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I need some help. My landlord renewed my lease in May and changed my late fees from $10 per incident to $10 every day the rent is late after the 5th. So as of this month since I didn't pay until the 16th, he wants me to pay $110 in late fees! Is this legal?
I read that a landlord cannot charge late fees that are excessive/disproportionate to any probable loss. Does this law apply to UNREGULATED apartments as well? If yes, is there a link anywhere on the net that clear states so?
The original flat $10 is extremely low, and obviously isn't much of a disincentive. Personally, I would have chosen something in-between, and when it's per day the LL also risks getting into a dispute over timing. ("I dropped the check off Tuesday!" "Yes, but I didn't receive it until Thursday!") I'm sure this did the trick in terms of making you prompt in the future. I would guess your only recourse is if you weren't notified in writing previously.
The original flat $10 is extremely low, and obviously isn't much of a disincentive. Personally, I would have chosen something in-between, and when it's per day the LL also risks getting into a dispute over timing. ("I dropped the check off Tuesday!" "Yes, but I didn't receive it until Thursday!") I'm sure this did the trick in terms of making you prompt in the future. I would guess your only recourse is if you weren't notified in writing previously.
Thanks for the reply. You said you "imagine"...Got anything concrete?
most likely this is a gray area legally. i don't know if there is a limit a landlord can charge in terms of a late fee but i have been told that if something like this where you have been consistently late but yet all paid up at the time you are taken to court it would still be hard to evict you. i think the only way to get a definitive answer is by being taken to court and seeing what the judge says. obviously this is a potent deterrent to paying late.
Is there a particular reason you can't pay on time? Per if you did this would be a moot issue.
O'k, down to the real nitty gritty. Yes there is a legal limit a LL can charge for late fee. I forget NY's limit but you could google to find legal information.
By law you have to be given a grace period, meaning if your rent is due on the 1st of each month you are either given a 5 or 10 grace period to pay without incurring a late charge. So by law what your LL is doing is illegal and at most if you're paying on the 16th then he could only recoup $50 if your rent was due on the 1st with a 10 day grace period.
To my knowledge I also believe it's illegal for your LL to charge a late fee by day beyond the cap (again you'll have to find out what is legal for NY state), so in other words if you're late either you'll have to pay $10, $15, $25, $50 (whatever LL has set) no matter what place you're in in the month after your grace period has expired.
Please either ask an attorney or look up this information for yourself.
Sorry, I don' t know anything concrete, but you could probably call one of the tenant associations around town, and they'd probably know. However, keep in mind that although I know the fee is annoying, you are basically in the wrong, and I'm not sure how much of a fight you want to trigger over this.
I'm suddenly wondering if you had a pattern of paying late, and he including the clause for exactly that reason.
Thanks for all of the responses. For all of those who ASSumed I have a history of paying late, I don't. My mother had surgery and I had to subsidize her rent for the month and my second check came in late.
From what I found here: TenantNet :: View topic - Late Fees
It seems that no LL should be charging over 5%, because late fees are supposed to be REASONABLE whether the apt is regulated or unregulated.
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