(1) Payment of rent promptly by tenants can be made a matter of habit. This fact should be emphasized at all times, and most strongly in the case of new tenants. Thus, at time of prospective tenant's interview, managers should stress emphatically that rent is payable on first day of month and that late payment will not be tolerated. Tenants who allege inability to pay rent because of financial difficulties should be referred to the bureau of welfare or other social agency during first month of delinquency rather than granting a delay in payment, so that no problem in paying back rent develops.

(2) In the event that rent payment is not made properly, a three-day notice should be served as soon as the authority deems advisable, but not later than the 10th of the month. At expiration of three-day period, summary proceedings should be initiated without delay. Under supervision of counsel, precept and petition can be prepared by the manager or a member of his staff. Counsel for the authority should continue to prosecute proceeding unless full payment from tenant has been received within prescribed time.

(3) Tenant may be charged for service and filing fees in connection with such proceedings, as well as any court costs authorized under the law. Where rules and regulations do not clearly set forth this fact, they should be revised to include such provision.

(4) It is the responsibility of the manager to see that proceedings are diligently followed, up to point of eviction if necessary, and that counsel pursues collection of any judgment rendered by the court. The responsibility of the manager by no means ends when the account is turned over to counsel. He should keep in frequent contact with him.

(5) All tenants owing retroactive surcharges should be personally interviewed by the manager and a schedule for monthly amortization of indebtedness agreed upon. A memorandum of such agreement should be signed by the tenant, in which it is stipulated that the amount to be paid monthly is to be considered additional rent.

(6) It is the policy of the division that tenants should be billed currently for surcharges.

(1) Every effort should be made by manager and counsel to locate the tenant, discover his available assets and collect the indebtedness, before recommending a vacated tenant's accounts receivable as a collection loss write-off.

(2) Where collection efforts on the part of the authority and counsel have not been successful, division approval to turn over uncollected accounts to a collection agency may be obtained on request. The agreement between the authority and the collection agency must be approved by the division.

(3) Where all efforts as outlined above prove to be unsuccessful and account appears to be uncollectible, write-off should be handled as follows: