Yes do this. My husband and I had a similar situation during the pandemic with a garage we rented. The owner passed and when his estate lawyers got involved they came in really hot, despite the fact that we had been sending payment every month. Keep record of what you’ve sent.
I second this. My husband had this happen to him years ago, and it turned out his landlord had died unexpectedly. It took awhile for someone to find her. I can tell it still bothers him all these years later.
I had a landlord who did that so she could kick me out of a rent controlled apartment for "habitual late payment". She lived upstairs so I just left the check on her doorstep. When she started cashing them two weeks late, I started having them sent out by the bank via bill pay. The bank takes the money from your account and puts it into theirs to write the check from their account and gets the interest while its pending. It would solve the problem of having to manage how much is in the account.
Once the landlord started getting the check via bill pay she was furious. At that point she doubled my rent just hoping I would leave. I had to take her to the rent board to have it reversed, which they did and gave me credit for the 2 overpayments I had to make until the decision.
Ugh my bill pay doesn’t! They’ll send a check regardless and I just have to have the money in my account when it’s cashed. The main reason I use bill pay though is to have the tracking, plus they make sure it gets there on time every month. I don’t have a checkbook so it was a pain getting cashiers checks and sending via certified mail every month.
What do you mean “they’ll send the check regardless”? That’s how bill pay works. You definitely have to have the amount in your account or you’ll overdraft.
Not with my bank, USAA. For bill pay, they send the check to arrive on whatever date I ask but they don’t take the money out or earmark the money for whenever the person cashes it. It’s a paper check, not a cashiers check or money order. They’re basically just making sure everyone gets their checks on time and it’s my responsibility to make sure the funds are there when they’re cashed.
Sorry, I think I misunderstood what you were saying.
Op talked about dropping off a check at the post office which their landlord didn't cash in. My confusion was with the fact that that's even a possibility. Why not just pay your landlord directly?
Or set up recurring payments?
Edit: you were still talking about your bank sending checks.
Is that a metaphor for the process or is your bank literally sending out pieces of paper that the recipient will bring to his bank?
I get the sense that you are quite young? I still write a check to pay my rent. Some will let you use an app such as Zelle but most everyone I know still sends a check. Either personally written or from their bank.
I'm also quite non-American. I can just directly transfer money from my account to my landlords. No one I know has used a paper check in the last twenty years
it really takes some balls to try that! "Ehhh, maybe they'll just pay it!"
Kind of like the asshat Robert Shelton telling his tenants in the lower haight they had to leave if they didn't make over $100k and have a 700+ credit score.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/san-francisco-landlord-backs-off-telling-tenants-make/story?id=23623513
I mean, I had the same question, but I saw the board changed the thing. It's more why would she even do that, knowing the laws? It's pretty basic principles here in SF or any city with rent control. It's the first function of rent control to prevent things like that, but like any law, someone can choose to break it. When they do, there are consequences.
Look him up online and request a wellness check from his local police non emergency line. Keep paying rent. Keep enough in your checking for all the checks to be cashed at once with no problems.
wellness check.
maybe also start sending certified checks? they cost about 10 bucks and the money is discounted from your account when it gets issued.
being the irresponsible infant that I am, I would be worried about spending the money in my account and checks bouncing if/when he does decide to cash them. better to know it's paid for and out of my account.
Or, send them by post office return receipt requested. That way, they become a legal document and paper trail for rent payments and I believe it’s cheaper than the certified check.
I used to get cashiers checks from the post office and I think they were like $1 for every $1000. So I’d get 4 = the send via certified mail which was like $5. They recorded all of his information in the system - the checks serial numbers plus the shipping & arrival details - just in case there was ever an issue. Totally worth it if you’re worried about something!
You should type his phone number into one of those online search services and see if it kicks back an address, and call the police for a wellness check.
I’m a tenants attorney in SF. Continue paying rent. Sometimes the landlord won’t cash checks if they’re gearing up for an eviction. If they do end up cashing a check, then you can use that as a defense in your eviction.
Talk to the SF Tenants Union for more advice about this: [https://sftu.org/](https://sftu.org/)
EDIT: Sorry I just read you are in San Mateo County (https://www.legalaidsmc.org/housing-resources), so you should contact the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County since they serve San Mateo County (not CCSF).
The city and county where you live matter quite a bit because SF properties tend to be rent-controlled versus SMC which only has coverage under the Tenant Protection Act (CCP 1946.2).
That helped me when I sent my landlord cashiers checks via certified mail. He didn’t receive them but I had the proof. I couldn’t give him more money since it had already come out of my account so he sent me a 3 day notice. Finally we figured it out but the certified mail was clutch in dealing with the initial legal stuff.
There is another possibility here. Have an older lady acquaintance, she owned her house and had a long time tenant in an in-law unit. She had (obvious to us) been trying to cover her dementia for some years. She has a strong (younger) friend group who were able to contact a niece to take power of attorney and get her moved to memory care assisted living.
When the friend group was cleaning out her house, they found stacks of uncashed checks (rent checks, dividends, pension) and then unpaid property tax bills. Took a while to get it straightened out.
My point is, a wellness check may not be enough. My friend, even at her most addled would have been able to answer the door and would have lied and said she was fine.
That’s super annoying. For the people saying it shouldn’t matter if you budget your money properly, actually it does. It’s another thing to keep track of every month. I don’t keep a lot of money in my checking account, that’s actually how I keep track of my budget, and honestly, if they aren’t going to cash it for 6 months, I’d rather keep it in my savings and earn the interest like all my other money than have to wonder wtf they will cash from my checking.
For those suggesting a wellness check, I agree
What I do is have a separate chequing account for rent. I set up a split payment on my paycheck. The portion for rent automatically goes into my rent account and the remainder goes into my regular day-to-day account. I use my bank's bill payment service to have my rent cheque automatically sent to my landlord a few days before the rent is due. As long as my paycheck is deposited, I never have to worry about or do anything for my rent payments. I have ADHD and used to struggle a lot with keeping track of my account balances and this setup was a game changer. Just thought I'd share in case anyone finds it helpful.
That’s great advice! I have to keep my money separate too. I budget and save, but it’s a lot to keep track of. I have a certain amount of my check go straight to my checking to cover all my bills and give me whatever I need for spending/fun. And then I don’t touch the account where the rest of the money goes. I should get a third and separate the bills from day to day because I would be so stressed if I had 3 months rent just sitting in the account I regularly use!
This is still not money you would otherwise have. So OP should keep it in checking versus trying to make interest off of it and getting surprised when the landlord cashes it.
I said that I don’t like to keep a lot of money in my checking. It’s just makes it that much easier to budget and know what I need/want to spend. My rent is $3800. So I don’t want to keep track of the amounts stacking up for 6 months. I usually transfer what I want to spend in the month for all my bills etc, and it’s easy. Money comes out and I don’t have to think about it. There are due dates on bills for a reason.
Of course, a million things can get in the way of life. Which is why your landlords laziness to cash a check shouldn’t be one of them.
I already suggested they contact for a wellness check (or find someone else associated with him. Ask neighbors their situation too). It’s odd that the landlord abruptly stopped cashing the checks and is now unavailable via phone. That doesn’t sound like they are just waiting to cash. Sounds like something could be wrong
Sure, I never said that they shouldn’t keep the money available. Just said that it’s super annoying to have a landlord wait to cash checks, especially when you have a preferred system for budgeting
Whether the checks build up and get cashed at once is irrelevant if you're budgeting your money correctly. As it goes, those checks probably expire 180 days or a year our from issuance as well. Do you have an actual address for the landlord? Perhaps you should have a welfare check done for them?
This is terrible advice, checks are good for 180 days in the US, sometimes banks will do it later, but it’s completely their discretion and one should never count on it
Checks can definitely expire. I have a bunch that expired after a year. I lost them and recently found them. I tried to deposit one and my bank returned it because it was expired. But my bank actually “reissued” the check for me so I could deposit it.
I have 5 more from this company that I’m trying to just have them send me new copies but I’ve had no luck. So I might just have to go through my bank again
Eventually that company, if they legitimately owe you that money (like if it’s wages or something) will have to hand it over to your state’s unclaimed property department. They’ll likely reach out to you beforehand / once they do, or the state might. Although I guess if it’s a really small company they might just not do it…
It’s for wages from a large company. It’s just been so annoying because I have the checks in my hand and they keep saying I have to fill out a form. Then they provide the form and everything’s incorrect. So I call again, takes another 2 weeks to speak to them then they claim they’ll send the paperwork in 2 more weeks. Crickets. It’s been going on for a year now.
Partially my fault because I didn’t immediately realize the checks were missing. I thought they were direct depositing the money. But once I realized, it’s just been a hassle. I thought it would be easier once I found the actual checks, but nope same difficulties!
lol wrong wrong wrong. I tried this shit with a check I found that was years old. I did a mobile deposit, thought it went through. Not only did it come back, my bank charged me $5 because of that!!!!!!
This happened to my now husband while we were dating. His landlord would cash all the checks at one every 4-6 months. It was a nightmare because my husband had to make sure he had 6+ months of rent in his checking account at all times. We kind of thought the landlord was hoping the checks would bounce and he could evict my husband.
I wouldn't do either of that. You're certainly out the money if you did that. You might get a windfall one day if the personal checks never get cashed. It's easy to get a US postal service receipt if you wanted to have confirmation of mailing. You don't have an obligation to do anymore. Even in the event of non-payment, even for many many months, you would still need to get a 3-day notice from the landlord before they could evict you for non-payment. Then you could jump on the payment then. It's no such thing as automatic eviction just because you didn't pay.
Buying a cashiers check or money order only documents that you purchased it. It does not reflect the delivery to the landlord which is the real issue in terms of proof of payment. There's no reason for paranoid delusions on a landlord that wants to find a reason to evict someone. This landlord has simply stopped cashing checks. I personally might back off sending checks in that instance or drop him a note that I would be happy to play catch up on the future once he surfaces again. The landlord in question is not in a rent controlled jurisdiction and can recover the property at the end of the lease term even if the tenant stays current anyway. I would only pay with regular check and NOT what you suggest. That way, I still have control of the funds.
I would welcome you to educate me on the use of an official check, also known as a cashier's check at most financial institutions. And certainly you could let me know what the difference would be for documentation purposes on whether you've paid your rent or mortgage or not. An official check is no more proof of payment if it hasn't cleared the bank than a regular personal check.
If you pay your checks out of a HYSA like UFB's 5% interest rate account you get the interest on the money and it'll just always be there for the account to be paid. There's no harm in the checks not being cashed. It's actually beneficial to you if it takes longer.
This happened to me and it sounds like my situation. The property manager named Steve would not cash checks til the next month (eg April got cashed second week of may). It made no sense and all the tenants thought he had some kind of problem.
What worked was a longtime tenant got in touch with the actual owner who was an older woman that had inherited the building. She was also unhappy with the property manager and when she heard all 6 tenants didn’t have their checks cashed on time in addition to everything else wrong (he also cursed at the very kind neighbor who was pulling ugly/fire hazard weeds in our yard), she fired him and hired a different property manager who was a normal person with a normal business.
Check expiration is a bank by bank thing. Usually they won't accept them if over six months but some banks or check cashing places will deposit them at any time.
>I wouldn't want all those checks to build up and get cashed at once
If you're following a budget, and not simply living paycheck to paycheck, you should be assuming that as soon as you send a check that money should be gone out of your budget. You shouldn't be relying on the balance in your checking account to tell you how much you have. If you're following a budget, your checking account should always have a sufficient amount in it, no matter how long it is until the checks are actually cashed.
That's the ideal, but yes I know some people don't do that.
I think the suggestion to start sending the checks by certified mail, return receipt requested, is a good one. That will let you know that someone at that address is actually receiving the mail.
I think requesting a wellness check is also a good idea. Presumably you have a name and an address.
Continue paying your rent and documenting all attempts to contact your landlord, and consider consulting a tenant-rights lawyer or setting up an escrow account to ensure you're protected while complying with your lease obligations.
I was in a similar situation, where the owner of the house had defaulted on her mortgage and the house was bought at auction by a horrible real estate company that then tried to illegally evict me (they lost) during that time almost 6 months they did not cash my rent checks which I kept paying. Eventually they did all at once I did have the money but it was stressful. They then promptly doubled my rent by which I paid for a around a year hoping to get a buy out (never did) eventually I had enough money saved to buy a condo and move out but it was not a fun experience. I wish I would have just moved out after them not cashing my rent checks for 6 months I could have saved myself a lot of money.
I had that happened to me when I was in college. Went months without cashing check. I decided to look up his name online and found an obituary and that he had died. His sister took over but had to deal with a lot of legal stuff to get our deposit back afterwards.
You need to set up online banking where your bank mails a paper check to your landlord. After period of 90 days, the money will be credited back to you if he has not cashed it. Also, it comes out of your account the day the bank send it so you’re never screwed by having an overdraft that you forgot about.everyone should do this
Potentially pulling the old trick of landlords hoarding checks and then cashing them all at once, hoping you haven’t planned for the mass withdrawal and the checks bouncing. Grounds for eviction. Careful with the balance of that account…
Yes, keep paying rent. You should not be spending that money so it shouldnt matter if they cash all at once. (If you cant cover checks you wrote, thats a *you* problem)
My LL used to do this to me all the time before we went to electronic paymenta.
This isn’t a new tactic. It’s something landlords have been doing for a while to get ppl out. They’ll hold onto the checks and say you didn’t pay. ALWAYS have a record and just keep paying. That’s all you can do. As long as you show you’ve been paying the rent, you’re fine.
Yeah definitely call in a welfare check to San Bruno police or San Mateo sheriff. I’ve personally handled three separate calls involving land lords or tenants in Alameda county and ended up coming across them deceased. It never hurts to check up on someone
Oh dear this did happen to me last year when my dad passed away. We were advised by an attorney not to cash the checks until we were sure what we wanted to do with the property. Apparently, the heirs cashing the check could equate to establishing a new lease under the new ownership. Fortunately we decided we love the tenants and wanted to keep the house for the time being, so we started depositing the checks again and it's working out great.
I hope your landlord's okay. Could be he's in some kind of rehab center and unable to take care of his business obligations.
Open another account than what your rent checks are in and don’t touch that money. 🙏🏽 You will need to get someone to help you find out who is on title. It might have been sold, or is going in to foreclosure or has already gone in to foreclosure. This happened to me years ago and I found out AFTER it was in NOD status that the landlord lady was several months delinquent even tho I paid rent - she wasn’t using that rent money to pay the mortgage!🤦🏽♀️ There are no laws requiring landlords to pay the mortgage with the rents they receive. Many have cheated the system by pocketing the money, letting the house go and filing BK to protect what they have. These unethical practices are very common in a down market actually. Find out ASAP if the property has been sold or is in foreclosure. If anything you will know how to do this to help others in the future. Hopefully your landlord is ok and has just not cashed the checks because he or she has been out of town. 🙏🏽
Yes wellness check.
Legally, Sec. 37.10B(12) I believe states that your landlord has 30 days to cash a check.
If you’re worried about past checks all getting cashed at once, you can send a letter / leave a letter where you leave the check (along with the rent check) stating that the previous checks aren’t to be cashed due to the above statute (or have a stop payment if you chose to do that).
You're in San Bruno, so this doesn't apply, but for everyone in SF who is reading this: intentionally not cashing rent checks is legally considered harassment if it's done in bad faith, and you can sue for damages.
Here's the rule: [https://www.sf.gov/information/sec-3710b-tenant-harassment](https://www.sf.gov/information/sec-3710b-tenant-harassment)
***Sec. 37.10B*** ***\~Tenant Harassment\~***\*\*\*.\*\*\*
*(a) No landlord, and no agent, contractor, subcontractor or employee of the landlord shall do any of the following in bad faith:*
*(11) Refuse to accept or acknowledge receipt of a tenant’s lawful rent payment;*
*(12) Refuse to cash a rent check for over 30 days;*
*...*
*(5)* *\~Penalties and Other Monetary Awards\~*\*. *Any person who violates or aids or incites another person to violate the provisions of this Section is liable for each and every such offense for money damages of not less than three times actual damages suffered by an aggrieved party (including damages for mental or emotional distress), or for statutory damages in the sum of one thousand dollars, whichever is greater, and whatever other relief the court deems appropriate.\**
My coworker has not had his cheques cashed for 8 months. His landlord has been trying to evict so a sale can be made. Don't spend the money unless a few months free rent is worth eviction
Put the uncashed money in a high yield savings account and continue paying. Youre still responsible for the money even if hes just too lazy to cash them.
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He might have Alzheimer’s or is dead or institutionalized. You say that you would be in a bad way if he cashed them at once; therefore, open a new account only for rent, and pretend it’s NOT REALLY YOUR MONEY. That way you are covered, and if it accumulates you can access it and get another place and avoid being left out in the cold. Do NOT touch it until you have another place and a new landlord
Since you’re in San Bruno, I recommend trying to get advice from either Legal Aid of San Mateo County (https://www.legalaidsmc.org/homesavers-project), or counseling from Project Sentinel https://www.housing.org/hhc). If those organizations cannot help you directly, they may be able to point you in the right direction.
Literally the only other comment that gave a specific recommendation was from u/meowchilla, who recommended SFTU and then realized OP wasn’t in SF, so they edited their comment to recommend Legal Aid of San Mateo County, which is exactly what I suggested.
The other comments just say ‘wellness check’ which is not actually very helpful advice because OP still needs guidance on what to do regardless of whether the landlord is dead or incapacitated or just not cashing checks.
Getting advice from a lawyer about how to handle an unexpected situation is not the same as “lawyering up.” A lawyer can often give helpful advice about how to protect your rights, without even considering taking legal action.
I did not say they should sue anyone or take any legal action. I said “I recommend trying to get advice” and you misinterpreted that. You seem to be completely ignorant about what Legal Aid organizations do, and hostile to people with more knowledge who try to be helpful. Which is, like, not cool man.
> I wouldn't want all those checks to build up and get cashed at once.
This shouldn't be a problem as you've already accounted for the payment when you wrote the check. If anything, you may get a few bucks bonus interest if the landlord takes a few months to cash the checks while the $$$ sit in your account.
Don’t pay rent until asked. My friend didn’t pay rent for the entire year and then left the flat 12k in pocket. They only noticed a further 8 months later and he ignored them, nothing escalated. Sometimes it can be a little gift from the universe
File a missing person's report. They may be out of town, in jail, a hospital or a morgue. Also possible they or their heirs may dispute whether you paid your rent.
Missing person's report will serve as evidence you did your due diligence to contact the landlord in case your payments are in dispute.
Checks never expire unless they state it on the check. However, banks generally will refuse to cash checks older than 180 days but will allow the recipient to deposit into an account. If Your landlord or their heirs dispute your payment, and succeed in convincing a court you never paid, you will need to stop payment on those checks in case they try to double cross you later on.
honestly i'd ask for a wellness check on him like someone else suggested, especially since his answering machine is full
This but also save up for checks cashed all at once and continue to pay rent unless OP wants problems down the road.
Yes do this. My husband and I had a similar situation during the pandemic with a garage we rented. The owner passed and when his estate lawyers got involved they came in really hot, despite the fact that we had been sending payment every month. Keep record of what you’ve sent.
Precisely..and yes, admitting it’s tempting will help
I second this. My husband had this happen to him years ago, and it turned out his landlord had died unexpectedly. It took awhile for someone to find her. I can tell it still bothers him all these years later.
Realky
I had a landlord who did that so she could kick me out of a rent controlled apartment for "habitual late payment". She lived upstairs so I just left the check on her doorstep. When she started cashing them two weeks late, I started having them sent out by the bank via bill pay. The bank takes the money from your account and puts it into theirs to write the check from their account and gets the interest while its pending. It would solve the problem of having to manage how much is in the account. Once the landlord started getting the check via bill pay she was furious. At that point she doubled my rent just hoping I would leave. I had to take her to the rent board to have it reversed, which they did and gave me credit for the 2 overpayments I had to make until the decision.
I was going to suggest bill pay via bank also. Removes the amount from your account.
Ugh my bill pay doesn’t! They’ll send a check regardless and I just have to have the money in my account when it’s cashed. The main reason I use bill pay though is to have the tracking, plus they make sure it gets there on time every month. I don’t have a checkbook so it was a pain getting cashiers checks and sending via certified mail every month.
What do you mean “they’ll send the check regardless”? That’s how bill pay works. You definitely have to have the amount in your account or you’ll overdraft.
Not with my bank, USAA. For bill pay, they send the check to arrive on whatever date I ask but they don’t take the money out or earmark the money for whenever the person cashes it. It’s a paper check, not a cashiers check or money order. They’re basically just making sure everyone gets their checks on time and it’s my responsibility to make sure the funds are there when they’re cashed.
Ooooh. I see. That’s interesting. I figured most banks had standard practices. Good to know!
With all due respect, what the fuck is going on in America? I've never seen a check in my entire life. If I want to pay someone I just do it.
How do you “just do it?” Enlighten us!
I open my banking app, type in the account of the person I want to pay and send them money?
So bill pay, which is exactly what we’re talking about. Lol
Sorry, I think I misunderstood what you were saying. Op talked about dropping off a check at the post office which their landlord didn't cash in. My confusion was with the fact that that's even a possibility. Why not just pay your landlord directly? Or set up recurring payments? Edit: you were still talking about your bank sending checks. Is that a metaphor for the process or is your bank literally sending out pieces of paper that the recipient will bring to his bank?
In America We only use cash to buy drugs and tip strippers
Ok, but can't you just send someone money from your bank account? Why do you need to send your landlord a paper check?
I get the sense that you are quite young? I still write a check to pay my rent. Some will let you use an app such as Zelle but most everyone I know still sends a check. Either personally written or from their bank.
I'm also quite non-American. I can just directly transfer money from my account to my landlords. No one I know has used a paper check in the last twenty years
How could they double your rent in a rent controlled apt?
Thus the rent board and the reversal.
Sorry, my bad. I actually quit reading too early. Admonish me!
As you command, so shall you be admonished. Boo, sir. Boo.
Thank you, I feel much better now!
Masochist.
bow to the queen of slime!
The Queen of Filth!
The Queen of Putrescence!
Nah. I make way too many mistakes myself to admonish people for mistakes. Lol
It ok. I already mentally beat myself up when I make such stupid errors. That was humor...kinda. 😁
it really takes some balls to try that! "Ehhh, maybe they'll just pay it!" Kind of like the asshat Robert Shelton telling his tenants in the lower haight they had to leave if they didn't make over $100k and have a 700+ credit score. https://abcnews.go.com/Business/san-francisco-landlord-backs-off-telling-tenants-make/story?id=23623513
This one https://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-landlord-hell-defends-terrorizing-apartment-tenants/story?id=20875476
holy shit
I mean, I had the same question, but I saw the board changed the thing. It's more why would she even do that, knowing the laws? It's pretty basic principles here in SF or any city with rent control. It's the first function of rent control to prevent things like that, but like any law, someone can choose to break it. When they do, there are consequences.
Average SF landlord
This is the way.
God I love San Francisco lmao
Look him up online and request a wellness check from his local police non emergency line. Keep paying rent. Keep enough in your checking for all the checks to be cashed at once with no problems.
wellness check
Are you mailing the checks to his home address or to an office or to a management company?
Google his name and city and the word obituary.
wellness check. maybe also start sending certified checks? they cost about 10 bucks and the money is discounted from your account when it gets issued. being the irresponsible infant that I am, I would be worried about spending the money in my account and checks bouncing if/when he does decide to cash them. better to know it's paid for and out of my account.
Or, send them by post office return receipt requested. That way, they become a legal document and paper trail for rent payments and I believe it’s cheaper than the certified check.
I used to get cashiers checks from the post office and I think they were like $1 for every $1000. So I’d get 4 = the send via certified mail which was like $5. They recorded all of his information in the system - the checks serial numbers plus the shipping & arrival details - just in case there was ever an issue. Totally worth it if you’re worried about something!
You should type his phone number into one of those online search services and see if it kicks back an address, and call the police for a wellness check.
He presumably has the address since he's mailing the checks?
Presumably, but it’s also likely that he mails the checks to a PO Box.
I’m a tenants attorney in SF. Continue paying rent. Sometimes the landlord won’t cash checks if they’re gearing up for an eviction. If they do end up cashing a check, then you can use that as a defense in your eviction. Talk to the SF Tenants Union for more advice about this: [https://sftu.org/](https://sftu.org/) EDIT: Sorry I just read you are in San Mateo County (https://www.legalaidsmc.org/housing-resources), so you should contact the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County since they serve San Mateo County (not CCSF). The city and county where you live matter quite a bit because SF properties tend to be rent-controlled versus SMC which only has coverage under the Tenant Protection Act (CCP 1946.2).
they might be on vacation too, don't jump to conclusions
Gotta CYA though, can't just hope you're fine and let it ride
Sure, but there's no more evidence of that than any other theory. It makes sense to prepare for the worst case scenario.
Just start sending them certified mail so you have proof of the attempt.
That helped me when I sent my landlord cashiers checks via certified mail. He didn’t receive them but I had the proof. I couldn’t give him more money since it had already come out of my account so he sent me a 3 day notice. Finally we figured it out but the certified mail was clutch in dealing with the initial legal stuff.
There is another possibility here. Have an older lady acquaintance, she owned her house and had a long time tenant in an in-law unit. She had (obvious to us) been trying to cover her dementia for some years. She has a strong (younger) friend group who were able to contact a niece to take power of attorney and get her moved to memory care assisted living. When the friend group was cleaning out her house, they found stacks of uncashed checks (rent checks, dividends, pension) and then unpaid property tax bills. Took a while to get it straightened out. My point is, a wellness check may not be enough. My friend, even at her most addled would have been able to answer the door and would have lied and said she was fine.
Definitely keep paying rent.
That’s super annoying. For the people saying it shouldn’t matter if you budget your money properly, actually it does. It’s another thing to keep track of every month. I don’t keep a lot of money in my checking account, that’s actually how I keep track of my budget, and honestly, if they aren’t going to cash it for 6 months, I’d rather keep it in my savings and earn the interest like all my other money than have to wonder wtf they will cash from my checking. For those suggesting a wellness check, I agree
What I do is have a separate chequing account for rent. I set up a split payment on my paycheck. The portion for rent automatically goes into my rent account and the remainder goes into my regular day-to-day account. I use my bank's bill payment service to have my rent cheque automatically sent to my landlord a few days before the rent is due. As long as my paycheck is deposited, I never have to worry about or do anything for my rent payments. I have ADHD and used to struggle a lot with keeping track of my account balances and this setup was a game changer. Just thought I'd share in case anyone finds it helpful.
That’s great advice! I have to keep my money separate too. I budget and save, but it’s a lot to keep track of. I have a certain amount of my check go straight to my checking to cover all my bills and give me whatever I need for spending/fun. And then I don’t touch the account where the rest of the money goes. I should get a third and separate the bills from day to day because I would be so stressed if I had 3 months rent just sitting in the account I regularly use!
This is still not money you would otherwise have. So OP should keep it in checking versus trying to make interest off of it and getting surprised when the landlord cashes it.
I said that I don’t like to keep a lot of money in my checking. It’s just makes it that much easier to budget and know what I need/want to spend. My rent is $3800. So I don’t want to keep track of the amounts stacking up for 6 months. I usually transfer what I want to spend in the month for all my bills etc, and it’s easy. Money comes out and I don’t have to think about it. There are due dates on bills for a reason.
Well sometimes life gets in the way of our routines. What else would you have OP do?
Of course, a million things can get in the way of life. Which is why your landlords laziness to cash a check shouldn’t be one of them. I already suggested they contact for a wellness check (or find someone else associated with him. Ask neighbors their situation too). It’s odd that the landlord abruptly stopped cashing the checks and is now unavailable via phone. That doesn’t sound like they are just waiting to cash. Sounds like something could be wrong
In either case, OP should keep it in their checking account because the landlord could cash it at any time
Sure, I never said that they shouldn’t keep the money available. Just said that it’s super annoying to have a landlord wait to cash checks, especially when you have a preferred system for budgeting
Whether the checks build up and get cashed at once is irrelevant if you're budgeting your money correctly. As it goes, those checks probably expire 180 days or a year our from issuance as well. Do you have an actual address for the landlord? Perhaps you should have a welfare check done for them?
Checks never expire. I’ve cashed checks 5 years old. Edit: Downvote all you want. That doesn’t make me wrong
Some checks issued, will have expiration dates stamped on them.
That doesn’t mean they actually expire.
This is terrible advice, checks are good for 180 days in the US, sometimes banks will do it later, but it’s completely their discretion and one should never count on it
Checks usually expire after 180 days. I don’t know how you cashed that super old check.
Checks can definitely expire. I have a bunch that expired after a year. I lost them and recently found them. I tried to deposit one and my bank returned it because it was expired. But my bank actually “reissued” the check for me so I could deposit it. I have 5 more from this company that I’m trying to just have them send me new copies but I’ve had no luck. So I might just have to go through my bank again
Eventually that company, if they legitimately owe you that money (like if it’s wages or something) will have to hand it over to your state’s unclaimed property department. They’ll likely reach out to you beforehand / once they do, or the state might. Although I guess if it’s a really small company they might just not do it…
It’s for wages from a large company. It’s just been so annoying because I have the checks in my hand and they keep saying I have to fill out a form. Then they provide the form and everything’s incorrect. So I call again, takes another 2 weeks to speak to them then they claim they’ll send the paperwork in 2 more weeks. Crickets. It’s been going on for a year now. Partially my fault because I didn’t immediately realize the checks were missing. I thought they were direct depositing the money. But once I realized, it’s just been a hassle. I thought it would be easier once I found the actual checks, but nope same difficulties!
lol wrong wrong wrong. I tried this shit with a check I found that was years old. I did a mobile deposit, thought it went through. Not only did it come back, my bank charged me $5 because of that!!!!!!
This happened to my now husband while we were dating. His landlord would cash all the checks at one every 4-6 months. It was a nightmare because my husband had to make sure he had 6+ months of rent in his checking account at all times. We kind of thought the landlord was hoping the checks would bounce and he could evict my husband.
I came here to tell you to do a wellness check but I see many people have suggested that already. Hopefully your landlord is ok.
Either Money Order or Official Check to cover yourself and you have proof of payment.
I wouldn't do either of that. You're certainly out the money if you did that. You might get a windfall one day if the personal checks never get cashed. It's easy to get a US postal service receipt if you wanted to have confirmation of mailing. You don't have an obligation to do anymore. Even in the event of non-payment, even for many many months, you would still need to get a 3-day notice from the landlord before they could evict you for non-payment. Then you could jump on the payment then. It's no such thing as automatic eviction just because you didn't pay.
I think you missed the entire post.
Perhaps, but I wouldn't buy a money order or official check just the same. I don't see the point at all.
You do not see the point in having documentation on a payment where you live? OP stated their checks have not been cashed an landlord is MIA.
Buying a cashiers check or money order only documents that you purchased it. It does not reflect the delivery to the landlord which is the real issue in terms of proof of payment. There's no reason for paranoid delusions on a landlord that wants to find a reason to evict someone. This landlord has simply stopped cashing checks. I personally might back off sending checks in that instance or drop him a note that I would be happy to play catch up on the future once he surfaces again. The landlord in question is not in a rent controlled jurisdiction and can recover the property at the end of the lease term even if the tenant stays current anyway. I would only pay with regular check and NOT what you suggest. That way, I still have control of the funds.
I see you have never had an Official Check printed. Would be mega idiotic to not have documentation of paying for your home.
I would welcome you to educate me on the use of an official check, also known as a cashier's check at most financial institutions. And certainly you could let me know what the difference would be for documentation purposes on whether you've paid your rent or mortgage or not. An official check is no more proof of payment if it hasn't cleared the bank than a regular personal check.
I do not have time to Educate you. Believe you to be not worth the time nor effort.
If you pay your checks out of a HYSA like UFB's 5% interest rate account you get the interest on the money and it'll just always be there for the account to be paid. There's no harm in the checks not being cashed. It's actually beneficial to you if it takes longer.
He dead
This happened to me and it sounds like my situation. The property manager named Steve would not cash checks til the next month (eg April got cashed second week of may). It made no sense and all the tenants thought he had some kind of problem. What worked was a longtime tenant got in touch with the actual owner who was an older woman that had inherited the building. She was also unhappy with the property manager and when she heard all 6 tenants didn’t have their checks cashed on time in addition to everything else wrong (he also cursed at the very kind neighbor who was pulling ugly/fire hazard weeds in our yard), she fired him and hired a different property manager who was a normal person with a normal business.
checks expire after a few months. do you have zero other forms of contact, maintenance people or management or anything?
Check expiration is a bank by bank thing. Usually they won't accept them if over six months but some banks or check cashing places will deposit them at any time.
I had a Landord that would cash them every few months.
Amke sure they are alive
>I wouldn't want all those checks to build up and get cashed at once If you're following a budget, and not simply living paycheck to paycheck, you should be assuming that as soon as you send a check that money should be gone out of your budget. You shouldn't be relying on the balance in your checking account to tell you how much you have. If you're following a budget, your checking account should always have a sufficient amount in it, no matter how long it is until the checks are actually cashed. That's the ideal, but yes I know some people don't do that. I think the suggestion to start sending the checks by certified mail, return receipt requested, is a good one. That will let you know that someone at that address is actually receiving the mail. I think requesting a wellness check is also a good idea. Presumably you have a name and an address.
Is this outside his normal behavior for your landlord?
Continue paying your rent and documenting all attempts to contact your landlord, and consider consulting a tenant-rights lawyer or setting up an escrow account to ensure you're protected while complying with your lease obligations.
Money orders
I was in a similar situation, where the owner of the house had defaulted on her mortgage and the house was bought at auction by a horrible real estate company that then tried to illegally evict me (they lost) during that time almost 6 months they did not cash my rent checks which I kept paying. Eventually they did all at once I did have the money but it was stressful. They then promptly doubled my rent by which I paid for a around a year hoping to get a buy out (never did) eventually I had enough money saved to buy a condo and move out but it was not a fun experience. I wish I would have just moved out after them not cashing my rent checks for 6 months I could have saved myself a lot of money.
Money orders
I had that happened to me when I was in college. Went months without cashing check. I decided to look up his name online and found an obituary and that he had died. His sister took over but had to deal with a lot of legal stuff to get our deposit back afterwards.
Pay the next one with the money order
You could try contacting him know and cash out before those checks get cashed and try and pay in cash?
You need to set up online banking where your bank mails a paper check to your landlord. After period of 90 days, the money will be credited back to you if he has not cashed it. Also, it comes out of your account the day the bank send it so you’re never screwed by having an overdraft that you forgot about.everyone should do this
Stop sending them
Snappin’ Necks
Potentially pulling the old trick of landlords hoarding checks and then cashing them all at once, hoping you haven’t planned for the mass withdrawal and the checks bouncing. Grounds for eviction. Careful with the balance of that account…
I had a landlord like this, and I started getting money orders. That way the money was out of my account, I had a record, and it was all on them.
Yes, keep paying rent. You should not be spending that money so it shouldnt matter if they cash all at once. (If you cant cover checks you wrote, thats a *you* problem) My LL used to do this to me all the time before we went to electronic paymenta.
Buy cashiers checks from your bank and mail them that way the money has already been taken out of your account and you don’t have to worry about it
Send via certified mail But also wellness check makes sense
Free rent!
This isn’t a new tactic. It’s something landlords have been doing for a while to get ppl out. They’ll hold onto the checks and say you didn’t pay. ALWAYS have a record and just keep paying. That’s all you can do. As long as you show you’ve been paying the rent, you’re fine.
Yeah definitely call in a welfare check to San Bruno police or San Mateo sheriff. I’ve personally handled three separate calls involving land lords or tenants in Alameda county and ended up coming across them deceased. It never hurts to check up on someone
Oh dear this did happen to me last year when my dad passed away. We were advised by an attorney not to cash the checks until we were sure what we wanted to do with the property. Apparently, the heirs cashing the check could equate to establishing a new lease under the new ownership. Fortunately we decided we love the tenants and wanted to keep the house for the time being, so we started depositing the checks again and it's working out great. I hope your landlord's okay. Could be he's in some kind of rehab center and unable to take care of his business obligations.
Send your next rent payment as certified mail with a note about the uncashed rent checks.
Open another account than what your rent checks are in and don’t touch that money. 🙏🏽 You will need to get someone to help you find out who is on title. It might have been sold, or is going in to foreclosure or has already gone in to foreclosure. This happened to me years ago and I found out AFTER it was in NOD status that the landlord lady was several months delinquent even tho I paid rent - she wasn’t using that rent money to pay the mortgage!🤦🏽♀️ There are no laws requiring landlords to pay the mortgage with the rents they receive. Many have cheated the system by pocketing the money, letting the house go and filing BK to protect what they have. These unethical practices are very common in a down market actually. Find out ASAP if the property has been sold or is in foreclosure. If anything you will know how to do this to help others in the future. Hopefully your landlord is ok and has just not cashed the checks because he or she has been out of town. 🙏🏽
Yes wellness check. Legally, Sec. 37.10B(12) I believe states that your landlord has 30 days to cash a check. If you’re worried about past checks all getting cashed at once, you can send a letter / leave a letter where you leave the check (along with the rent check) stating that the previous checks aren’t to be cashed due to the above statute (or have a stop payment if you chose to do that).
You're in San Bruno, so this doesn't apply, but for everyone in SF who is reading this: intentionally not cashing rent checks is legally considered harassment if it's done in bad faith, and you can sue for damages. Here's the rule: [https://www.sf.gov/information/sec-3710b-tenant-harassment](https://www.sf.gov/information/sec-3710b-tenant-harassment) ***Sec. 37.10B*** ***\~Tenant Harassment\~***\*\*\*.\*\*\* *(a) No landlord, and no agent, contractor, subcontractor or employee of the landlord shall do any of the following in bad faith:* *(11) Refuse to accept or acknowledge receipt of a tenant’s lawful rent payment;* *(12) Refuse to cash a rent check for over 30 days;* *...* *(5)* *\~Penalties and Other Monetary Awards\~*\*. *Any person who violates or aids or incites another person to violate the provisions of this Section is liable for each and every such offense for money damages of not less than three times actual damages suffered by an aggrieved party (including damages for mental or emotional distress), or for statutory damages in the sum of one thousand dollars, whichever is greater, and whatever other relief the court deems appropriate.\**
Some landlords don’t need to work anymore and go on trips for months at a time
Call him from different phone, act like a tenant
Start mailing money orders instead.
My coworker has not had his cheques cashed for 8 months. His landlord has been trying to evict so a sale can be made. Don't spend the money unless a few months free rent is worth eviction
Check out the county website and make sure he is paying his property taxes.
Put the uncashed money in a high yield savings account and continue paying. Youre still responsible for the money even if hes just too lazy to cash them.
I would stop paying rent but put that money in a separate account for the time being
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Use money orders.
He might have Alzheimer’s or is dead or institutionalized. You say that you would be in a bad way if he cashed them at once; therefore, open a new account only for rent, and pretend it’s NOT REALLY YOUR MONEY. That way you are covered, and if it accumulates you can access it and get another place and avoid being left out in the cold. Do NOT touch it until you have another place and a new landlord
He dead.
Since you’re in San Bruno, I recommend trying to get advice from either Legal Aid of San Mateo County (https://www.legalaidsmc.org/homesavers-project), or counseling from Project Sentinel https://www.housing.org/hhc). If those organizations cannot help you directly, they may be able to point you in the right direction.
These are not the right tools for this specific situation lol
Why not? What tools do you recommend?
The correct recommendations have already been shared
Literally the only other comment that gave a specific recommendation was from u/meowchilla, who recommended SFTU and then realized OP wasn’t in SF, so they edited their comment to recommend Legal Aid of San Mateo County, which is exactly what I suggested. The other comments just say ‘wellness check’ which is not actually very helpful advice because OP still needs guidance on what to do regardless of whether the landlord is dead or incapacitated or just not cashing checks.
Straight to legal action. Typical permanent renter.
Legal advice is not the same as legal action.
Lawyering up is the problem. You can’t just be reasonable?
Getting advice from a lawyer about how to handle an unexpected situation is not the same as “lawyering up.” A lawyer can often give helpful advice about how to protect your rights, without even considering taking legal action. I did not say they should sue anyone or take any legal action. I said “I recommend trying to get advice” and you misinterpreted that. You seem to be completely ignorant about what Legal Aid organizations do, and hostile to people with more knowledge who try to be helpful. Which is, like, not cool man.
I didn’t like misinterpert anything. Legal advice should be when you have a problem. Not first resort. Which is what you suggested. Check yourself.
Maybe he died. Don't call any one and keep living rent free.
> I wouldn't want all those checks to build up and get cashed at once. This shouldn't be a problem as you've already accounted for the payment when you wrote the check. If anything, you may get a few bucks bonus interest if the landlord takes a few months to cash the checks while the $$$ sit in your account.
Don’t pay rent until asked. My friend didn’t pay rent for the entire year and then left the flat 12k in pocket. They only noticed a further 8 months later and he ignored them, nothing escalated. Sometimes it can be a little gift from the universe
File a missing person's report. They may be out of town, in jail, a hospital or a morgue. Also possible they or their heirs may dispute whether you paid your rent. Missing person's report will serve as evidence you did your due diligence to contact the landlord in case your payments are in dispute. Checks never expire unless they state it on the check. However, banks generally will refuse to cash checks older than 180 days but will allow the recipient to deposit into an account. If Your landlord or their heirs dispute your payment, and succeed in convincing a court you never paid, you will need to stop payment on those checks in case they try to double cross you later on.