Contractor · Madison, AL · Member since 2016 · 60 posts · 38 votes
9y
All of my rent is due on the 1st and late after the 10th. After the 10th it is a $50 fee and $10 a day after that. I will not accept the rent unless the late fees are included. I post eviction notice on the 11th with the late fees spelled out. I'm not sure if you can legally take the late fees out of the deposit.
Contractor · Madison, AL · Member since 2016 · 60 posts · 38 votes
9y
All of my rent is due on the 1st and late after the 10th. After the 10th it is a $50 fee and $10 a day after that. I will not accept the rent unless the late fees are included. I post eviction notice on the 11th with the late fees spelled out. I'm not sure if you can legally take the late fees out of the deposit.
Investor · Princeton, TX · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
@Jason Lee I am generally easy going on it. I find that if I work with people they work with me. That does not mean I let people run over me. Of course, I have gotten at least a months rent as a deposit so I do not panic over a few days.
Investor · Bethel, AK · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 852 votes
9y
Tyler Durden in my state you cannot get late fees or unpaid bills in collections. We always apply any money to late fees and any bills FIRST. The remainder is rent and if it's not enough we can collect it in court if we have to evict. If there isn't enough to pay all bills late fees etc then the rent is short and you can post a cure or quit. RR
Residential Real Estate Broker · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2016 · 506 posts · 311 votes
9y
A property manger in Texas can only represent in court for unpaid rent and holdover. We accept rent without fees for the month it is late, but the fees must be paid with the next rent.
Whatever is received from the tenant is applied first to late fees and other obligations, then to rent. That way, if they are still short, as a PM I can evict for unpaid rent, not late fees.
Real Estate Broker · Naples, FL · Member since 2013 · 9k+ posts · 6k+ votes
9y
I do not accept less than the full amount due. Some courts reject late fees if you find yourself in a courtroom setting. My leases are written for $100 more than I want to collect and offer a $100 discount if paid by the 5th. I have found this way to be an excellent incentive to get rents paid on time. Tenants are well are of the incentive. One tried sending her payment on the 10th and took the early payment discount. I then posted a notice on her door not only for the past due amount, but also for $75 ADDITIONAL RENT for having to go post a legal notice. After she had to paid $300 for these problems in a two month period, she started paying on time. Her lease is my old lease that allows a $75 discount. This is the reason the number might not add up to my $100 early payment discount remark.
Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
Your late rent "fee" is a fee, So if your lease per Mississippi Rules specifies the amount fine your good. I would personally accept the rent. Send a past due notice for the late fee, and if it doesn't get paid. I'd take it out of the deposit at end of tenancy. It's all about how you want to do your bookkeeping,, carry over the balance every month, and continue to send past due balance notes on the outstanding late rent fee or write it off. I personally would probably write it off if the rent continues to be paid on time in the future. The customer service part of being a landlord is something you have to weigh and how you run your business, I did the books for a 326 unit property, the late fee's were always carried over, and deducted at end of tenancy. Why they wanted to carry over every year the unpaid late fee's was terrible to track, they wanted to show they would have money coming in on the books. So it's up to you.
Mississippi Rules on Late Fees
Rent is legally due on the date specified in your lease or rental agreement (usually the first of the month). If you don’t pay rent when it is due, the landlord may begin charging you a late fee. Mississippi state law does not cover late rent fees. If your lease or rental agreement does not say anything about late fees, your landlord may not impose one, no matter how reasonable it is.
Check with your state landlord tenant regulations. Under most jurisdictions the deposit is legally only permitted to be used to cover damage caused to the unit by a tenant. It may not be used to pay rent or any other fees/charges incurred by a tenant.
As a landlord you are responsible for knowing the law.
According to my landlord tenant regulations a tenant is in violation if their landlord does not have the full rent payment by midnight on the date specified in the lease as "rent due". The landlord may take appropriate action the following day. My practice is to take immediate action.
Investor · Santa Rosa Beach, FL · Member since 2016 · 232 posts · 153 votes
9y
A few years ago, I got tired of chasing late fees and implemented an "on time discount," instead. Here's how it works - advertised rate is $1000/month. In the lease, the rate is $1100/month. If paid on or before the first, they receive an "on-time payment discount" of $100, if not, rent of $1100 is due. It works like a charm. Bonus, if people balk at the language during lease review, I know they don't plan on paying rent on time. Weeds out late payers from the get go.
Investor · Jackson, MS · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 769 votes
9y
I often forgive the late fee if they tell me ahead of time that the rent will be a few days late and which date they will have it. If they wait until I show up at their door, they're too late.
Investor · Sierra Vista, AZ · Member since 2013 · 168 posts · 126 votes
9y
I would never take the late fee out of the deposit. The deposit is your security that the unit/house will be in good condition when the tenant leaves. Never apply the deposit to any fees/costs until the tenant moves out. Otherwise, you may wind up with no security deposit and a trashed unit/house.
Huntington Beach, CA · Member since 2013 · 39 posts · 19 votes
9y
In Ca, some courts have ruled that the discounted rent for early or prompt payment is really the contracted rent and that the discount is a late fee. Thus a notice to pay or quit which includes the contract rent will be voided because it contains a late fee amount. So while the discount may work for collecting rent it may back fire for an eviction.
Collecting back late fee from the security deposit also has a legal problem. Not collecting them within a "reasonable" time of when they're due has been court interpreted as constructively altering the lease to eliminate late fees entirely.
So at least in Ca, you'd best collect the late fees as they accrue and not wait until later.