Investor · Mahopac, NY · Member since 2015 · 55 posts · 13 votes
Hello everyone,
Just thinking about a hypothetical situation where the tenant pays the rent after the due date but refuses to pay the additional late fee. How would you go about getting this money from them, or would you just deduct it from their security deposit? (let's assume that it was only a few hunderd dollars and this is the first time the tenant missed the due date)
Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
11y
And check your local laws. Some laws state that the order of payments is towards any fees FIRST and then the remainder towards rent. So if that's the case for your area, they have indeed paid the late fee, but are short on rent.
Investor · Middletown, NJ · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
My lease says the late fee is considered additional rent, and not paying the late fee is like not paying the rent. A 3 Day Pay or Quit notice gets posted, and we take it from there.
Make sure your lease contains the legal verbiage for your state by having an attorney write it up. Not something off the shelf from Office Depot.
Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
11y
And check your local laws. Some laws state that the order of payments is towards any fees FIRST and then the remainder towards rent. So if that's the case for your area, they have indeed paid the late fee, but are short on rent.
Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
11y
Our rental agreement covers it:
PAYMENTS. All payments made by Tenant to Landlord
after the tenancy commences, no matter how designated by Tenant, will be
applied as follows: first, to any outstanding amounts due for damages/repairs,
utilities etc.; second, to any outstanding service charges and fees from prior
months; third, to any rent outstanding from prior months; fourth, to any
service charges or fees due in the current month; and lastly to the current
month’s rent.
(let's assume that it was only a few hunderd dollars and this is the first time the tenant missed the due date)
If this was the case what I would do would be dependent on the tenant. If they were good tenants who hadn't given me any trouble I would just let it go (provided it wasn't more than a day or two late), issue a warning if it happened again, and actually start charging them on the third instance. Considering I give tenants two free passes before taking action I take the third strike very seriously. If they were to "refuse" to pay a late fee (which is counted as rent according to our lease) I would take the same action against them as I do to any tenant refusing to pay rent.
Mooresville, NC · Member since 2015 · 14 posts · 7 votes
11y
Great questions!!! We require that all rent be paid in full to avoid this exact problem. If rent is due on the 5th and the resident pays on the 6th they must have the rent amount and the late fee amount in full or the payment isn't accepted.
Investor · Bowling Green, KY · Member since 2014 · 16 posts · 3 votes
11y
I am dealing with this right now. I have a tenant who "fell on hard times" and paid late. I tell them if they pay the full rent I can stop charging the daily late fee. Should I still be charging the late fee until the late fee is paid?
PAYMENTS. All payments made by Tenant to Landlord
after the tenancy commences, no matter how designated by Tenant, will be
applied as follows: first, to any outstanding amounts due for damages/repairs,
utilities etc.; second, to any outstanding service charges and fees from prior
months; third, to any rent outstanding from prior months; fourth, to any
service charges or fees due in the current month; and lastly to the current
month’s rent.
Marcia, This payment policy is great! I wish I had seen it before. Quick question though. Do you know if you (or me) are allowed to implement this payment policy in the middle of a current lease agreement. I have heard "yes" from one local landlord but I am still not confident if I would be allowed to or not.
PAYMENTS. All payments made by Tenant to Landlord
after the tenancy commences, no matter how designated by Tenant, will be
applied as follows: first, to any outstanding amounts due for damages/repairs,
utilities etc.; second, to any outstanding service charges and fees from prior
months; third, to any rent outstanding from prior months; fourth, to any
service charges or fees due in the current month; and lastly to the current
month’s rent.
Marcia, This payment policy is great! I wish I had seen it before. Quick question though. Do you know if you (or me) are allowed to implement this payment policy in the middle of a current lease agreement. I have heard "yes" from one local landlord but I am still not confident if I would be allowed to or not.
We prefer MTM rental agreements instead of longer term leases so we can change the terms of the agreement when necessary. If you have a long term lease with the tenant, you can not change terms midway unless all parties agree to a change in the terms. You could start there and see if the tenant will agree to the change in terms. If you explain that is just clarification of something you already do, they may agree to it, especially if they are the cooperative type of tenant.
Look to your lease about other clauses you could use in the meantime. For example, if you have a clause about a late fee and the tenant refuses to abide by that clause, then they are violating one of the terms of the rental agreement. Serve them with a notice to perform. In our state that would be a 10-day notice.
Residential Real Estate Broker · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 567 votes
11y
Going to throw in behind @Marcia Maynard's approach on this. Great to have that included in the lease, even better to be able to update the lease as needed.
Rental Property Investor · Manteno, IL · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
11y
I guess thats the thing. You can ask for it a couple of times and simply not get it. And, yes, you could technically file the eviction to get it. But in some counties, you may get the money and pay more for the attorney as not all counties will allow you collect for attorney fees - even if you have it in your lease. Judge's discretion.
To me, If I got my rent, I'll be happy. And then I would keep a note that they still owed that and would withhold the late fee from their security deposit refund when they eventually move out.
Lucky for me, most of my tenants pay online now so its real clear what date they submitted the payment and how much it was for.
There's no argument about it. I'd much rather do that then do an eviction for $50. That just doesn't make much sense. If they're doing it every month, thats another story. Then I just hope that their lease is coming up soon and raise the rent $50/month. Then if they don't pay that amount, I'd evict them. They're just being stupid.
Investor · Richmond, VA · Member since 2013 · 347 posts · 191 votes
11y
I also like the idea of setting the rent at one rate (ie $900) and then have a discount if the rent is paid on-time or early (ie $50 discount for net rent of $850). This avoids the language about late fees entirely and the full $900 is in your lease as "rent" if you have to pursue an eviction. As always, check local laws to see if this is OK in your area.
Investor · Leominster, MA · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 589 votes
11y
@Gregory Massikeep this in mind. You are in NY and you have received advice from all over the country. Be sure to tag your posts with your city/county and state so you can receive advice from people who know the laws of your state. Most of the advice you have received is meaningless. Landlord/Tenant law is state specific. Good luck.
Real Estate Agent · Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2014 · 529 posts · 217 votes
11y
On a lease I have for my 3 unit, the rent is due on the first and late on the 5th with a $25 dollar fee. For this triplex, my tenants typically wait until the 4th or 5th of the month. It is very annoying! What should I do? The tenants pay everything month and I haven't had any issues. However, when the 4th of the month comes and I still haven't recieved rent, I always get nervous. Any advice for that gap period or is this something like stop complaining you are collect rents....?
Rental Property Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 4k+ votes
11y
I don't feel there is anything like refusing to pay the late fee. I remind tenants that if they are late they pay the fee. The tenant who sends in $700 and the late fee is $50 means that their next $700 payment is actually $50 late fee for the last month and only $650 for this month's rent. Then if that payment is late, then they owe $50 in rent and $50 in late fee. If they don't pay, you send them a notice of breach of lease and then eviction.
Investor · Leominster, MA · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 589 votes
11y
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
thanks for the great topic... @Rob BelandCalling advice meaningless is very inaccurate considering the author of this post gave a hypothetical situation. Meaningless advice on a hypothetical situation is like a stupid question. There is no such thing.
As my comment stated, most of the advice given is meaningless since the people giving the advice are from other states. Landlord/tenant law is very state specific. When you ask a question about landlord/tenant law and you receive comments from other states where the laws are different, the advice is meaningless.
My lease says the late fee is considered additional rent, and not paying the late fee is like not paying the rent. A 3 Day Pay or Quit notice gets posted, and we take it from there.
Make sure your lease contains the legal verbiage for your state by having an attorney write it up. Not something off the shelf from Office Depot.
just go on here on BP and print out one of their rental contracts.