly. There were a few time when we were asked if we would accept rent when we happened to be at the building, but we did not falter. We simply reminded tenants that rent was only accepted when paid via the P.O. Box. We’ve been doing this for eight years and it’s made the process of collecting rents very easy and enjoyable.
Pick a date in the middle of the month and send out a pre-addressed, pre-stamped envelope. With that is accompanied a statement stating that rent is due by the first, amount due if received after the 5th, etc. Late fees are added to the balance due if needed (do not waive late fees). You can also give incentives for paying early…$10 off on rent if they pay before the 1st of the month.
Treat rent collection like a business, develop a system and it becomes mush easier.
OHLandlord
“Oppurtunity without the capacity to capture is an illusion”
Your system sounds fine for collecting the rent in good neighborhoods and in places where being an absentee landlord isn’t a problem. Your system will not work with low income rentals in bad neighborhoods. Low income tenants don’t have checking accounts or cars. They will not send a check to a PO Box and that would not be advisable even if it were possible. With low income rentals, it is smart to be a hands-on landlord and to check on your property and tenants regularly. Personally, I walk through every unit every month when I collect the rent. The tenants know that I will be doing so. In addition, I frequently walk through the common areas of the apartments. Being a hands-on landlord helps pays dividends by keeping you abreast of what’s happening at your properties. You’ll know when crackers have taken over; when problems are developing; etc. I can’t even imagine not visiting the property for months at a time. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
As for carrying a handgun - I personally know many landlords that carry a handgun. They don’t carry it to use for rent collection, but rather for safety. In low income areas, you never know who will try to rob you or when you might walk into the middle of a bad situation. Better safe than sorry!
while it sounds like prop. mgr’s technique works well for him, unfortunately, the practice of doing a walk-thru of each unit each month would land you in legal troubles in some states. For example, in Calif, you can simply can not enter a rental unit to “look around” and/or do routine inspections (even if you do give written notice before hand).
check you local/state laws before utilizing this technique.