Bills...Bills...Bills...How Many Of You Mail Invoices?...Thanks!

Bills…Bills…Bills…We are just curious how many of you mail out bills (Invoices for Rent & Water)?Frank said on the CDs (and maybe an article) that bills were a good thing.  The Bill encourages the Tenants to put it in their stack of bills and helps them to place it in a higher priority.We agree with Frank and send out Bills (with no return envelopes).  The Bills have been working well for us.What we found out about our Tenants:1.  Dollar Amounts are good.  However, cents get them confused (well a lot of them).2.  Overpayments (Credit Balance) brought forward causes confusion.3.  Rent Bill & Water Bill (both white and in the same envelope) causes confusion.  One Tenant threw away the second bill, because they thought it was a duplicate (even though one says Rent in big bold letters the other one says Water in big bold letters).  We now print the Rent Bill on yellow paper and the Water Bill on blue paper.What have you found that works and what does not work?Thanks So Very Much!

We deliver a water bill only for our parks that are master-metered water.  For those that are not, we deliver no bill at all.  Train your tenants to know and pay the rent on time without being notified.  It’ll be easier for everyone.  Only the water amount varies month-to-month.  Only deliver a bill for that.Good luck,-jl-

Why do you have the rent and water bill on two separate sheets?  Why not combine them into a single bill, with both charges itemized on the bill?  (Unless this practice violates submetering laws in your region)

If water is submetered the person I have read the meters sends a post card with the rent due and water usage charge.
Otherwise I don’t send invoices.
I have 100% collections every month.
Some people pay late and pay the $50 once or twice only.
If tenants know you will file for eviction for non payment then they will pay you.

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If you have a nice park with high quality tenants there is probably no need for invoices.However, in my 1.5-2 star park, I figure the only reason my tenants have ended up in the park is because they’re bad with their money.  Therefore, going out of my way to help them and remind them where their priorities need to be every month will only help me.  I invoice them every month, and on the invoice have a reminder that they will be charged a $40 late fee on the 6th, and on the 8th a 3 day notice will be posted, which begins the eviction process.

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FWIW, I have a 1.5-star park, and we never send invoices.  Residents will get the message that a landlord is serious about collecting rent when the resident finds a Pay or Quit notice posted on their door.  It’ll really change their behavior when they receive an eviction court notice if they still don’t pay.Our residents have had their expectations properly managed; it’s not rent invoices that encourage tenants to behave responsibly, it’s the occasional eviction (or at least getting it scheduled in court - most will pay prior to court).Your mileage may vary,-jl-

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Do any of you put on the bill to your POH tenants what the balance is in their rent credit account?And, how do you track it?

Everyone, thank you so very much for your comments!We greatly appreciate it!Actually, we do go through the Eviction Process on a monthly basis and Evict Tenants when there is a Balance Due and no Payment.We just find that it helps our Tenants prioritize what they need to pay.  Sometimes a friendly reminder is a good thing :-).We create two Bills (Rent & Water) because of all the information we put on the Bills.On our Bills we have:Type Of Bill (Rent Or Water)Month & YearMHP NameContact InformationMailing AddressImportant UpdatesCustomer Payment ResponsibilitiesPast Due Amount, Due ImmediatelyAmount Due - On The 1stAmount Due - If Postmarked The 6th - 10thAmount Due - If Postmarked The 11th Or AfterTenant’s NameTenant’s AddressWe have some POHs that we hope to sell in the future, so tracking the Rent Credits on the Bill would be a great addition.We create our Bills using Word Mail Merge off of an Excel Spreadsheet.  Thus, when the time comes, we could just add an additional column for Rent Credits.  In addition we create some of our Bills in Spanish.Does anyone else send out Bills in Spanish or another language?Thanks So Very Much!

I send rent credit statements quarterly for those renting.
It’s just a form I made as a word document,
Hopefully the tenant can see the value and accumulated credits and will stay in the home.
But who knows what the resident is thinking or if they can plan four to five years into the future.

With a nod to David Ramsey, I stick mailing labels on envelopes. The labels have the month, tenant name and lot number and check boxes for the rent.

First box is for regular rent amount paid by August 5. The next box is for regular rent plus late fee paid by August 15. I have been using the previous owners dates and late fee amounts, but I’m getting ready to reprint them out with rents by the fifth of the month, late fee after that, and a note that says eviction notices will be sent on the fifth. It seemed to help to give them envelopes, and I only have to do it once or twice a year.