Barn Owner asking for board early

[Crazy4aOTTB]

So I just got this text (sent to all boarders & lessors/approximately 15 people).

“Also leasers and boarders I am texting invoice totals! Please pay your invoices before Tuesday 11/26 at the very latest as checks and PayPal take a day or two to process and … holidays … and I’m leaving and won’t be back until 12/6 thanks! “

Board is due by the 1st of each month per the contract & I have always paid on time. I don’t get paid until the last day of the month & don’t feel it is my responsibility to pull money from my savings to pay her early. Am I being unreasonable? Should I respond & let her know I will drop my check in the box as usual on the 1st. Also I do not have a PayPal account & again don’t feel it is my responsibility to set one up due to her lack of budgeting. I’ve boarded at a couple other barns over the years & never had a barn owner ask for board early! I thought I was being a great boarder paying on the 1st EVERY MONTH! Never a day late & now this!

thoughts / opinions? Speak up or ignore & pay on the 1st as usual by check, or set up a PayPal just for this occasion?

[4LeafCloverFarm]

If there is absolutely no way to pay your board 4 days early on the 26th, then I would explain the reason to the BO as nicely and politely as I could (like your paycheck doesn’t come until 11/30, and that is as early as you can pay).

However, if you have the funds in your account or savings or wherever, I’d pay it early. Even BOs/BMs are allowed to go on vacation occasionally and I would do whatever I could (within reason) to make the BO/BM’s vacation a happy and stress free one.

I would not ignore the text.

[Where_sMyWhite]

Me? I’d be sorely tempted to ‘ignore’ and pay when and how I usually pay board. I don’t think I’ve ever had a barn ask for payment early. Any risk in your check sitting in the box at the barn for six days??

What about your ‘holidays’ excuses and your budgeting (your board check perhaps depending on your paycheck that happens on the first, for example)?

[Calvincrowe]

Do you get to tell the BO that you’re going to have to pay late due to holidays? She can ask, but I don’t think you have to comply unless this is in your contract.

[skydy]

What sort of relationship do you have with the BO? Would he/she allow you to pay board late?

This seems unprofessional. If you can’t do it, then send a note explaining that you regret that you are unable to make early payments.

[RedHorses]

On November 26 leave your check dated December 1st.

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹

[Crazy4aOTTB]

We are not on bad terms but not besties either. I actually used to leave my check a couple days early if I knew I would not be out on the 1st. But I had to stop doing that because she would cash it & the bank would send it through even though the check was dated for the 1st. (Luckily I have overdraft protection!) so now I leave it on the 1st or on the weekend if the 1st falls on a Monday.
I think it is just bothering me the way she worded it. It’s seems like a demand with no regard for others budget & that it’s just normal to ask for it early. Maybe even if she had of requested this at the beginning of the month! But the 26th is 5 days away!

[JustTheTicket]

If she’s going to be out of town until after the 1st, I get why she’s asking early. I’m assuming she doesn’t want a box full of checks sitting at the barn for a week until she can get to them. I don’t see it as her having an issue with budgeting or her being a jerk just because she knows you get paid on the last of the month. Why don’t you (calmly) explain to her why you will still be paying on the 1st or handing her the check once she’s back at the barn. Assess the situation from there based on her response.

[enjoytheride]

First, it does concern me that you can overdraft your account paying board 4 days early.

After that, I assume she’s asking for board checks early because it’s a busy time of year and she wants to get to the bank and leave for vacation. However, that doesn’t make it right and she just inconveniences everyone else who are also in the middle of a very busy time.

[Palm_Beach]

Ignore and pay as usual on the first. And keep your eyes peeled for another place to board.

[bip]

@enjoytheride

First, it does concern me that you can overdraft your account paying board 4 days early.

The OP clearly stated that she has savings.

[clanter]

@RedHorses

On November 26 leave your check dated December 1st.

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹

banks are not required to check dates on checks,

The Uniform Commercial Code, , gives financial institutions the right to process a correctly written check with a future date.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/banking/postdated-check/

If I were sent the email OP got my responses would be per my boarding contract I will pay on the first…(.or whatever is in the contract.). Hope you have a good vacation, see you when you get back

[NoSuchPerson]

It’s a little premature for all this outrage. The request is not unreasonable and it wouldn’t be a big deal for a lot of people. However, if you can’t pay until payday, then all you need to do is say, “Gee, I’m sorry, I can’t cover the check until after I get paid so I’ll have to leave you a check on the first like I usually do.”

If the BO gets pissy over that, then you can crank up the outrage. But until then, she hasn’t done anything to get upset about.

[clanter]

@enjoytheride

First, it does concern me that you can overdraft your account paying board 4 days early.

After that, I assume she’s asking for board checks early because it’s a busy time of year and she wants to get to the bank and leave for vacation. However, that doesn’t make it right and she just inconveniences everyone else who are also in the middle of a very busy time.

I am sorry but the barn owner’s lack of foresight is not my problem… they can just as easily request payment to be electronic transferred directly to their accounts and they can have a peaceful vacation checking the account with their laptop

[CHT]

Just be honest with your BO and pay on the first. Hopefully enough people can pay early that your cheque going in later won’t be an issue for them…but that isn’t your issue.

[SharonA]

Well, I would welcome the OP to think about whether a BO asking one time for board to come in four days early, to accommodate the BO taking a few days off, is really a significant event in life. If it were me, I think it would be nice, if it were not a financial hardship for me, to accommodate a one-time request from the person who, presumably, takes care of my horse every day and, hopefully, makes the barn a pleasant place to be. I confess that I do not see the difficulty of taking money out of a savings account for four days, and putting it back in four days later after I get paid. What is that, a few clicks on a computer assuming I have on-line banking, or a five-minute conversation with the bank teller, in person or over the phone, if I don’t? I would be reminding myself that not every request from another person is some big freaking power struggle of my rights vs their rights.

 However, if the BO deviating from the norm by four days were genuinely upsetting to my apple cart for any reason, I would send a pleasant, brief note to simply let the BO know my check would arrive on the 1st.

[Texarkana]

Nothing to add except commiseration.

I had a BO pull a similar move several years ago. She notified all the clients via mass Facebook message a handful of days before the end of the month. Told us that us paying our board on the 1st per the contract made her late on her bills, which were also due on the first. And that we would be assessed a massive late fee if we continued paying our board on the first.

I have no problem with a BO moving the due date for payment. I have a big problem when it is done in an unprofessional manner, with almost no notice, and the implication that boarders’ following the rules was somehow to blame for her own lack of foresight when paying her bills. 🙄

[mpsbarnmanager]

@4LeafCloverFarm

If there is absolutely no way to pay your board 4 days early on the 26th, then I would explain the reason to the BO as nicely and politely as I could (like your paycheck doesn’t come until 11/30, and that is as early as you can pay).

However, if you have the funds in your account or savings or wherever, I’d pay it early. Even BOs/BMs are allowed to go on vacation occasionally and I would do whatever I could (within reason) to make the BO/BM’s vacation a happy and stress free one.

I would not ignore the text.

This. Ignoring the text is a d!ck move. Her rent or mortgage is due on the first too. If you are able to pull from savings to do her a favor, stay in her good graces, I would do it. As a BM I have never asked for board early even in a vacation situation. But early payers get a gold star. My daughter’s lesson barn has asked for early pay and I did it so as not to make waves.

[mpsbarnmanager]

@clanter

I am sorry but the barn owner’s lack of foresight is not my problem… they can just as easily request payment to be electronic transferred directly to their accounts and they can have a peaceful vacation checking the account with their laptop

Just curious as to what makes your think this is a lack of foresight?

[skydy]

@Crazy4aOTTB

We are not on bad terms but not besties either. I actually used to leave my check a couple days early if I knew I would not be out on the 1st. But I had to stop doing that because she would cash it & the bank would send it through even though the check was dated for the 1st. (Luckily I have overdraft protection!) so now I leave it on the 1st or on the weekend if the 1st falls on a Monday.
I think it is just bothering me the way she worded it. It’s seems like a demand with no regard for others budget & that it’s just normal to ask for it early. Maybe even if she had of requested this at the beginning of the month! But the 26th is 5 days away!

The BO seems to be in a bit of a rush if she is cashing post dated checks.

It isn’t the OP’s responsibility to keep the BO’s business afloat. The OP pays on time. It seems that the BO is the one that is cutting the finances too close.