Do you charge late fees ? Do you successfully collect them ?

Please share your process of charging and collecting.

I am looking for a better with more success to do this.

Thank you sincerely for any advice and ideas shared.

We do charge late fees. In NC we are only allowed to charge 5% of the monthly rent and there is a 5 day grace period so anything not paid until 6th.

We email invoices two days before they are due. If we have not received payment by the 3rd an automatic reminder is sent.

On the 6th we send a revised invoice that includes the 5% late fee. If by chance the payment is made prior to the revised invoice being sent then we just add the unpaid late fee to the following month's rent.

I have never had a single complaint or non payment of lates.

Are your tenants refusing to pay?

I charge 15% per month late after the 5th.

I am somewhat flexible on late date when I enforce depending on history of tenant.

It's the ones that don't pay and don't bother calling me to state it will be late that I go with the fee

I have a few habitual slow payers. That yes do fail or ignore late fees due part of time. Paying late fees at thier chose I feel and I have to regain the authority.

This is our current process: Rents are due the 6th with a 3 day grace period if rent is not received by the 9th a $50 fee is added plus $5 daily until balance is paid in full. Our late statement is sent on the 10th by mail that also includes a 10 day notice to vacate. I see no good reason to delay eviction with unpaid rents. Our lease states all money received is first applied to past due balance then rents. I recently added this in red print on the late statement as a bold reminder. I have also created a notice for unpaid late fees past due. This is just becoming ridiculous with more and I feel I have stated no real consequence if they don’t pay the late fees.

Mike thanks for your advice. I have done the same enforcing by history of tenant. Two of the slow payers are long term tenants been with us 6 years and are great in all others ways... take great care of property.

10% after the 5th.

And yes we collect.

In the rare occasion I have to explain it. I state the following.

It could be against the fair housing laws if we did not charge everyone.

And could face fines over 10K.

They are very strict and require that we treat everyone the same. And our records can be audited at anytime.

So either everyone pays the fee. Or we dont require anyone to pay on time and dont charge anyone a late fee. Which or course would put us out of business.

It is not our choice but the Fair Housing laws.

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The above always seems to put an end to the questions.

And I would all of them never ask again, about not paying a late fee.

Years ago the question would come up often. Now it never comes up once we explain.

And this is the way we like to interrupt the law.

Also it would be considered unreasonable, if not impossible to keep a list. And make sure you are making exceptions equally for race, sex, family status etc...

Takes a minute longer to explain. But saves time in the long run.

Thank you RR78 that’s great advice.

And is exactly the mindset I need on this subject which is where real success begins.

Rent is late if received after 5 PM on the first day of the month and is $50 more. $25 per day starts on the second day. They get served with a 3-day notice early in the morning on the 2nd.

RR78 I have made a note of your exact words and posted in plain view at my desk so I can reread it until it is solid thought process for me to pull up whenever needed. Same as I have done with Jeffery’s 10 reasons you should not feel guility about eviction.

Thanks again for the priceless advice.

I completely agree with you Rathdrum.

I have found the same to be true. And thats my hesitation and wollering problem in my current process am I willing to file eviction for unpaid late fees ?

I like your process Jeff clear precise and black and white eliminates the gray area. My late rent pay process is similar. Now to critique my unpaid late fee process.

So Jeff with your procedure have you ever filed For eviction on a unpaid late fee. This is where I begin into the gray area . I have a hard time justifying filing eviction on unpaid late fees. But what other repercussion is there to enforce payment ?

Cindy, evictions are VERY rare here for me. No one wants to be evicted. It would be hard for them to rent elsewhere.

I have never had what you described happen.

Yes, I collect late fees of $25 on the 6th day of the month & $5 each day until paid in full.

The eviction lawyer at our REIA meeting last night shared the following:

--if your lease has a grace period (i.e. five days), you can't post a three-day notice until after the five days is up.

--if your lease has language such as "late fee of $5/day for a maximum of 10 days" then you can't post the notice until TEN days late, because your lease allows them to be that late.

--if you have habitually accepted late rents in the past, you can't just get tired of it and post a POQ when they're a day late. You have to give them reasonable notice in writing that your lax policy is changing. Otherwise the judge will throw out your case.

She might be looking to get her entire sd back by asking you to do upgrades before she leaves.

No grace period is required by law in Missouri, so I don't give one. They just HAD a 30-31 day "grace" period to save up rent...why would 3 more days make it any clearer that rent is due when it's due?

We charge $5 per day late. No exceptions. Firm and fair is the way professionals do it. The minute I treat someone different, I have put my neck (and my business and my family's financial well-being) on the line for a person I don't know very well who failed to hold up to a promise they made.

LLs who don't charge late fees need to be consistent. LLs who do charge late fees need to be consistent. The bottom line is each of us has to decide how to run our business, then we have to stick to it, no matter what.

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Be sure to check your local laws regarding how you apply their payments. Here we are strictly prevented from first applying past due late fees, actually any charges that are not rent related , IF that will result in making the current rent payment late.

No Pay,

No Stay,

No Exceptions,

And No Grace Period.

Sign here ---------- ------------.

I don't know why anyone would allow a grace period if it's not required by law. As Vee said, it just rewards bad behavior. And it's like the landlord telling the tenant: "We would like to have the rent on the first, but if you're late, that's okay."

Our area has a 5 day grace period PLUS can't file until day 11. My lease waives notice but I still send one just in case they think I'll let them slide.

RR78(VA)

I use the "have to apply the same rules to everyone" speech for anything they request that I am unwilling to comply with. I don't use the FH rules since my tenants would research that but they do seem to appreciate the "everyone has to comply concept" since I never hear any stupid requests again.

The comment about invoices - we send invoices (actually QBO sends them automatically) since they contain the link to the ACH payments. They could make a payment without it but I don't tell them that since the link triggers an email notification that shows me when they open the invoice and then another that shows me the invoice has been paid and when the funds will be in my account.

I keep seeing suggestions about offering bonuses or some other enticement if they pay on time. It baffles me. To me it is enabling poor unacceptable behavior. If they aren't responsible enough to fulfill their contractual agreement I don't want them.

$5 per day, Jeff. That way if they're a day or two late it's not a major blow, but it adds up. I've though about doing a $25 hit on day 1, then adding $5 more per day because that would encourage folks to pay ON the due date. As it is, a $5 penalty isn't that much, so perhaps it isn't enough of a "stick" to motivate someone. Guess I'm too nice sometimes! ;-)

Btw, most of my units are around $500 - $550, so $5 per days works out to around 30% APR. If they were $1000 a month, I'd likely have a $10 per day fee. It's definitely not pocket change, but I can see the wisdom of a big "hit" to encourage folks to be more timely. I'll think on it.

I do the "due on the 1st considered late on the 4th". The late fee is about 10% of the rent however - I ensure that it is AT LEAST the amount of the cost to serve them at least once if it's lower, I bump it up. Not too many are like that except maybe the little 1 beds that I have that are only like $400 a month.

I don't do daily rates ... too confusing on my part (I just don't understand it enough). If you don't pay the amount owed in full by the 4th then there is a late fee. I will (maybe) typically contact them if they haven't me to ensure I at least get some idea what's going on. When I first talk with them about this at lease signing/move-in I advise them right then and there "DO NOT IGNORE ME". That only irritates me and no conversation from you means I don't bother following up - I serve the 3 Day notice. Then it starts the ball rolling.

Sid I waited for your advice. Thank you.

I agree with your thoughts on the Grace period.

That may be eliminated when I update the lease.

Same people seem to repeatedly abuse.

So may I ask how you enforce your late fees?

What is the repercussions if they fail or ignore to pay them ?

NC Investor thank you for reminding me to check laws on the way we are

CINDY:

FOLLOWING IS IN'S ONLY REFERENCE TO LATE FEES

ESSENTIALLY YOU SET THE TERMS. AMOUNT AND WHEN IT IS IMPOSED MUST BE IN YOUR LEASE OTHERWISE YOU CAN NOT CHARGE A LATE FEE

Thank you NC

Yes that is what I found also for late fees.

CINDY;

You can call your local courthouse they should be able to help you. Ask for the civil court. If they can't help you can call the IN RE Commission. They understand the rules better than anyone and are concerned about tenant's rights.

rent is due on the first and late on the second. no law says we have a grace period. i DO use postmarks. i also let the good ones slide but not for more than a few days. after that i tell them it is uncomfortable for me to be calling and chasing rent and the fee for my discomfort is 6% of the rent.

NC Investor

Let the tenants research away.

They will find more to support my statement then disprove it.

Same as when buying a house, have to charge same fees for all people.

And remember HUD with the previous president even said not renting to a felon could be considered discrimination in some cases.