How Do You Get Late Payments Paid?
I have a tenant that is late on their payments two months in a row. I notified them by letter of the late payment and the eviction costs as per the lease and they paid the rent plus $25. (Late fee is $43.75, plus $85 Court Filing Fee.) This month the rent is late again, so I filed another eviction notice. Can they be evicted for not paying the late fees & Court Fees? The Eviction Forms state the Rent Due (Paid/UnPaid)
What do I do? Next step is to call my lawyer I guess?
Ray
I have tenants that are late with rent almost every month. I collect late fees every month, as well. I do not care if they are late if I get paid in time for my monthly deposit run.
In CA you cannot evict for not paying late fees. The cure is to have wording that states that any payment received will be applied toward outstanding debts before bing applied to the rent. So if they refuse to pay a late fee, but pay the amount of the rent in full the following month, there will be a shortfall in the rent by the amount of the late fee and they can be evicted.
Your leases should also state that the tenant must pay costs associated with enforcing rent collection including late letters, eviction filing fees, etc.
When I am face with someone who pays late, I usually have a conversation with them as to why so I can assess whether this is a temporary situation or long term. For me the cost of a turnover prevents me from being extremely heavy-handed when a tenant pays late. The issue is whether they are going to get more and more behind. So far, my judgment on this has not hurt me.
Thanks for your help! I will definately add the last clause to all my leases. I have the first one already.
Ray
Hi, Ray
One other thought that may be of help with your leases. You might try to contact property management companies in your area and look at some of their leases. Since they are dealing with tenants big time, they are likely to have some good leases to support their cause. You can get ideas or blend what they have with your own.
Regards,
Ed
What I really want to know is can I be charged $30 for a 3 Day Notice?
our lease says "late fees due as additional rent" and we remind the tenants of that. They pay and we do recoup late fees if we have to go to court with an eviction because of the wording of our lease.
[ Edited by LandladyFL on Date 10/21/2005 ]