For 18 months, evictions were totally illegal
At one point, we had almost $500,000 in past due rent, and ZERO ability to enforce any collection activity.
At the same time, bills were due, mortgages had to be paid, and employees needed payroll
We embarked in a new direction when it came to non-paying tenants: we called them. We asked why they weren't paying rent, and if there was anything that we could do to help them. Many thought they weren't "supposed" to pay rent, or a friend told them their landlord was getting paid so not to worry about it. And some had lost income and were waiting for COVID relief funds.
This strategy didn't always work, but when it did, we were able to work directly with our tenants to arrange payment plans, grant extra time when needed, and figure a way through.
The COVID era was a unique and challenging time, but even now that we "can" evict for non-payment, we have learned that working with tenants directly is not only the "right" thing to do, but it is almost always the right economic decision:
1) Evictions are long, expensive, and leave you with a wrecked home or a vacant space
2) Legal notices are scary and usually cause tenants to "shut down" and not talk to you anymore...direct communication provides, at least, a path to collaborative solutions.
3) It's critical to "do the math" and see what an eviction will REALLY cost (lost rent, legal fees, re-leasing, etc.) and then approach a non-paying tenant with a proposal that can hopefully avoid it all together.
We still go through the process of eviction when an individual is behaving in a dangerous, illegal, or other manner that creates an unsafe environment for other tenants, but the tools we gained when evictions weren't available are much more common for us today.