Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Our Tenant has been paying us late for the apartment rent. His Lease Renewal is due soon. How much can we charge for late fees? We like this tenant but we needed the rent paid on time. Out of the years he has been renting our apartment we can count about 4 times he paid us on time other times he is always late. He does pay us the late fees, but this is not we are after for. We have bills to pay and we needed the rental money to pay the bills. Need Advice LandLord New Jersey

You can't "force" someone to pay on time, you can only punish (late fees). You can charge any amount you wish, but if he's only been late 4 times out of the "years", that's not too unusual - especially if you like him. Should you raise the fee in an attempt to stop the tardiness, he always has the option of moving out and thus leaving you with the expense of a vacant apt for one to two months. If I were you, I'd put the late fees into savings and just use them the next time the situation repeats itself.

Posted by Matthew M, IL on Monday, August 19, 2019

You could request that he pay through zillow.com They offer a free service - My renter pays zillow on the first of the month. Our payment to the bank for the rental is the 12th - so even if it gets there after the 5th - (which is when the payment is due by without a late fee) I know it will be in my bank before the mortgage payment is due, it usually takes around 7 days to be in my account. When he makes the payment on the 1st - they notify me that he has made it.

Posted by Gregory S, PA on Tuesday, August 20, 2019