In the know: Illinois rental property/tenant/landlord laws?

[Mike Lowe]

Back in June, I moved to downtown Chicago for a new job. It's been great! I have a tenant who's renting my house (at a $500/mo profit) and it's been a decent experience, but every month it's the same thing with me having to always ask what's happening with the payment, etc. and it's just getting old.

She's made her July payment (first one), as well as a security deposit, but missed her August payment (have a security deposit still, so not a HUGE loss). She's also made the September payment. In missing the August payment, which she told me was because of how expensive the move was for her (understandable to some extent), she came up with a repayment plan which basically had her paying half of the missed month on Sept 15th, and the other half on Oct 15th. I am a patient person, so I said that'd be fine and that I was glad we came up with a plan. I even went as far to tell her that if she made those 15th payments, and the regular monthly payments on the 1st, I'd waive the two late fee's she accrued for July and August (I expect payment by the 7th of each month).

When the 16th of this month came and went and no repayment payment was made, I contacted her and she basically told me that the bank rejected sending the check because there was insufficient funds in her checking account because "a bonus she was expecting didn't come as she thought." To me, it doesn't matter and it's BS. And why am I the one who had to get in touch about that? Lame.

She's a very nice woman, has her 17 year old son living with her, and had great references, and above average credit. However, I'm getting sick of having to always "hound her" to get information about what's happening with payments. I guess what I'm asking is, as I begin to prepare for what may need to happen, what can I legally do?

I've read up on what seems to be a "5 day pay or quit notice," in which she needs to pay or get out in that time without repercussions. Does this hold up in Illinois (McHenry county)? Would this be my best bet if she doesn't get her Oct payment in on time? Does this apply to a situation where we have one missed payment, plus one that's considered late?

I'm hopeful that if it came to a "5 day" situation, we could just agree to go our separate ways (I can easily get a new renter). Who knows though...I know she has good intentions and isn't trying to "live there for free," or anything like that; she actually wants to buy the house when the lease is up (I don't plan on selling it).

I don't want to be a pest, and HATE having to constantly reach out to her for "updates" or whatever. But damn, not having the funds clear is not my problem. Take it out of savings, ASSUMING you have it!

Either way...if this is life's biggest problem, life is good! Just trying to plan ahead, because I have a feeling that if I don't have Oct 1 payment on time, I'm going to start making my move.

Anyone in the know?!?! :) Thanks so much!

[JPhillips]

You need to consult an attorney in Illinois. The money spent will be well worth it if you do indeed need to try and evict.

When I was dealing with a contract sale in IN, I had similar problems. A letter sent by the attorney was very effective in getting the payments on time.

[Mike Lowe]

That's a great idea JP. I hate feeling like a mobster shaking someone down, but sometimes you gotta do it!

[JPhillips]

I put up with a lot and was willing to work with her, but the lack of communication eventually did me in. When she wasn't willing to be proactive I had to protect myself.

[Coffee Warlord]

DEFINITELY get an attorney. Evicting someone is a colossal pain in the ass, and you really need to make sure you get everything covered.

[Mike Lowe]

I don't think it's going to come down to an eviction situation, but I'm just tired of always having to "pester" each month.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

+1 on the letter from a lawyer. Whenever I have an issue with payment, I have a brother-in-law that has a nice 'reminder' letter that can go out on his letter head. Payments usually come after they receive that.

[Marc Vaughan]

Have you tried getting her to put the payments on direct deposit? - warn her that you're on the verge of giving her notice and that one way around it would be for payments to be done on direct deposit the day after she is paid (that way in theory money would always be in her account).

From the sounds of it the problem is likely poor money management on her behalf rather than intent ... if you push your payment into the zone of 'automatic' then she'll probably scrimp somewhere else, at the moment you're in the 'soft touch zone'.

[Mike Lowe]

Thanks guys,

Yeah Marc, she actually told me she had it setup now for that, but when the bank tried to send the check this most recent time, "it rejected because her bonus money she was expecting wasn't there."

I thought it was horse poop because I figured the bank would send it anyway, and say, "Ms. Renter, figure it out."

I'm tempted to just tell her, "don't worry about August...we'll just use your security deposit," but that's a big risk. I just want to get things in order to avoid this monthly BS.

I contacted a lawyer who was GREAT at giving me info right over the phone, and he basically said my option is to get her to pay or evict her which costs a lot, and doesn't guarantee me any $ (even in a won settlement).

Marc is absolutely right in that she's not a bad person, just terrible at making this stuff a priority. To her credit, she's an exec who works CRAZY hours (sometimes until 9, 11, 1am at night). It was difficult even to get her to come see the house, so it's not just "I'm busy when we talk money" sort of thing.

I used a lot of quotes haha

[panerd]

Can I piggyback on this thread without creating a new one? (Hope not to threadjack) We are amateur renters as well with my wife's house and our current renters contract was up Sept 30 but they had agreed to renew for another year. (verbal not in writing) He just told us Tuesday (Sept 17) they would not be coming back. Our contract is worded that they need 30 days written notice so we should at least be able to keep their security deposit right? They really fucked us here which was my fear of having renters in the first place.

EDIT: 30 days written notice or the contract goes month to month.

[JPhillips]

Thanks guys,

Yeah Marc, she actually told me she had it setup now for that, but when the bank tried to send the check this most recent time, "it rejected because her bonus money she was expecting wasn't there."

I thought it was horse poop because I figured the bank would send it anyway, and say, "Ms. Renter, figure it out."

I'm tempted to just tell her, "don't worry about August...we'll just use your security deposit," but that's a big risk. I just want to get things in order to avoid this monthly BS.

I contacted a lawyer who was GREAT at giving me info right over the phone, and he basically said my option is to get her to pay or evict her which costs a lot, and doesn't guarantee me any $ (even in a won settlement).

Marc is absolutely right in that she's not a bad person, just terrible at making this stuff a priority. To her credit, she's an exec who works CRAZY hours (sometimes until 9, 11, 1am at night). It was difficult even to get her to come see the house, so it's not just "I'm busy when we talk money" sort of thing.

I used a lot of quotes haha

There's no way I'd agree to the security deposit being rent. What will you do if there are damages when she leaves? It doesn't seem likely you could get her to pay and taking her to court will cost as much as you'd get from a judgement.

The woman that agreed to buy my house on a contract sale eventually backed out. I had a contract that would have allowed me to sue, but whatever I might have gotten would have been a pittance compared to the damages she could have done. It was best for me to work out an agreement to leave and forfeit the money she had paid towards purchase. It was a pain in the ass and we had to pay a realtor another fee to sell, but he left the house in pretty good condition.

At the end of the day you don't want to fight a small battle to the death when you could end up losing the war.

[Mike Lowe]

Small update: She's paid each month, but I ended up hiring a property management company, so now I'm totally hands off. The missed payment they will be collecting, or she'll need to move out. Late on one payment, she moves out and they cover all court costs (likely won't come to that).

It's nice to not have to do anything, and their pricing, especially because the profit I'm making above the mortgage payment far exceeds their cost, has made it very nice to be hands off!

Nice lady, but time to shape up...she's been late every month except this month (oddly enough).