Tenant pays rent late

[Tiffany Perry]

Hello, 

I have a tenant who pays rent late every single month. Typically between 11th and 15th of the month no matter how much the rent is. The late fee is currently 5% of the monthly rent. I wanted to increase the late fee to a higher amount to encourage the tentant to pay the rent timely. I didn't see that there was a statutory cap on the late fee. Are you aware of any cases that limit the amount that I can charge for late fee? Thanks. 

[Jules Aton]

It depends on the state. Personally if the tenant pays each month and adds the late fee I'm fine with it. If for whatever reason this has been a pattern it is unlikely raising the late fee will change that and you might lose the tenant.