What hours does your husband work? There's plenty of work for hostesses and waitresses at nights and weekends.You can also walk dogs with your child.I used to work only Friday and Saturday nights making about $1700-$2000 after taxes.

You need to evict.

And to 13:38 many people can't sell in certain areas of the country because many areas are still in a recession even if the country as a whole is out of it. Kansas City, for example. I have two friends who have homes there (one in KS and one in MO) that neither of them can find anyone to sell to.

Why are you still accepting checks from your tenant. The first time my tenant is late I no longer accept a personal check from them. It has to be guaranteed funds-money order, wire transfer, certified bank check.

Why can't you sell the property? Are you underwater on the mortgage? If you can sell the place for the balance of your mortgage or greater, just do it. Be done with it. If you're underwater, contact a real estate lawyer in the state where the house is about a short sale. Some of the rules have changed lately, but it may still be in your best interest to do so.

Make her pay with a cashiers check so at least no more will bounce

Sounds like you should have never rented the place at all. You should ALWAYS be prepared for the tenant to screw up.

Stop the bleeding -- start eviction proceedings.
BTDT!

NY
We were in the property last month, all was in order.

wait until you see the damage she and her dog have done to the place.

What state?

You can start eviction proceedings as soon as the check bounces. A letter or knock on the door from the sheriff will help matters.

We were planning to put it on the market again toward the end of this lease.
Shes in violation of the lease with the bounced checks and late payments PLUS having a dog that we did not give permission for. I am wondering if we could break the lease, put it on the market now and allow her "month to month" so we dont have to pay rent/mortgage.

You need to evict your tenant. Think about selling that out of state rental too unless you want to live on the edge repeatedly. Not smart.

Im afraid we will end up footing rent and mortgage should we try to evict her. Per our lease she will be obligated to pay past due and all remaining payments but who knows if wed ever get that money. Shes been paying but just so late that its screwing everything else up. We knew thibgs would be tight after we moved here bc we had to pay for the relocation but didnt expect this to happen. Ill look and see if we can do the mins and see about deferring, thanks for the idea!

Can you afford to at least pay the minimum on all the CCs? A lot of companies offer differed payments for customers with good track records so if you need to buy yourself another month, they may be willing to work with you and it wouldn't count against your credit score.

I'd also look into what your options are for finding new tenants.

We own a home in another state, wasnt able to sell when we had to move to DC area so it was fented through realtors. We have a pretty solid lease but the tenant has been late for 3 mo straight, she pays the late fees but twice the checks have bounced for the rent. Its really put a dent in our finances. Im constantly stressed as were now late on a ton of credit card payments for january. Ive yet to find work here that would pay more than childcare for our infant but wish i could do more to help boost our finances.

Our mortgage company is working with us on a repayment plan but now we will have to adjust that bc the tenants jan check just bounced! We had been doing really well paying down our debts (med bills on credit cards from lack of insurance years ago). I have covered our car, rent and student loans this month but im afraid to pay the cc bills and be left with so little until next paycheck.

I know it is all temporary DH gets a raise next month which will ease things a little but the next few days until we have tenant money in hand are going to stress me so much.
I am prepared for our credit scores to take a hit but sad that all my hardwork to boost them is going down the drain. We are in the low 600's now.

I wish there was something more i could do but i am out of ideas. Per our lease here i cannot offer childcare and there arent many legit ways to earn money from home.

Vent over.