What’s Powerful about the 5 Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit
I’ve done this for years in my apartments complex and it works for my tenants too. I always serve the 5 Day Notice to my tenants when they are late by 3 days; I never fail to do this! I do this out of practicality. In Las Vegas, the waiting period between serving the 5 day to the tenant to submitting to the court to start an eviction is 5 business days. So, if you serve the 5 day soon after they are late and they don’t pay, then you’ll start the eviction process that much faster. Now, my experience is that the tenant more often than not, will come to you and pay the rent. The 5 day notice provides the extra nudge for them to pay the rent – maybe because it’s written proof that you will evict them if they don’t pay or maybe, the 5 day serves as a reminder that they are late. In any case, serving that 5 day to every tenant that you have (whether they be new or they have been with you for 10 years!) is invaluable. Just make sure to do it very soon after they are late – I give them 3 days before I serve them.
If you are using an eviction service – Beware!! Many eviction service providers will charge you a flat fee for an eviction. Often times, though, the eviction that you pay for involves only the serving of the 5 day notice and then the tenant turns around and pays!! So, you’ve just dropped $200 to $300 on something that may have taken the eviction service provider just 45 to 1 hour to perform.
I highly recommend (and beware too because this is my business model!!) that you go to an eviction service provider that does eviction services by a la carte. Serving a 5 days notice should only cost around $30. If the tenant doesn’t pay within the 5 days, then you will need to pay more for the eviction. But, at least, if you go a la carte, there is that chance that serving the 5 day notice will get you your rent for a very low fee!
Good luck and my best,
Ping
