Then there were payments....

On arriving at the park the first week one of the surprises that awaited me was the discovery that many people had very poor paying records. The previous owners turned the park over to us with the understanding that all tenants were starting even with us, there were no arrears or to say it another way, none of the tenants were delinquent in their lot rent payments to the park at the time it was turned over to us. My first day at the park was spent all day with the previous owners, father and son. I had many questions and some of their answers led to more questions, as we talked about lot payments and late charges I discovered that most people didn’t pay on time and also did not pay late charges, the owners did not enforce the rules or follow up on late pays. Payments were due the first of every month but not considered late until the 11th of each month, with a $30.00 late charge.

I immediately that night typed a letter stating the new rules regarding payments and late charges and mailed a copy to every resident, in that first month we collected 32 late charges for a total of $960.00. My letter also stated that no late payment would be accepted unless the late charge was included. I also made the statement that under the new ownership we had a policy of no pay no stay and that it would be strictly enforced.
Of course not we did not receive every payment that first month, we did have some non payers, we dealt with those people through the 3 day payer quit and then the legal process.
Our late pays dropped by half the following month and two thirds the third month primarily I believe due to the religious follow up I implemented


Fred

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