For small landlords · Late rent collection
Rent was due Tuesday. Rehearse the call before they say “can I pay half?”
You have the email template. You don’t know what happens when they answer the phone.
You’re not a property management company — you’re Blake, with two units and a mortgage that doesn’t care that your tenant’s car broke down. It’s the 5th, $1,850 hasn’t hit your account, and this is the third month they’re late with a new excuse. You’ve read the BiggerPockets threads. You still can’t picture yourself saying “the full amount is due per the lease” without either sounding heartless or caving again. Kommi puts you in that call first — with a tenant who guilt-trips, offers partial payment, or threatens to call housing — so Saturday’s conversation isn’t your first take.
The reminder email isn’t the hard part.
Every landlord blog has the same Day-3 template: polite, professional, references the lease. You can copy-paste that. What you can’t copy is muscle memory for when Marcus says “I can do $900 now and the rest when my tax refund hits” and you have three seconds to decide whether accepting partial payment resets your eviction timeline.
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What’s at stake
One soft response can cost you $1,850 this month, set a precedent that due dates are negotiable, or create a paper trail problem if you eventually need to file a pay-or-quit notice.
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Why you procrastinate
You don’t want to be “that landlord.” You keep telling yourself they’ll come through by the weekend — until it’s the 12th and you’ve waived the late fee again.
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What forums can’t do
r/landlord will tell you to enforce the lease. It can’t simulate the tenant going quiet for six seconds after you mention the late fee while you wonder if you’re being too harsh.
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What an attorney costs
A 30-minute consult runs $200–400. You need three reps this week — before the partial-payment text, before the phone call, before you decide on formal notice — not one polished script.
Sample roleplay · 3 minutes
“Can I pay half now and half on the 15th?”
You’re Blake, the landlord. Marcus is four days late on $1,850 rent. You’ve stated the amount due. Now Marcus pushes back.
You (Blake)
“Marcus, I’m calling about the March rent for 2B. It was due the 1st and I haven’t received the $1,850. Per our lease, there’s a late fee after the grace period. I need to understand when you’ll have the full amount.”
Marcus (your tenant)
“Look, my transmission went out — I’m not trying to stiff you. I can Venmo you $900 today and the rest on the 15th when I get paid. I’ve been here three years. You know I’m good for it.”
Your move
- → Acknowledge the hardship without waiving the lease terms
- → Ask whether they’ve applied for local rental assistance
- → State clearly: full payment by [date] or you’ll issue formal notice
Each choice changes how Marcus responds — guilt-trip, get defensive, or offer a different partial amount. You practice staying professional without becoming the pushover who waived fees three months running.
Then the coach reads you back to yourself.
Not a scorecard. Not seventeen tips. One observation about what you did, one adjustment for next time, one sentence you can carry into the call on Saturday.
Sample coach debrief
“You opened with the facts — amount, due date, late fee reference. When Marcus offered $900 and cited three years of tenancy, you immediately said ‘that works, just get me the rest soon’ without a firm deadline. That’s the same pattern that created this month’s problem.
Try next time: Acknowledge the car repair in one sentence, then hold the line: ‘I hear you on the transmission — and the lease requires full payment by the 5th. Can you get me the remaining $950 by Friday, or do we need to talk about a formal payment plan in writing?’
Carry into Saturday: ‘I’ve waived the late fee twice this year. I need the full $1,850 by Friday or I’ll have to follow the notice process in our lease.’”
Questions landlords ask
- Is this legal advice about evictions?
- No. Kommi helps you rehearse the conversation before it happens. State-specific rules on partial payments, notice timelines, and eviction procedures are still on you — consult your lease and local law. We help you say the firm thing clearly, so you don’t cave on the phone and create a worse paper trail.
- I only have one problem tenant. Is $11.99/mo worth it?
- One waived late fee is more than a month of Kommi. You also get unlimited sessions across every scenario — lease renewal negotiations, security deposit disputes, move-out walkthroughs. Most small landlords find a second conversation within the first month.
- Can I practice different tenant reactions?
- Yes. The roleplay adapts when you choose different responses — a tenant who guilt-trips with tenure, one who gets hostile, one who offers a different partial amount each time. Run the same scenario three ways in fifteen minutes.
- I use TurboTenant for reminders. Why do I need this?
- Automated reminders handle Day 1. They can’t rehearse the live call when Marcus answers, pushes back on the late fee, and asks you to “be reasonable.” Kommi is the practice call between the template email and the real conversation.
$11.99 a month.
A coach with a calendar runs two hundred dollars an hour. Kommi runs roughly forty cents a day — and is awake when you can't sleep, which is when most of these conversations are actually being rehearsed anyway.
We don't have a free tier, a team plan, or a premium upsell. One price, no pricing page riddle. If we add tiers later, we'll do it because users asked — not because a growth deck did.
About forty cents a day.
- Two free sessions before billing starts
- Then $11.99 a month — about forty cents a day
- Unlimited sessions — any conversation you can describe
- A coaching read after every session, and your progress over time
- Cancel in two taps; 7-day refund if you change your mind
One conversation you’d have talked yourself out of is worth years of this. Or just sleep better on Wednesday. Either way.
Run your first rehearsal — free →US only at launch. We'll get to the rest of the world.
The conversation is on Thursday. Begin tonight.
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