Prop management company full rent collection

[Richard H.]

Hi, 

I have a property managent company for a property I recently purchased in MA. 1 month in, one tenant is $100 short on rent. My initial thought was to ask the property manager to charge the late fee as well as take the tenant to court. The property manager said to not take the tenant to court since filing the paperwork will be expensive and to not charge a late fee because they are never able to enforce it in court. Has anyone heard of this happening in MA or am I being given bad advice?

Thanks, 

Rick

[Nathan Gesner]

It depends on what the monthly rent rate is. I usually send tenants a written notice if they have an outstanding balance but I won't start eviction over a small amount. I still charge late fees on anything over $50.

You should read your PM agreement and the lease agreement to see how the PM operates. Ask them if they have written procedures for dealing with late tenants, evictions, etc. That may help you better understand what they're doing. 

Of course, the most likely scenario is that they don't have a written procedure and instead they play it by ear and tend to take the easy way out.