I just got an eviction notice!? What the Hell do I do?!

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rje5

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Apr 27, 2011
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Yeah every apartment I've lived in give a grace period (between 3 and 5 days). Landlords shouldn't want to kick you out because then they aren't making money. Just sounds like you have a hard ass landlord. If my landlord did that to me, and if I could pay in something besides check, I'd pay in pennies, just to make him count them all. I'd also go over your contract and see if it says in there anywhere that paying on the day is late. If it's not in the contract I'd refuse to pay that late fee.
 

Sandytimeman

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Jan 14, 2011
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sounds like a bad landlord, I have a nearest payday grace period on mine. Since I get paid every other week.
 

Twilight_guy

Sight, Sound, and Mind
Nov 24, 2008
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Talk to your landlord... if you paid then he can't evict you, and, even if you don't, according to US law he can't evict you for 60 days anyways.
 

Danny Nissenfeld

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Apr 1, 2010
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JdA said:
Best practice I've found in renting - make everything PAYABLE for the "day it's due" and give it to the property manager/landlord shortly before.

Post-dated cheques can be mighty handy here - I normally have the next 4 month's cheques written and in a lockbox so I can can drop'em off on my way out the last business day of every month.

It was, however, a pretty brutal approach by the landlord to give a "warning" via eviction notice.
Post-dating cheques is not necessarily a legal thing to do in all areas. It's not something people generally get arrested or sued over but if it ever comes up in a court case where it's important it can work against you.
 

Goofguy

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Nov 25, 2010
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gambler778 said:
You just got an eviction notice?! You'd better make a topic on the Escapist forums about it before talking to the landlord!!!
There's nothing wrong with asking for a second opinion/advice. After all, isn't the purpose of a forum to promote discussion?
 

Biodeamon

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Apr 11, 2011
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talk to your landlord. you already said you paid your rent. if he doesn't listen get a new landlord.
 

JdA

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Nov 8, 2010
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Danny Nissenfeld said:
Post-dating cheques is not necessarily a legal thing to do in all areas. It's not something people generally get arrested or sued over but if it ever comes up in a court case where it's important it can work against you.
Hmm, interesting, never looked into how that's treated outside of Canada. It's all pretty commonplace here, my work actually just got several post-dated cheques back from our landlord as he sold the building off.

Regardless - your best idea is to get the payment secured before the due date, and always get a receipt (these can also be handy when doing your income taxes, depending on where you live).

~side note - captcha: in the box.
What's in the box? What's in the box?! And why is Kevin Spacey looking so damned smug?
 

barbzilla

He who speaks words from mouth!
Dec 6, 2010
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sir.rutthed said:
Just got back from talking to the landlord. Turns out paying the day it's due is actually paying late, and the notice was their little reminder to pay my dues. I'm not getting evicted! Thanks for your help guys, I'm glad it was such an easy (if expensive) fix. Thanks guys!
My landlord did this once, same exact scenario (other than the dungeons and dragons [I mean I play, just not this particular day]). They sent us a memo saying that the last day to before becoming late was the 6th, it turns out they meant on the 6th it is late. Lucky for me I kept the memo just in case (my roommate was running late on pay that month so I wanted back up) and paid on the 6th when they tried to charge me an extra $120 for a late fee.
 

ElPatron

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Jul 18, 2011
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Mortai Gravesend said:
gambler778 said:
You just got an eviction notice?! You'd better make a topic on the Escapist forums about it before talking to the landlord!!!
You want him to go to his landlord at 10 at night? Well that would be sure to improve the situation.
And posting on the Escapist is a lot better.

If I had a sticker saying "You have X days to vacate the premises" I would call everyone related to the incident at least until 11 PM.
 

x EvilErmine x

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Apr 5, 2010
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sir.rutthed said:
Just got back from talking to the landlord. Turns out paying the day it's due is actually paying late, and the notice was their little reminder to pay my dues. I'm not getting evicted! Thanks for your help guys, I'm glad it was such an easy (if expensive) fix. Thanks guys!
This is is utter bullshit. It's the due date not the due before date. You have until 12:59pm on the day that is stated to make the payment before it can be called overdue. As long as you get the payment to them on or before then they legally have not got a leg to stand on.
 

corvanjer

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Nov 28, 2011
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Really? Well I guess there's only one logical course of action...

We kill the batman!

Glad you got that sorted...They should really have it more clear that the "Due date" Is actually the "Day after the due date" ^_^.
 

Sarah Frazier

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Dec 7, 2010
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TLS14 said:
sir.rutthed said:
Turns out paying the day it's due is actually paying late
This doesn't seem to make sense to me. In every other kind of situation, a due date is the last possible day to complete whatever it is you're doing. I don't know if it's just Texas or if it's a national thing, but it seems fairly inconsistent and, in my opinion, stupid.

Good thing you managed to get it sorted out though, OP. Lucky break for you.
I never had that problem in Colorado. Even when a rent check bounced, all the landlord did was personally deliver a letter pointing out the missed payment. Maybe it was just a thing he did, but it left no doubt that he sent the notice that somehow got lost, and would give me a chance to explain things. I guess not all landlords care about tenants the same way.
 
Feb 9, 2011
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sir.rutthed said:
Just got back from talking to the landlord. Turns out paying the day it's due is actually paying late, and the notice was their little reminder to pay my dues. I'm not getting evicted! Thanks for your help guys, I'm glad it was such an easy (if expensive) fix. Thanks guys!
I'm not familiar with Texan law since I live in California and study this as well, but check your contract wording and see what it says. That makes absolutely no sense at all. Delivering the money on the due date is on time, not late.
x EvilErmine x said:
sir.rutthed said:
Just got back from talking to the landlord. Turns out paying the day it's due is actually paying late, and the notice was their little reminder to pay my dues. I'm not getting evicted! Thanks for your help guys, I'm glad it was such an easy (if expensive) fix. Thanks guys!
This is is utter bullshit. It's the due date not the due before date. You have until 12:59pm on the day that is stated to make the payment before it can be called overdue. As long as you get the payment to them on or before then they legally have not got a leg to stand on.
Correct. Unless stated otherwise, delivering the payment to said recipient is not considered, and is never considered (unless they are lying) late. The due date is the final day in which you are able to deliver payment. There is no such thing as a "due before the due date, due date". You're not responsible for the grace period between you delivering, say, a check, and when hat check is transferred. Once you turn in your payment, your obligations are done - and complete.

Tell your landlord he/she is full of shit. Well, no, then you'll just get another notice. :p
 

Valanthe

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Sep 24, 2009
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RJ 17 said:
sir.rutthed said:
Just got back from talking to the landlord. Turns out paying the day it's due is actually paying late, and the notice was their little reminder to pay my dues. I'm not getting evicted! Thanks for your help guys, I'm glad it was such an easy (if expensive) fix. Thanks guys!
Yeah, I actually work for a property management company. I fully admit I don't know Texas law seeing as how I work in Missouri (as such this could all be a load of crap for your case) but at least up here they can't give you the boot without advanced notice. That said they can send you as many warnings as they want, mostly as an attention-grabbing tactic. In our case we lease to a lot of people whose cell-phones have a mysterious tendency to get disconnected after about a month and as such we have no way of contacting them. So we send them a "you're about to get evicted" notice and surprise surprise: they call in wanting to work things out.

But yeah, that's absolute crap that paying on the due date is considered late. I'd take a look at your lease because there should be something in there that specifically says "rent is considered late if received on or after the (x)th date" followed by a description of the late fees. It really does sound like that landlord is trying to screw you over. "Rent is due by (blank)" has an entirely different meaning than "Rent is late by (blank)".
Quoting for truth, I've had far too many landlords try to screw me anyway they can, I don't know the rules outside of Canada, but up here it specifically states in our Residential Tenancy Act that Rent is -due- on the first of the month unless your rental agreement/lease says otherwise. And due means due, not late. In your position I would be getting a copy of your local tenancy act (or whatever is your equivalent down there) and studying it alongside your rental agreement/lease, because that "late on the first" is a HUGE red flag that he's probably screwing you over because you don't know the rules. Trust me, you'd be surprised how often it happens.
 

Xanthious

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Dec 25, 2008
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This really makes me appreciate my landlord. He's an old hippy that owns a coffee shop and the loft apartment above it. I rent the apartment as it's freaking huge and I get it for a song. I would bet that he probably wouldn't notice if I didn't pay my rent on time .. .. or at all.
 

Rednog

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Nov 3, 2008
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I would seriously check your lease and compare it to your local law.
A lot of people don't realize that a good chunk of landlords are douchebags, and they can actually get fines from the city/town you are in if you prove that they are operating outside legal limits. 3 Days is a total crock, and unless your lease says the due date is late he is also breaking the lease agreement by charging a late fee. Also check lease stated %'s vs legal maximums.