Heh, it's just what my parents always taught me, and it's always been true. Any time I've been nervous about making a late payment to...well, anyone, it's always worked better when I came to them to try and work something out instead of avoid 'em like the plague. There are a few landlords I've heard about around here that are pretty ruthless when it comes to managing their property, but I imagine some of that has to come from the tenant's end, too.