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My landlord is charging me a late fee of $150 for a rent check that was sent a week late, however there is no specific late payment charge specified in my lease agreement.
The way my lease is written is, I default on the lease if I fail to carry out any agreements or provisions in the lease - one of which is that rent is due on the 1st of every month. It goes on to say if I don't pay my rent the landlord can take me to court and ask for me to move out. Finally it says, I'm on the hook for all damages (difference in amount of my lease and next, legal fees, advertisements, broker fees, etc etc)
What's my play here? Do I just swallow the bullet and pay the fee? My lease is ending soon and I'm planning to leave. I have a feeling that if I don't pay the fee, my landlord will in a best case scenario screw me with my security deposit and worst case, screw me with my security deposit + take me to court and try and evict me which will affect my rental history/prospect of getting another apartment.
Any guidance with this would be greatly appreciated.
My landlord is charging me a late fee of $150 for a rent check that was sent a week late, however there is no specific late payment charge specified in my lease agreement.
The way my lease is written is, I default on the lease if I fail to carry out any agreements or provisions in the lease - one of which is that rent is due on the 1st of every month. It goes on to say if I don't pay my rent the landlord can take me to court and ask for me to move out. Finally it says, I'm on the hook for all damages (difference in amount of my lease and next, legal fees, advertisements, broker fees, etc etc)
What's my play here? Do I just swallow the bullet and pay the fee? My lease is ending soon and I'm planning to leave. I have a feeling that if I don't pay the fee, my landlord will in a best case scenario screw me with my security deposit and worst case, screw me with my security deposit + take me to court and try and evict me which will affect my rental history/prospect of getting another apartment.
Any guidance with this would be greatly appreciated.
Another instance of simply not letting your fingers do the walking.
"Keep in mind, however, that being too hasty to assert your rights over a relatively modest sum of money may not be worth the bad feelings that could come back to haunt you in the future. "
This is what I'm worried about... Not paying the late fee will cause bad blood and come to haunt me when its time to get my security deposit back.
I would give the landlord the courtesy of asking on what basis he came up with that late fee scenario, and where did you agree in writing to a late fee in any amount.
Then, no matter what he says, just ignore it and move out if that's what you were going to do anyway. If you have paid the rent, albeit late, then the Landlord has suffered no damages so any civil action would be dismissed. What if the landlord told you that you had to repaint your home once a month and change the colors as he directs you to do. Of course you wouldn't do such a thing unless you had agreed to it in your lease. So what's the difference?
"Keep in mind, however, that being too hasty to assert your rights over a relatively modest sum of money may not be worth the bad feelings that could come back to haunt you in the future. "
This is what I'm worried about... Not paying the late fee will cause bad blood and come to haunt me when its time to get my security deposit back.
Look, what do you want from this group? You asked about if it was legal/correct for your LL to charge a late fee when it is not in your lease and I gave you a decent response. If *you* have made up your mind to punk out and pay the fee out of some sort of kindness then why bother requesting assistance.
I'm out, handle your business the best you know how.
I would give the landlord the courtesy of asking on what basis he came up with that late fee scenario, and where did you agree in writing to a late fee in any amount.
Then, no matter what he says, just ignore it and move out if that's what you were going to do anyway. If you have paid the rent, albeit late, then the Landlord has suffered no damages so any civil action would be dismissed. What if the landlord told you that you had to repaint your home once a month and change the colors as he directs you to do. Of course you wouldn't do such a thing unless you had agreed to it in your lease. So what's the difference?
Don't sweat it.
Thanks for the advice. That's exactly what I did.
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