Q: How many days late is standard to send a pay or quit letter?
Tenant notified us they would be paying their rent late on the 12th. Today is the 14th and we have not received payment. They are not responding to calls or emails. At what point should we move to have them pay or quit?
A: You may file a complaint whenever the lease says the rent is due after periods to cure specified in the lease have been exhausted. I've never read a lease in which the tenant can delay rent payments merely by informing the landlord that the rent would be late. The best policy, generally, is enforcing your lease promptly as written so that tenants do not form an expectation that the payment of rent is voluntary.
A: Whenever they are late on their payments you can send a pay or quit and then they have 5 days to pay from that point forward. After that you should file an unlawful detainer action to have them evicted and to recoup damages.
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