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I'm a student at the USF Tampa campus and I live off-campus. My montly rent is $451 every month. Rent is due on the 1st and late after the 3rd. Last month on either the second or the third (not sure, but I am able to find out) I posted online a partial payment of $251. I was not able to pay the remainder $200 until the 25th of Sept. My lease states that if rent is not paid by the third then after third day an inistial fee of $50 is charged to the tenant and $5 every day thereafter that rent is not paid. For the month of Sept my landlord charged me $155 dollars in late fee charges. This month I paid my landlord on the third, for the partial payment in the amount of $327. Management is charging me a late fee charge of $60 plus $5 everyday until my rent is paid. I would agree with them that I owe this amount except for the fact that I have paid a partial payment both times within the time period. Also in my lease agreement it says that a $50 inistial payment and $5 thereafter for late rent. So not only are they charging me for more late fees, they are charging me a price that I did not agree to. The total late fee charges are $235. I don't feel like I owe any of this amount. And there is no way that I can pay them. Am I correct or do I owe them? Any advice that you can give me would be very much appreciated.
Your rent is late and you owe them, yes they maybe overcharging you by $10 for the initial late payment. Rent is due in full on the first and if not paid by the third of the month it is considered late as of the 4th of the month.
By paying partial rent you did not meet the agreement to pay your rent by the third of the month. So as of the fourth you will be charged the initial late fee and the daily fee till the rent is paid in full. So the last month the rent was late 21 days X $5 per day = $105 + the $50 initial late fee for a total of $155 in late fees for last month. Add in the rent for this month of $451 and that is a total of $606. Since you only paid $327 of that you have a balance of $279 now you need to add in the late fees for this month of $50 plus the $5 per day. So as of today 10/8 you have a balance owed of $354.
You can't afford to be paying your rent late, otherwise the fees will eat at you. I would suggest you either talk with them and see if you can work something out or see if you can get a loan from a family member to bring you up to date.
If you don't they can start eviction proceedings for non-payment of rent and at the daily rate of the fees you will owe an additional months rent in fees soon.
Best Wishes to you and hope this can all be worked out soon.
Is this your personal opinion or do your actually know something about Florida landlord tenant laws and rights. Have you ever been is this situation before? Are you a landlord or a tenant? Are you a lawyer or a paralegal? My lease says that I have to pay rent on the first through the third. It does not say that I have to pay the full amount at that time , just that I have to pay rent. Please respond!
Is this your personal opinion or do your actually know something about Florida landlord tenant laws and rights. Have you ever been is this situation before? Are you a landlord or a tenant? Are you a lawyer or a paralegal? My lease says that I have to pay rent on the first through the third. It does not say that I have to pay the full amount at that time , just that I have to pay rent. Please respond!
You have to pay rent in full when it is due. Otherwise, you have not met your contractual obligation.
This is a basic legal contract concept, the term "rent" means a periodic payment of $451. If you fail to pay the full amount, you have not paid "rent."
Yes, the landlord can charge you for not paying your full rent on time.
Is this your personal opinion or do your actually know something about Florida landlord tenant laws and rights. Have you ever been is this situation before? Are you a landlord or a tenant? Are you a lawyer or a paralegal? My lease says that I have to pay rent on the first through the third. It does not say that I have to pay the full amount at that time , just that I have to pay rent. Please respond!
To be blunt, it's common sense. What do you think the lease meant by paying rent? You can pay any amount of your choosing? No, the FULL amount is due on the date specified. If you paid $450 instead of $451, he still is within his rights to charge you a late fee until you pay the final $1 that is owed. Would you pay only half of a car payment or electric bill? Why would you think rent should be any different?
To be blunt, it's common sense. What do you think the lease meant by paying rent? You can pay any amount of your choosing? No, the FULL amount is due on the date specified. If you paid $450 instead of $451, he still is within his rights to charge you a late fee until you pay the final $1 that is owed. Would you pay only half of a car payment or electric bill? Why would you think rent should be any different?
You should be given a base period like the rent is due on the first, but you have five days to pay in full or you are charged a late fee. If you do not pay they start eviction proceedings. This happened to me in VA. And believe me it only took one month to have the sheriff at my door. I did get a three day notice before that, so I could get out. I would think Florida's would be the same. Check out tampagov.net and its all there under housing. Also, you cannot pay part of the rent. They will not accept it. I tried that too. Your late fee is low compared to VA's $30.
Last edited by Artsywoman; 10-09-2008 at 08:31 PM..
Reason: additions
Let me give you a little bit of knowledgable insight. I am an assistant property manager for a community here in the Tampa Bay area, so I can give you the info first hand.
Their first problem is that they are accepting rent from you. With my management company as well as a couple of others I have worked for in the area, we will not take anything over $100 short. Why? Because you cannot evict the tenant. You may incur late fees, but I would actually look into this legally. If I am not mistaken, they have the right to charge you the late fees, but I would say they are making a mistake on their part because they are accepting your rent in partial payments.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jae88
I'm a student at the USF Tampa campus and I live off-campus. My montly rent is $451 every month. Rent is due on the 1st and late after the 3rd. Last month on either the second or the third (not sure, but I am able to find out) I posted online a partial payment of $251. I was not able to pay the remainder $200 until the 25th of Sept. My lease states that if rent is not paid by the third then after third day an inistial fee of $50 is charged to the tenant and $5 every day thereafter that rent is not paid. For the month of Sept my landlord charged me $155 dollars in late fee charges. This month I paid my landlord on the third, for the partial payment in the amount of $327. Management is charging me a late fee charge of $60 plus $5 everyday until my rent is paid. I would agree with them that I owe this amount except for the fact that I have paid a partial payment both times within the time period. Also in my lease agreement it says that a $50 inistial payment and $5 thereafter for late rent. So not only are they charging me for more late fees, they are charging me a price that I did not agree to. The total late fee charges are $235. I don't feel like I owe any of this amount. And there is no way that I can pay them. Am I correct or do I owe them? Any advice that you can give me would be very much appreciated.
Yes, that is exactly it. The landlord is in breach because they accepted a partial payment from you. Had they not then they would be able to evict you for non payment.
That is true. If a LL accepts a partial payment they can't evict...but on the other side rent is due means rent is due in full and late charges and interest can be charged and will as you noticed!
Sure they can be charged, but can they collect the late fees?? They can't if they have routinely accepted late rent without the late fee. When they accept the rent without late fee they are unwittingly telling you it is okay. The other thing is make sure you write "June rent payment" or whatever month it is on your check or Money Order. That way they can't say it was a partial payment and apply your rent money to fees instead of your rent...Also make a copy of all your payments. Great resource below.Local Tenant Rights, Laws, and Protections: Florida - HUD
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