BiggerPockets

I'm planning not to do this, and just have it due on the first, but I was wondering what other people here do? All of the apartment complexes around here give the grace period, but it doesn't seem like a great idea to me.

Mine is four. Due on the 1st, late on the 5th. The "pay or quit" goes up on the 5th.

You need to find out your local laws.

My rents are due on or before the first. 10% late fee due on the 4th and $10 per day thereafter till paid. In TX, no specific rules relating to amount allowed to charge. Courts have ruled approx 2/3 of monthly rate charged is ok. Rich.
p.s. My Notice to Vacate goes on the door on the 3rd for more motivation.

thanks, I'm going to check my local laws on this subject

On day five I charge the late fee and post the pay or quit. That is as soon as I can do it, by my state law.

My rents are not all due on the 1st. I adjust to the tenant's pay dates. I'd rather have rent on time at scattered dates than to have all rents due on the first and straggling in. Late rent gives me stress.

The tenant whose SS check is auto deposited on the 3rd and who pays auto-pay has her rent due on the third.

I have a tenant whose SS arrives on the 8th and she mails the rent, so her rent is due on the 10th.

Tenants who get paid on the first have their rent due on the 3rd or 5th. They get paid, put the check in the mail, and I get it on time.

I've got tenants who want to pay their rent out of their second pay check, so their rent is due on the 17th. (rental period is the 17th to the 16th, not 1st to the 1st).

Belive me, if I've got money coming, I can keep track of when it is supposed to arrive.

P NW, when you do that do you adjust the "month"? That is, if you have the due date on the 5th does the month run from the 5th to the 5th?

In South Carolina, if you use the language in the Landlord Tenant Act for the Five Day Notice you don't have to post -- It is their only notification.

The magistrate's office did accept an email with reply from the tenant telling him the rent was late as adequate five day notice--I didn't get a lease because I didn't want one.

It is going to take 22 days from the 6th (filing date) to even get to the end of this eviction process. Have a tenant who wanted to move in mid month and now will have to wait into May for the eviction, cleaning and dress up.

Who says that's fair?

Why charge a late fee? Most leases already read "due in advance" or due "on or before the first" and mean the same thing. If rent is paid on the 2nd, it is late. Tenants feel that since a late fee is not charged until the 5th that rent is not due until the 5th. When taking over a property, the new owner has to reeducate them that it is late on the 2nd! Instead of calculating late fees - why not use a graduated rent lease? For example, If rent is paid on or before the 1st the amount due is $500. If paid from the 2nd to the 5th $515 in now due. If rent is paid from the 6th to the 10th - $530 is due. Rent from 11th - 20th is $560 and after the 20th is $600. This eliminates you calculating late fees. Tenants get the opportunity to choose what day of the month they pay and they already know the rent amount if paid at that time. When evicting tenants, courts do not like to award late fees in many cases. This wording of the lease places it as rent and most area have laws against governments imposing rent controls on residential property.

When and if you can charge a late fee on rent is partly dictated by state laws, so please check out your state's laws.

I personally do not have a grace period. Rent is due on the 1st. Period. (If I'm dealing with government checks, I'll amend that person's lease to state that rent is due on the 3rd, or whatever--that's an easy problem to deal with). Whatever the due date is, that's that. If I don't get rent by 5pm on the day it's due, I call and email. I've only had to call a tenant once; usually, if a tenant has a tough month and they're not going to make it on the 1st, they call me, I have them give me a check anyway, dated for the 2nd or 3rd at the latest, and I go and cash it on the agreed date. This has happened only a couple of times for me.

I, too, collect rent electronically, which is absolutely wonderful!!!!!!! Tenants can block a draft if they need to, so they're not afraid to use the service. I have yet to have a tenant abuse this arrangement in the 5 years I've been using it.

I'm in SC, and like Lynn Z my lease contains the language:

THIS IS YOUR NOTICE: If you do not pay your rent within 5 days of the due date, Landlord may begin eviction proceedings. You will get no other notice as long as you live in this rental unit.

Lynn Z is right--in SC, if this language is in your lease/rental agreement, this constitutes your 5-day notice.