Hi,

I'm in Florida. Hypothetical scenario: June 1 move-in cost is $1500 - $500 first month rent, $500 last, $500 security. Lease agreement states in writing that tenant is liable for cost of collection.

August 1 rent is not paid. 3-day notice is sent but no response. $500 is paid to eviction service on Aug. 15 and papers are filed with court. On August 20, tenant pays August rent and $50 late fee as per lease agreement.

My understanding is that if tenant pays rent, landlord cannot proceed with eviction. But what if tenant refuses to pay $500 cost of collection? How does landlord recover this? Does landlord have to pay [i]another[/i] $500 for eviction service based on violation of the cost of collection section of the lease agreement? Obviously, a landlord cannot pay $500 eviction fee to collect $500 rent each month.

Appreciate any comments on this.

Did your attorney tell you to accept the payment while your tenant was in the middle of the eviction process?

If you were processing an eviction, do you think it was wise to collect rent? Are you continuing the eviction or letting the tenant stay? Will you file another eviction next month if he's late again?

Linda

Sorry, my presentation was not as clear as it should have been. I presented this as a hypothetical, which it is, so as the responses are in the form of questions, may I read between the lines? These questions suggest to me that the answer to my question is that once one files eviction documents with the court, one is NOT obligated to accept any rent; that any payments made/checks received can be returned to the tenant; and that as long as one does not accept any rent the eviction process may be completed.
Have I got that right?

Which leaves the second part of my question. Once the eviction process is completed, I still have $1000 of tenant's money - $500 last month's rent and $500 security deposit. May I use this to pay for August rent ($500) and my cost for eviction ($500)?

No, don't accept any rent payments once you've filed.

Here, one would file in small claims court & either use a private process server or the county sheriff's office to serve the court papers.

When court day arrives, landlord would go to court & see if tenant shows up. Most don't. If tenant showed up, tenant & landlord have to "go out in the hall one last time & see if you can work it out." That's the judge's instructions.

"Work it out" means to make some agreement of how the tenant is going to pay what's owed, to include court costs, and whether tenant may remain in the rental or if they must vacate. Once it's decided what the terms are, landlord writes them out on the case sheet & tenant and landlord line up to see the judge. When you tell the judge how you've worked it out, he asks each if you're agreed on the terms & has you sign it. Then he tells the tenant to follow whatever was agreed to and tells the landlord to go to the court clerk's office & file the case sheet.

Yeh, I know - this is Oklahoma, not Cali or Florida or Chicago,etc. But it works pretty well here.

If I have to take someone to small claims court, as part of the settlement, I will happily take all the money they owe me, which includes court costs, but they are still gonna move out, because they have ruined our landlord-tenant trust arrangement.

Oh, and here, if landlord & tenant don't come to some sort of terms, then they take a seat & after the judge is through signing off on all the deals people have agreed to, he'll hear the cases remaining.

The judge makes it quite clear at the start, when he's passing out his instructions after the role is called, that he will not be pleasant at all during those cases he's forced to hang around & listen to.

If it says you may deduct eviction/atty fees in the rental contract, then yes.

Thanks all. This makes sense and I think will help. I'm in a bit of a "tough" area and I've lost a lot being nice, and I don't even mind that so much, but sometimes, depending upon the intentions of the tenant, there can be a fine line between being nice and being self-destructive. I'm learning.

You gotta be careful, there is a fine line between being a RE agent and dispensing Legal advise (acting as Attorney without a License). If you are due the attorney fees, the Attorney should be telling you what to do, you are the delivery person. So if the Attorney filed the case, you get payment from the tenant, call the attorney and ask him/her.

Uneducated people might balk at the costs of using professional property management but it saves them THOUSANDS of dollars lost because they don't know what they're doing or have too soft a heart.

It seems simple to be a landlord BUT, for example, if you make one mistake on a 3-Day Notice to Pay or Quit, your paperwork will be rejected and you'll have to start the eviction process all over again and lose another month's rent.