Write off rent a former tenant won't pay

Who this is for

Landlords and property managers whose tenant moved out owing rent or charges, after letters and calls got no answer. Only the account owner can write an invoice off or undo a write-off.

Before you start

• The lease has ended. Rent is written off only after the tenant moved out. While they still live there, record a payment or void the invoice instead. See Move out and archive a property.
• The deposit is settled. Settling the deposit pays the tenant's unpaid charges from it first, oldest first. See Security deposits.
• Write off or void? Void an invoice that should never have been billed: it was never owed. Write off one the tenant really owed and didn't pay. See Record a payment you received.

Steps

You can write off from two screens. It is the same write-off from either: each invoice is written off once, and afterwards it says Written off on the lease and on Rent & Payments, where it leaves the Active list and shows under the Written off status button.

One invoice, from Rent & Payments

1. Open Rent & Payments under Money in the menu and search for the tenant.
2. On the Invoices tab, click Write off on the unpaid invoice.
3. The window lists each charge with what is still owed on it, its unpaid late fees with it, and the Total.
4. Pick a Reason: Tenant moved out, Couldn't reach the tenant, Not worth collecting, Settled for less, Sent to collections or Other. A Note is optional, unless the reason is Other.
5. Click Write off and the total. eSamaHomes shows "Written off. No money moved." The invoice leaves the Active list; click Written off to see it.

Everything an ended lease still owes, from the lease

1. Open Leases, find the lease and click View.
2. The Former tenant balance card shows everything the tenant still owes. Click Write off balance.
3. Check the charges and the Total, pick a Reason and click Write off and the total. Every unpaid invoice on the lease is written off at once, and the card goes away.

Example

Wes Writeoff moved out of Harbor Lane Duplex last month and left one rent of $1,200.00 and its $60.00 late fee unpaid. Lena Park's letters come back unanswered. On Rent & Payments she clicks Write off on the rent, sees both charges and a total of $1,260.00, picks Tenant moved out, types "Left no forwarding address" and clicks Write off $1,260.00.

Ben Halloway left owing his last two months, $2,200.00. Lena opens his ended lease, clicks Write off balance on the Former tenant balance card, picks Couldn't reach the tenant and clicks Write off $2,200.00. Both invoices now say Written off.

What happens next

• No money moves and nothing is posted to your books. The tenant still owes the money; writing it off only means you stopped expecting it.
• A written-off invoice is no longer counted as owed anywhere, and no late fee, late notice or auto-pay acts on it.
• The Write-Off Report on the Reports page lists everything you have written off, what came in since and what is still lost. An owner statement shows it as rent written off.
• Money that comes in later is recorded as a normal payment and applied to the written-off invoice: in Apply Payment it is tagged Written off and is never filled in for you, so type its amount yourself. The owner is credited as for any other payment. Once nothing is owed on it, the invoice shows Paid.
• Undo write-off. Click Undo write-off on the row on Rent & Payments. The invoice and the late fees written off with it are owed again, and late fees and notices can act on them.
• Taxes and written-off rent. This is general information, not tax advice. A landlord who reports income on a cash basis never counted unpaid rent as income, so there is usually nothing to deduct when it is written off. Ask a tax professional about your own case.

If something looks wrong

• "Write off" is greyed out. Point at it to see why. Rent is written off only after the lease has ended. Finish the deposit settlement first, so the deposit pays what it can. A deposit charge can't be written off (void it if it was never owed). An invoice with a bank payment in progress waits until the payment finishes.
• "Write off balance" is greyed out. The reason is shown. Finish the deposit settlement first.
• "Undo write-off" is missing. Money came in on the invoice after it was written off, so it can't be undone. It stays written off until nothing is owed, then shows Paid.
• On a phone. Write off and Undo write-off are on a phone, under ⋯ on the invoice's card.