Charge late rent fees or not

[Ayman Elmasik]

Hello landlords,

I have a rental property in Houston Texas and tenant is giving me really hard time for paying the rent almost every month (he paid all rents so far). he is always late in the payment by 2-10 days. in my contract I should charge him $50/day for late rent. he paid the late fees only once.

Need to mention that the house is not in a very attractive rental area and it took me 6 months to rent it.

1- Should I start an eviction process based on the fact that he is not paying the late rent fees, knowing that I might be stuck with it empty for another 6 month.

2- can all these late fees be deducted from his deposit at the end of the contract?

Thanks for the help in advance,

Ayman