Tenant Claims Left Cash Under Door Mat - Now Its Gone.
We have a severly late tenant claim they placed their rent (in cash) under the door mat of my primary home however there is nothing there...
This tenant has pd cash every month since lease started. 2 weeks back they made a partial payment and left a few hundred under our doormat and then contacted us stating they had done so. It turns out they DID indeed do so. I made a note to send all tenants a letter about dropping off cash in accordance to times and 'leaving it under their responsibility not ours". Anyway, the letter didnt make it out and the tenants "dropped off" $500 last night when we weren't home however this time NO MONEY. argh.. To make matters worse we were aware they were going to leave the money under the mat however just assumed they would be honest like before. Although someone stealing the money is never out of the question, my home is in a very safe neighborhood and my door is kind of hidden and off the beaten path.
We're kicking ourselves now because when e spoke to them there was just too much comosion to think of the recourse.
Its safe to assume we may never see that money again however wanted to put the word out there to watch out for cash pymnts. I'll keep you all posted as to the outcome however it doesnt look too good to me.
+on another note do you guys create recipts fro cash payments since it really only covers them?
In my resident rules of tenancy and my rental agreement we do NOT accept cash under any circumstances. There is nothing could that could come out of accepting cash, except tax evasion.
j/k 
Occasionally when I am down at my building making repairs or talking to tenants, someone will inevitably want to pay cash for their rent. This is fine with me - since I ALWAYS carry a cash receipt book with me - I just write them out a quick receipt, which also gives me a record of payment in case I forget that someone paid in cash. I would not accept "cash under the mat" as this is setting yourself up for fraud - if you are not home, they can leave a note that the rent is ready for pickup.
anolimitsky...
j/k 
Doesn't the rule requiring a creditor to accept lawful currrency of the United States in payment of any debt still apply? It used to be if the creditor refused the debt was cancelled.
Note the the statement on the front of any piece of U.S. Currency : "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private."
Quote:
On 2004-11-20 23:19, anolimitsky wrote:
In my resident rules of tenancy and my rental agreement we do NOT accept cash under any circumstances. There is nothing could that could come out of accepting cash, except tax evasion.
A Landlord is not a creditor.
Personally, I love receiving cash, but only when paid personally to me. I always deposit it for tax purposes. Just about all management companies demand alternative forms of payment; cash is not allowed. My Lease states that checks are acceptable until the first returned check, and then only certified funds will be accepted.
[addsig]
anolimitsky,
I will tell what can come from someone paying you there rent in cash. YOU GET YOUR MONEY !!! For the life of me I can't understand why you would never accept cash for your rent ???
A person does not HAVE to accept cash no matter what. Go try and pay for something over a couple dollars with all pennies.
Ryan
You're right!......pennies wouldn't do. However, CURRENCY (the paper stuff) would.
And to reply to another poster...it is "...legal tender for ALL debts, public and private".
Could some of our legal trained posters comment on this?......
Quote:
On 2004-11-27 01:09, Emersonbiggins wrote:
A person does not HAVE to accept cash no matter what. Go try and pay for something over a couple dollars with all pennies.
Ryan
Let them pay directly to your bank account. No fuss, no muss. You can see when they paid via internet. They get a receipt. Little more professional.
My tenant used to pay me in all cash after calling me to come pick it up. It was in a sketchy neighborhood and there were always suspicious youths in the general vicinity. I realized that if she or I were robbed for this wad of cash during the handoff, then either she or I would be without rent money. I told her I would need money orders in the future because I didn't need to have large amounts of cash in my pocket when it would take her 10 minutes and no charge to provide me with a money order.
Also, I stopped telling my tenants where I live after several evictions and problems with angry tenants coming to my home. Get a PO Box like I did and with future tenants, don't give them your home address.
thanks for the info belly.. Ive put this in action.
I am moving in a few weeks and made an addendum to all leases stating NO CASH and they must send them to a PO Box. My primary address will be hidden from all. I have a 4 month old now and I would hate for someone that I may evict to know where I live. Safety over Gauranteed Payment any day
Thanks.