Unpaid rent and 5-day notice (lease, tenant, evict, renters)

[john3232]

If rent isn't paid by on the 1st I plan to send a 5-day notice on non-payment on the 2nd.

Now, when I send out the notice it will include the rent owed and a $25 late fee charge for not paying on the 1st.

There will also be $5 per day charge until the rent is paid.

I will use a company which charges $30 to serve the renters the 5-day notice which means I am required to give the renters an additional 5-days.

So, I plan to charge the renters $25 or $5 per day for this period.

A total of $50.

Question: If the renters pay the rent on say the 3rd or 4th but without the additional late fees what should I do?

Thanks

[Flamingo13]

What are the terms of the lease? There is normally a 5-day grace period or something and then it states a late fee is owed after.

[spencgr]

Please tell me that is all outlined in your lease.

[reenzz]

In most states you can NOT include the late fees or any other fees in a notice to pay or quit.

Double check uour state laws.

[Spokaneinvestor]

In my experience, thankfully very few of my tenants ever pay late, if you receive the full rent payment for the month but no late fees you can’t evict or continue to charge late fees. You also can not refuse to accept the full rental payment on the basis that late fees were not included. You can however charge the unpaid late fee to the security deposit. In my experience, it is sometimes best to simply accept the rent payment if it is the full rent and write off the late fees. My leases all have at least a 5 day grace period and as a matter of policy, I don’t charge late fees unless the rent is habitually late. Last thing I want is an angry tenant that decides to take out their frustration on my property.

[ShaneSA]

It is customary to have a grace period to pay. Usually is is 5 days, then it is late. I have a 3 day grace period stated in the lease and late if not paid by 5 PM on the 3rd day after it is due. It is not by law for the grace period, it's a custom. You can file a late notice on the day after the grace period. The grace period is there so the tenant can have a bit of a breather if they work odd hours or some unforeseen circumstance happens that they cannot be at your door on the day the rent is due.
I think you need to take a deep breath and look at the terms on your lease to make them more flexible. Renters take the leniency very well and appreciate it. I made mine a 3 day grace after several tenants habitually paid on the fifth day. You sound very concerned with collecting late fees. I changed my focus on how to avoid tenants being late, it works much better.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by john3232

Question:

Question: Does your lease describe this process and fee arrangement?
How about the County (Courts) and the actual laws there?

[southernnaturelover]

This is why I like to use Cozy. The late fee is automatically added on the 5th (my choosing) and there’s no way to get around it.

[Nov3]

Originally Posted by john3232

Question: If the renters pay the rent on say the 3rd or 4th but without the additional late fees what should I do?

Thanks

Look at the business calander and bank system for federal holidays.

As a tenant I paid on the 30th. A Friday. The office was closed at 4pm. Sat/Sunday no payments processed. Monday was a federal holiday. No bank processing. Finally Tuesday the check funds are deposited. They log that it wasn't til Wednesday that they received the actual rent funds into their business account. I refused to pay the late charge.

Just something to be reasonable about when you are eager to grab that fee before taking into account legitimate circumstances.

[Katie1]

Sheesh hope you can afford a Empty Apt!