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Ugh, this new apartment has been nothing short of hellish since we moved in. Now there's a new issue: our LL lives out of state but pops by every few
weeks (something we weren't aware of until lease signing) we sent the rent off before the first and, according to him, as of now, he has yet to receive it. now he's demanding a late fee. this seems less than fair if the fault is on the PO. we dropped it off at a physical PO (as opposed to dropping it in a box). in the past, he's stated that he received our deposits late from the realtor (nearly 15 days late, according to him). this seems to be an issue more w/ him or postal service in his area than us.
this is the latest in a series of ongoing issues we've been having w/ him (and we've only been living here since October!). last month, we told him on the 2nd that one roommate would be late w/ rent due to the high initial deposits. despite our warning, apology, and promise to pay the late fee, he continued to text borderline harassing text messages daily (and would sometimes leave calls or emails). he did this even AFTER he reportedly got the rent. example of one text received after he got the rent: "why don't you guys mail the rent off today (the 6th) so maybe, just maybe, a miracle will happen and I'll get it on time". we got a total of 3 texts and 2 phone calls from him along this line. he's already starting in on the rude text messages and it's only the 5th. he's already talking about terminating the lease, despite the fact it's a one year lease, claiming we've been "big hassles" (never mind the issues we had w/ the provide internet and appliances that he never addressed). seems like he's making a mountain out of a mole hill, especially since we could very well just not send it in at all and force him to go through along ordeal of trying to evict us while we live rent free (not that we'd do that, but we could be far, far, far worse). IDK, I just feel like
ranting aside, our responsible how we for late rent if we send it off before the due date/end of grace period? We'd like to hope this wouldn't be a constant issue, but so far, it has happened more than once on his end and once on ours (we received our letter regarding the security deposit account 2 weeks after he said he sent it). we can't send it in super early b/c we can't post date the checks (assumed it was illegal to do so) and frankly, a couple of us don't have the full rent in our accounts until after the 20th-25th. only thing we can do in the future is send it certified, but if the mail is misplaced or held up on the PO's end, how are we still liable for late fees?
Send it certified or get a certificate of mailing at the post office. That way you'd have proof you mailed it on time. AFAIK if you mail the rent before it's due, you are not late. In any case, check your lease to see what it says.
I deal with government and quasi-government water/sewage districts that do not acknowledge postmarks... Even if they did, you would need at least a proof of mailing should you need to prove when the letter was posted.
I don't go by postmarks... rent is due on the first and later after the fifth...
Every year, at least one rent check gets lost and arrives weeks late even though it was mailed on time... last one arrived partially shredded with a note from the Post Office.
On my own rentals I will allow one late payment in 12 months without charge... this is to cover the unexpected.
Some banks offer free bill pay and others make it convenient to direct deposit... one of my landlord friends accepts paypal...
I have one mortgage that I pay personally each month at a nearby retirement home... it is there on or before the first and has been for the last 9 years.
I've also done the post-dated check when I knew I would be out of town realizing there is nothing to prevent a person from depositing it early and the bank from accepting it early.
The responsibility falls upon you to have the lease check in on time. Which means that you need to mail it off in a timely manner so that it typically arrives on time, or to get it to the LL's property managers/realtor on time. Proof of mailing helps, and a check sent out return receipt requested USPS is expensive on your part to prove that you're doing what you should ... but sending the check out with adequate time for it to arrive on time is still your responsibility. If the lease payment is due on the 1st, you've got to send it out some time in advance of the due date.
If you can more conveniently get the payment to his realtor, then that's the extent of your obligation to perform. So, if the the lease payment is due on the 1st of the month, then get it there and get a receipt for proof that you paid it. If there's a subsequent problem of getting the payment from the realtor to the LL, that's not your problem. You've made your timely payment in good faith and performance of your lease.
While it's not always easy, you must keep the issues separated. If there's functional problems with the property, that's something you have to address on that basis ... not an equivalency to the lease payment. Even if your LL is something of a case when it comes to being available to the USPS, or other concerns ... you need to keep your focus on your responsbilities in the lease and performance. If you've made your lease payments on time and in full, the LL won't have a case for an eviction ... if that's what they've got in mind.
We too have to mail our rent to an out of state company, I make sure the rent check is mailed one week in advance and have yet to have a problem. I know the post office has some issues but have only once in a lot of years had a payment never reach its intended recipient. Your landlord has bills to pay also and you did sign a lease agreeing to the terms.
Last year my husband was unemployed and we were struggling to make ends meet, a few times we had to be late with the rent and because we always informed our property manager of the issues we were never charged late fees nor did we get harrassing letters/calls. Just be upfront with you landlord and if you continue to have problems then speak with him about letting you break the lease.
thanks for the responses. roommates and I discussed just sending the checks off around the 25th or a bit before since by then, we all have the amount in our accounts. in the past when dealing w/ mail, I've had stuff come to me from MA to IL in as little as 3 days, so it's still an issue trying to figure out how far in advance to send it off where it will arrive on time, but not so early that the LL tries to cash a check that will likely bounce. it would have been nice if he was a tiny bit more understanding and realize we're still figuring out this thing (I've had absentee LLs in the past but have never had to mail checks further than a neighboring state), but he's been nothing short of a jerk since our arrival. I know it isn't cool to be late, but the harassing texts, calls, and emails is a very extreme on his end
we'll try dropping the rent with the realtor. definitely easier for us. hopefully he'll at least concede on this aspect since we weren't even made aware of the fact that he was an absentee LL until the leases were prepared and wouldn't have taken this apartment on the account of mailing issues
we've already discussed asking him to break the lease in the spring. we've all been fed up w/ him since Day 1, but we can't make a move until next spring.
If you typically have the money on the 25th maybe you could arrange a change in the due date with the LL so that rent is due on the 5th, late on the 10th. That would mean one month's rent would be a little higher because it would be one month plus 5 days but that should be easy to calculate.
It's your job to get the rent money to him on time. I don't blame him for asking when he will receive it. He likely depends on the money. If you pay late, then he is late on his bills. He shouldn't harass you.
Is he really harassing you or is it just irritating?
If you typically have the money on the 25th maybe you could arrange a change in the due date with the LL so that rent is due on the 5th, late on the 10th. That would mean one month's rent would be a little higher because it would be one month plus 5 days but that should be easy to calculate.
It's your job to get the rent money to him on time. I don't blame him for asking when he will receive it. He likely depends on the money. If you pay late, then he is late on his bills. He shouldn't harass you.
Is he really harassing you or is it just irritating?
nope harassing. sent a few texts to my previous LL (who I'm still on very good speaking terms w/) and she says he shouldn't be doing this. I've gotten 6 texts between the 1st-5th, demanding rent. one text, verbatim reads: "what the fu is wrong w/ you? dont have a calendar" (I assume fu was a typo for f*ck). a lot of of texts have included him swearing, berating us, and being condescending. and they are daily, sometimes twice-3x daily (last month, even after he got the rent, he sent us 3 text messages and an email, all rude). we're at the point of just ignoring him, but we're saving everything he's been leaving us, just in case
SORRY to read about your issues YES all is governed by the rental agreement if it states a certain date rent is due DOES NOT MATTER how it gets there must be on time or late fees. Try FED EX 3rd day therefore you know it has arrived. You can confer with bank determine if rent check(s) were cashed. If your roommate is late choice have a resident who is responsible can pay their bills on time OR they pick up the late charges WHICH effects all of you. I happen be a real estate investor with rentals... amazing all kinds of stories I hear... only concern is where is money... I have other responsiblities in my personal and professional life require all parties be on time... if not i have make up differences on my end my bills I have to pay...
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