Can I be evicted for non-payment if the landlord accepted partial payment?
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Can I be evicted for non-payment if the landlord accepted partial payment?
My landlord is trying to evict me for non-payment of rent of $374.35 for this month’s rent. It was due at the beginning of this month 11/01 for a total of $494 but she accepted a partial payment of $120 on 11/04 and agreed to accept the rest on 11/09-11/11. The following weekend. I received a late check and that check was lower than anticipated. I was only able to pay another $200 on 11/14 when I got the check. However, over the weekend 11/09-11/11while I was at work, I received a notice to leave premises by my landlord giving me 3 days to leave the premises. My phone had got turned off and I couldn’t contact her, to inform her my check was coming in late since my phone was off and because I was at work the whole weekend. My
landlord is now refusing to accept my payment of $200 when I already put it in her mailbox on 11/14 and planned to pay the last 1$74.35 I owe Friday on 11/16. She stated she will refuse to accept my money and will take the money to the judge. Can she just change her mind and try to evict me when she already accepted $120 and agreed to accept the rest of the payment at a later time, even though it is just a few days later after the following weekend. Also, the lease states that if the rent isn’t paid in full by the 5th of the month there will be a $50 late fee. Not an eviction but she is making it seem. As if I don’t pay by the 5th, she can evict me. I just don’t want to have an eviction action on my public record for paying the rent 2 weeks late. I have been late the last 2 previous months, however she always accepted my payments later. I am now caught up with rent and my bills and am trying to explain to her that next months rent won’t be late.
Asked on November 15, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Ohio
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Your obligation is to pay your full rent on time: a failure to pay 100% of rent when it is due is a violation of your obligations for which you may be evicted. You are seeing this as just being "late" on rent--but you need to think about it as a breach or violation of contract (the agreement or lease, whether written or oral, pursuant to which you rent the space). When one party violates a contract, the other party may terminate it for the breach--in this case, evict. The lease dos not need to say that you can be evicted for not paying all your rent on time--the law says that. The law lets her take your partial rent and evict for whatever part you have not paid.
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