Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I have a renter who was late with December rent and refuses to pay the late fee. He states he is not paying the fee because of an issue that was promptly taken care of up move in and because in November the range element stopped working. (we waived his late fee upon move in but expressed that if rent was late again there would be a late fee and the range was fixed within 3 weeks due to a back ordered part) It seems that if something goes wrong in the house that he feels he has the right to not pay his rent until it is fixed. I am sending a late fee notice but what do we do if he still refuses to pay? Can we take it out of the security deposit? He's a good tenant otherwise but we feel taken advantage of when we do our best to be understanding. Can we remind him that rent is due even if something is wrong?

If your rental agreement specifies a late charge when rent remains unpaid for a certain time; then you have the right to charge a late fee. If the Tenant is citing negligence on your part for an unrepaired item, there usually are specific steps that must be taken. A Tenant has no right to simply not pay an obligation. If you send monthly statements, I would continue to include the late charge. If it remains unpaid, then you may deduct it from the securtiy deposit at move-out.

Posted by Denise S, PA on Monday, December 28, 2009