What to Do If You Can't Pay Rent This Month

If you can't pay rent this month, send your landlord a written offer before the due date that says how much you can pay now and when you will pay the rest. Apply for emergency rent help the same day, because the CFPB warns that assistance can take several weeks to arrive. Then check your lease and state law to see when a late fee starts and how soon the landlord can serve a notice. Paying part of the rent can help, but a landlord in California or Oregon, for example, can refuse a partial payment, and accepting one does not always cancel an eviction notice.

1. Find out how much time you have

Write down three dates before you contact anyone:

1. The last day you can pay without a late fee. Your lease and state law set it. Rent grace periods by state lists the states that require one.
2. The earliest day a notice can arrive. Some states make the landlord wait. In Oregon, a 10-day nonpayment notice cannot be served before the 8th day of the rental period, and a 13-day notice cannot be served before the 5th.
3. The deadline to pay in full once a notice arrives. A California three-day notice gives you 3 court days, which do not count weekends or court holidays. Federal rules can require 30 days instead in public housing, buildings with HUD project-based assistance, and properties covered by the CARES Act, such as voucher rentals and buildings with federally backed mortgages.

Notice periods in more states, the federal 30-day rules, and the fees that follow a notice are in what happens when you pay rent late. See also pay-or-quit notices explained.

2. Make a written offer before the due date

Email or text your landlord so you have a dated record. Include:

• The amount you can pay now and the date you will pay it.
• The date you can pay the balance, tied to something specific such as your next paycheck or an assistance decision.
• One sentence on the reason, such as a job loss or a delayed paycheck, and any assistance application you have filed.
• A request to waive or reduce the late fee.

California's official tenant guide notes that a landlord does not have to agree to a payment plan. If yours agrees, the guide recommends a written agreement signed by both of you that states the partial amount you paid, the date the rest is due, any late fee owed, and the landlord's promise not to start an eviction if you pay by that date. Keep a copy. See negotiating with your landlord to avoid eviction.

3. Decide whether to pay part of the rent

You can offer part of the rent, but a partial payment helps only if the landlord takes it on terms you both understand. Whether the landlord must take it, and what taking it does to an eviction notice, depends on the state:

If you pay part after a notice, ask the landlord to confirm in writing the balance, the new deadline, and whether the notice still stands. Pay in a form that leaves a record, such as a money order with a receipt or an electronic transfer.

4. Get emergency help paying rent

The CFPB says state, tribal, and local organizations distribute money to help renters keep up with rent and other bills. Start with these:

• 211. Call 211 or search 211.org to reach a local specialist who knows the rent and utility programs in your area.
• Local rental assistance. Check your city, county, and state housing agencies, and apply early. Rent assistance programs covers the main types, who qualifies, and what documents to have ready.
• A rent subsidy you already have. If you have a Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) or live in public housing, report the income loss to your housing agency in writing and ask for an interim reexamination, a mid-year recalculation of your share of the rent. Federal rules let you request one whenever your income changes.

If a charity or relative will pay the landlord directly, California requires the landlord to accept a third party's payment if that person signs a written statement that paying gives them no right to live in the unit. In Oregon, a court must dismiss a nonpayment eviction if rental assistance covering the amount in the notice was offered or paid to the landlord, or if the landlord's failure to reasonably work with an assistance program caused the nonpayment.

5. Get legal help if a notice or court papers arrive

A notice alone does not let your landlord remove you. California's guide explains that a landlord must win an eviction lawsuit and cannot lock you out or cut off utilities to force you to leave. If the landlord wins, the court issues a writ of possession, an order that lets the sheriff remove you if you have not left within 5 days after it is served.

Court papers carry short deadlines. A California tenant who does not file a written answer by the end of the 10th court day after being served can lose the case by default, without a chance to raise defenses. Contact legal aid as soon as a notice arrives. The Legal Services Corporation's online locator finds the free civil legal aid office for your address, and the CFPB notes that you may qualify for free legal aid based on your income. For the basic rules on due dates, late fees, and receipts, see rent payment rules for tenants.