Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I have tenants (now squatters) who have not paid their rent for July, nor have they moved out of my rental property. I just went through the legal processes of having them served all the proper notices, and just booked a court date. The earliest court date I could get was for Mid-August 09. How do I get reimbursed for their August rent up until the court date?.......Does this now mean they get to keep living rent free up until the court hearing? Note: Though I have a one-time late charge that is applied, I don’t have a daily penalty fee (now a lesson learned), for their non-payment of rent. What are my options?

You should get some advice, from a lawyer, why are they witholding the rent? A lot of things are not fair in rental propertys you will see -

Posted by Donald G, MA on Tuesday, July 21, 2009

For future reference make sure you can apply a daily penalty fee before you try to include it in your lease. Some states limit the late fees you can assess. In Maine, for example, I can't charge a late fee until the tenant is 15 days late and it is limited to 4% of the rent. I can serve them notice to leave for non-payment sooner then I can charge them a late fee. I agree about getting advice from a lawyer. If you don't have a lawyer yet I would go to the NEXT available court date in your local area and observe if there is a lawyer who answers for multiple landlords and then contact him. He will know the laws in your area very well and if he respresents multiple clients at one court hearing he is likely to charge less then a lawyer going in to court just for you if you need him to go to court.

Posted by Eric L, ME on Friday, July 24, 2009

Thanks all, for your insightful input.

Posted by Danny B, VA on Friday, July 24, 2009

Danny, in other words make sure everything is up to code in your rental.

Posted by Donald G, MA on Friday, July 24, 2009