Easy, right? But you would be surprised how many times Landlords get themselves into all sorts of trouble with the issue of rent.
Let’s tackle just one issue, and that’s informing a tenant on how and where they can make their rent payment. Your lease should be super clear on this point. It should not be a guess. If they are unclear, all sorts of defenses can pop up.
So, for example, if you say, “You can only pay rent in cash,” you can do that. It’s not something that I would advise, because cash payments are hard to prove in court, especially without proper accounting. But if, for example, your lease says you can only pay rent in cash, Section 92.011 of the Texas Property Code requires that a landlord who receives a cash rental payment shall provide the tenant with a written receipt.
And some of you are already doing a good job, but there are a lot of people who take cash payments and never give out a receipt. And you don’t know what the problem is until you’re in front of a judge and the judge says: “Hmmm… Aren’t you familiar with Chapter 92 of the Texas Property Code?” and you say: “No. No, I am not.”
So, I’m telling you now, if your lease says you can only pay in cash, you’d better be prepared to keep a receipt book. There are other logistical reasons why cash payments are complicated, but if that’s what you do, as long as you have a receipt book (and you use it properly), you’re covered for what Chapter 92 of the Texas Property Code requires.
Let’s say, cash is just one of the options. You can accept payment by money order, or cash, or check, or gold… whatever. That’s totally up to you. But what about the place where the payment is made? That’s also important.
Sometimes people say, Well, of course, they’re going to pay me at my office.” But, unless your Lease requires that, this fact is not openly obvious. A lot of Landlords like to go and collect the rent from the tenant at their home, but that’s also not always convenient, and it could mess up the calculation of late fees, if that becomes an issue.
If you say, “I was there at 5 o’clock,” the tenant may make an argument that “Well, I was at work until 5:30, and I can’t give you the rent if I’m not there, but I did have it on time.”
So, if rent is supposed to be delivered, those instructions should be very explicit in your lease. For example, if there’s a set address, that should be properly disclosed in the lease. If there’s an account where money should be deposited, that should also be clearly and accurately disclosed in the lease.
So, wherever the rent is supposed to be tendered, or delivered, or paid, make sure that your written lease specifically says where and how those payments can be submitted. If you do that, you’re going to spare yourself a lot of headaches.