Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
^^^
You should pay on time every month...but that is just a normal thing, but if something happens it is good that you have in writing when you report you will be late. it is up to the LL to charge the late fee or not. I have learned my lesson and charge it each and every time, since tenants have misused my kindness.
The obligation of the LL is to make repairs on time in a decent time frame. If the LL doesn't do that you can write the LL a certified letter and pay a little bit less but the remainder has to put in an escrow account which will be paid after the repair has been taken care of. You need proof that the LL has not responded in a decent time frame and the repair is something that the LL needs to take care of and not something that was caused by the tenant.
If the LL charges you late fees for that you can go to small claims court and show your proof and for sure you will win and if the LL still hasn't been taken care of the repair the judge might give you a break on the rent...but you have to put it in an escrow account..Simple keeping the partial rent is not allowed by law and sent it by certified mail so you have proof...(don't forget to make copies of the letters you sent to the LL).
You can't just keep partial payment after the repair hasn't taken place within a week, some companies have a hard time coming out to a property and it also depends what kind of repair it is. If it is a water leak it should be handled different than a inside door that isn't closing well....just an example.
When I signed my 6 month lease it stated rent had to be postmarked by the 6th or be charged a $20 late after the 20Th the fee would repeat.
I do my best to make sure to get the rent in the mail before either date. I send bank cashiers checks that are brought the same day they are sent so both the postmark and rent have the same date stamp.
This went well until my lease ended and went to month to month.
Now my landlord is wants me to pay late fees I know I don't owe.
Example She wanted me to pay a second $20 late fee because the rent was posted marked the 19th.Well I sent her back a copy of the lease i signed that was in her own hand.A week later I get a letter from her saying thank you for reminding her about the agreement.Then she says after looking at her records she says I owe $80 in fees for the months of 7/8/08,(now this one is funny I will explain later)10/8/08 ,9/22/08 and 12/8/08.
The dates I sent the rent out are 7/5/08 ,9/19/08 ,10/3/08 and 12/6/08.
Did you know when you buy bank cashiers checks they have 2 dates?
The date you buy the check and the date it gets cashed?
After checking my records I found out some interesting things.
All the dates she gives are the days she cashed the checks not the post marked dates except one the funny one(10/8/08 ) The funny one 10/8/08
is way off. I sent it out on the 3rd on the 15th I get a letter from her husband because she was in China saying to call him in 24 hours due to nonpayment of rent.
I call him from work on the 16th and explain to l him I sent the rent on the 3rd and I would send him a copy.A few days later I get a letter from saying he'd indeed had received the rent. He contacted me on the 10/15/08 yet she says her records say the 10/08/08 and it was cashed
sometime after the 20th.
Do I have to pay a late fee for her holding on to the checks so I incur a late fee?
I'm sorry that happened to you. some landlords are REALLY greedy money hungers. Same thing happened with me in my last and current apartment. And may I add, you got off lucky as hell..($20 after the 20th), try $50 after the 3rd and an extra $5 per day PLUS $100 on the 11th if the payment is not brought in PLUS another $100 on the 15th!
I have a problem with apartment/landlords/managers who act like creditors rather than actual apartment managers. $5 per day? $300 for court fees??COME ON! When people don't pay their rent..ITS BECAUSE THEY CAN"T....they have financial difficulties..no one wants to be homeless...the law says the landlord has the right to kick out tenants after 30 days, mind you, this is a way that laywers, the courty system and aparment managers make their money...especially OLD apartments.
They probably rake in more money in late fees and "processing fees" than they do in monthly rent from tenants. My landlord claims that $100 is owed on the 11th for "processing" fees, or court fees. In reality, its probably on $20-$50 to process (if there is even a processing fee at all)...the extra late fees is ALL bogus. Its just like a creditor who charges outrageous interest fees making it almost impossible for the borrower to pay off their debt. The courts make a KILLING off of evicting tenants and "processing fees". Apartment managers have to use their common sense. If a tenant is already having a hard time paying the rent every month, what makes you think they will be able to pay the rent PLUS late fees??!! Really....you will just lose a tenant as you scrap around looking for more tenants to fill your whack apartments. SMH
I just can't understand why ppl sign leases without reading them. You're not the only one...there are many on site who do that.
I mean come on, did you or did you not read the lease? Why are you now complaining about the late fees you agreed upon? Did it not occur to you to ask these questions BEFORE signing a legal and binding contract?
In my opinion Steve made a good point. Even if a landlord is a greedy jerk, the bottom line it boils down to being punctual on your promise and word. To avoid this problems we should simply be organized, punctual, responsible, and there would not be any problems.
To me if I do not pay to the landlord on time I am being rude and inconsiderate with him/her. It is his money he expect to have an even possible have made plans to use thinking I will give him his money on time.
I have no consideration for people that complain because Blockbusters charges late fee charges or any other organization does the same. They count on that money a customer promised to give them.
If I did not read a contract closely enough, did not scheduled payments to be on time, etc. and I end up late, I is my fault. That is what you call personnal responsibility.
When you are wrong, you are wrong. I ask people to not try to make the other guy as the bad guy. He or she is simply enforcing his side of the deal. I do not agree with laws often designed to protect the customer at the lose and the expense of the business man or woman. Both sides should be treated equally when it comes to breaking a deal.
I actually think businesses and landlords do give breaks for the sake of good business. Try to get a break when you get a speeding ticket, not pay your taxes on time, or not pay a parking ticket.
You have a great day.
El Amigo
Oh my goodness - Will you please be my next tenant? Yes, yes, and again, I say YES! El Amigo "gets it." These values reflect what made America strong - personal responsibility. No "entitlement" mantra, just, "I read the lease, I agree with the terms, where do I sign." You must have had good role models, El Amigo.
****I feel sorry for you.. we are going through a similair situation... Some landlords are greedy and not responsible... My landlord charges 30% late fees and i am sick of it.. I too call if i am ever late and I don't think it is legal to charge that amount in South Carolina.. I have never missed a month of payment and am very irritated at the fact that I have to deal with someone so rude and non understanding...I have had a leak for 1 and a half years.. GRRRR.. no one has deducted this from my rent and I wasn't able to charge a late maintanance fee for them not fixing it either... I am sick over it...
Did you agree to the 30% late charge, i.e. is it in the lease you signed? Personally, I would never sign such a document. If you are now month to month, the original lease still applies unless and until you renegotiate and sign a new one. The leak is wrong and should be addressed, but is a separate issue from your rent payment and late fees.
I have in my lease that a $ 100.- late fee will be charged if not paid after 3 days of being due....No one ever paid the 3rd day but I had 2 bounced checks and I could have charged the $ 100.- but I didn't I charged $ 15.- which the bank charged me as administration fees for the return of my tenants bounced checks...The last month they didn't pay...they vanished, but they had a non refundable sec. deposit since that is normal in a lease purchase....
I looked a my State laws (landlords-tenants) and it doesn't say anything about the interest fee or late fee...Basically I think that if you put it in writing and both parties have signed and it isn't unreasonable it should be fine...
Isn't paying on time not reasonable....?
To all landlords especially this one that charges $ 100 for being 3 days late :
Ask yourselves :
Do you take care of your tenants needs and how FAST do you attend to water or plumbing problems ?
Air Conditioning goes out ?
Frig is not working . Freezer does not freeze ?
Stove not working ?
Pest Problems ( let me guess , it's normal to have **** roaches right ? )
How fast do you RETURN their deposit ?
How FAST do you fix the above problems ? Seriously ?
Do you chew and chump everything in their apartment so you don't have to return the deposit ? ( I hope to God they take pictures so they can show proof that they treated your place nice )
Do you really CLEAN the apartment you expect them to live in ?
How about holes in the walls ? Bad dirty carpet ? Do you replace that ?
What about if they complain about noisy neighbors ?
How soon do you return your tenants phone calls ?
How fair are you if they are having a problem ?
Would you LIVE in the place you expect them to ?
I say again this is not just a business. There is a human factor here .
If a tenant is already having a hard time paying the rent every month, what makes you think they will be able to pay the rent PLUS late fees??!!
Hallelujah! Halleberry!
I totally agree. For example, I explained to the leasing manager (corporate apartments are actually greedier) that I got paid the weekend of the 4th of July (instead of the 1st) simply because there was a convention in town and I worked my ass off the entire weekened, but didn't get paid jack the previous week.
I end up getting $100 in late fees that I STILL cannot pay. And rent is due at the end of the week AGAIN.
Anyhow, for those who say, "did you read the lease?" need to stop being ridiculous. When people are looking for a place to say, sometimes they will sign the lease with shaky hands hoping to NEVER occur said fees and that things will be fluffy and perfect and work will never slow and checks will never be late.
I did read my lease, and yes...a couple of times I thought about backing out (even waiting 10 days to think about it)...but once you're there, face to face, feeling that if you say no...you may lose the apartment, you just want to sign, pay and get the keys.
I challenged my landlord (like some have recommended) the basis for the late fees, and what harm-damages did I cause by being 3 days late that warranted the late charge. That witch (with a capital B) couldn't even give me a straight forward answer. She just stuttered around and repeated the same thing, "its in your lease".
Which goes to show...sometimes...I find hotels to be better than apartments. You pay small amount upfront, stay for awhile and leave. You're not bound to stay and never has a hotel charged me outrageous 'late fees'.
To all landlords especially this one that charges $ 100 for being 3 days late :
Ask yourselves :
Do you take care of your tenants needs and how FAST do you attend to water or plumbing problems ? The same day
Air Conditioning goes out ? Immediately
Frig is not working . Freezer does not freeze ? Replace same or next day
Stove not working ? Last one, new stove same day
Pest Problems ( let me guess , it's normal to have **** roaches right ? ) Tenant's Responsibility
How fast do you RETURN their deposit ? Immediately, I love to return deposits, in means things have gone well.
How FAST do you fix the above problems ? Seriously ? As soon as realistically possible, usually the same or next day
Do you chew and chump everything in their apartment so you don't have to return the deposit ? ( I hope to God they take pictures so they can show proof that they treated your place nice ) See above
Do you really CLEAN the apartment you expect them to live in ? I have houses and they are better than new when turned over to tenant.
How about holes in the walls ? Bad dirty carpet ? Do you replace that ? Fixed, replaced.
What about if they complain about noisy neighbors ? N/A
How soon do you return your tenants phone calls ? Same day
How fair are you if they are having a problem ? Golden Rule
Would you LIVE in the place you expect them to ? Absolutely
I say again this is not just a business. There is a human factor here .
This is a money management issue and not my problem. If you smoke, I bet you don't go without cigarettes. Pay on time and the point is moot.
How dare you accuse me of smoking you nut FYI I do not smoke and am I huge advocate against it!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My landlord claims that $100 is owed on the 11th for "processing" fees, or court fees. In reality, its probably on $20-$50 to process (if there is even a processing fee at all)...the extra late fees is ALL bogus. Its just like a creditor who charges outrageous interest fees making it almost impossible for the borrower to pay off their debt. The courts make a KILLING off of evicting tenants and "processing fees". Apartment managers have to use their common sense. If a tenant is already having a hard time paying the rent every month, what makes you think they will be able to pay the rent PLUS late fees??!! Really....you will just lose a tenant as you scrap around looking for more tenants to fill your whack apartments. SMH
Fairness.
