I wanted to get a few opinions on a situation I'm involved in now...

I recently purchased a duplex property that I had once been a tenant of for three years. Because of my good rental history with my landlord, he offered to sale the duplex to me first. Upon my lease expiration, my sister leased the unit that I had previously leased. Once I became the owner, my sister decided to renew the lease for one year with me. My problem is that on the first month the rent was due, she paid late. I didn't think anything of it but the second month's payment has yet to be paid to me. We're nearing the end of the month now and she still has not paid rent to me. She is now refusing to speak to me and she is saying that when her boyfriend gets the money, he will pay it. Even though I know she has received 2 paychecks that she could have used to pay the rent. I advised her that I leased the unit to her and not her boyfriend but she still refuses to speak to me. I really don't want to go through this for an entire year with her. Does anyone have any suggestions? She's not over 30 days late as of today's date but I want to know all the options that are available to me.

P.S. The rental is a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom located Miami-Dade FL.

If you are going to be a landlord, you better research the tenant/landlord rules that apply to your area. And one very important piece of advice I'll give you for free: Never mix work and family or friends. If you are going to get your money from your sister, you are going to have to treat her as a tenant, not a sister, which includes threatening her with eviction if she doesn't abide by the terms of the lease. And if you wind up evicting your sister, it's going to make holiday dinners very uncomfortable.

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Originally Posted by froggy7

If you are going to be a landlord, you better research the tenant/landlord rules that apply to your area. And one very important piece of advice I'll give you for free: Never mix work and family or friends. If you are going to get your money from your sister, you are going to have to treat her as a tenant, not a sister, which includes threatening her with eviction if she doesn't abide by the terms of the lease. And if you wind up evicting your sister, it's going to make holiday dinners very uncomfortable.

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Thank you so much for your reply and what I fear is having uncomfortable family gatherings. This sister happens to be my twin sister so it's a very, very sticky situation. But like you said, I shouldn't have mixed business and family. I am currently brushing up on landlord tenant laws here in Miami and I will move ahead with eviction proceedings if she doesn't pay. I really thank you for your 'free' advice and I will never rent to family again. It's not worth it.

Yep, never rent to family and most certainly NEVER ever never rent to friends.

I had a house that my brother in law lived in for about 3 years and never paid one penny, my wife would not let me evict him.

So what would you do if this was joe you did not know ? You would give them a late notice, give them notice of a late fee that has to be paid before the next months payment can be received. And you will give them a notice of "pay or quit" ** that is to pay or move out. You are sitting at her door on payday asking for your money.
One of you are going to have bad feelings over this, you for not getting paid, or her for being evicted. You need to decide who needs to feel back.

Ok, you made the mistake of renting to a family member, so now you have to live with it. I would explain to your sister that you need her rental to pay the mortgage. If you can't pay the mortgage then you may lose the unit to foreclosure and you will both be out on the street.

You don't say how old you are or how mature, but you will need to put this on a true businees footing.

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Yep, never rent to family and most certainly NEVER ever never rent to friends.

I had a house that my brother in law lived in for about 3 years and never paid one penny, my wife would not let me evict him.

So what would you do if this was joe you did not know ? you would give them a late notice, give them notice of a late fee that has to be paid before the next months payment can be recieved. and you will give them a notice of "pay or quit" ** that is to pay or move out. You are sitting at her door on payday asking for your money.
One of you are going to have bad feelings over this, you for not getting paid, or her for being evicted. You need to decide who needs to feel back.

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Thanks for the advice but unfortunately she will need to feel bad because I have a mortgage to pay and the bank does not want to hear my sob story (only you guys here want to here it) Smile. Thanks, I will look into the Notice of Pay or Quit and see if it applies here in Florida.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

Ok, you made the mistake of renting to a family member, so now you have to live with it. I would explain to your sister that you need her rental to pay the mortgage. If you can't pay the mortgage then you may lose the unit to foreclosure and you will both be out on the street.

You don't say how old you are or how mature, but you will need to put this on a true businees footing.

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I am 32 yrs old and this is my first property and I plan on buying more but I'm not getting off to a very good start but you are correct I'm going to have to live with my decision and take the necessary steps in order to stay in good standing with the bank. Foreclosure is definitely not an option. Thanks.

Ok, at 32 your sister should be grown up enough to understand the realities of life. So I would show up at her door when you know she will be there or invite her to lunch and sit down with her and explain that while you love her very much you can't carry her rental. You have your own obligations to meet. Tell her if she can't pay the rental on time you would be willing to let her out of the lease. Otherwise she needs to pay on time or you will have to deal with her as a tenant, not a sister.

Yes, I agree. I am willing to let her out of the lease. At this moment, she still refuses to take my phone calls but she tells all of our mutual friends that I'm not speaking to her because of the situation when the truth is she stopped talking to me once she didn't have the rent. I think she's embarrassed about it but all I want her to do is at least communicate to me about what's going on. I would appreciate if she would just let me know that she'll catch it up at the end of the month or whatever but she says nothing to me. Family is very important to me and I hate that this situation has developed but I have to keep myself in good standing with the bank in order to do business with them in the future. So, I will have to treat her as a tenant if she doesn't get in contact with me within the week. Thanks for the advice, it really has been a big help.