Late Fee Amounts For Florida
Hello everyone, just curious for those who own rentals in FL (and other states too) how much is your late fee? In FL is there a law that states late fees can be no more than __ % of the total rent ? I charge 30.00 late fee for Apartments that rent in the 750.00 range. I am just wondering if this is about average.
[ Edited by Waylon on Date 03/30/2006 ]
I have a clause in my Rental Agreement that states "there is a penalty fee of $10.00/day and for each additional day if the rent is not payed on due date" .Sometime tenants forget it is Rent day so I give them till next day without enforcing the penalty. It is up to you, you best know your tenants
Konte
Quote:
On 2006-03-30 18:55, Waylon wrote:
Hello everyone, just curious for those who own rentals in FL (and other states too) how much is your late fee? In FL is there a law that states late fees can be no more than __ % of the total rent ? I charge 30.00 late fee for Apartments that rent in the 750.00 range. I am just wondering if this is about average.
<font size=-1>[ Edited by Waylon on Date 03/30/2006 ]</font>
I do the same, however, with a bit of a slant. I have some properties in a low income area so I have a clause that states "late fees are $10 per day or 10% of the amount late, whichever is lower". Obviously, if they are two weeks late $140 would be difficult to collect but $40 would be much easier. In a lower income area, if you have too hefty of a late fee they just choose to move out rather than catch up.
First - I do not pick up checks at the property. They must be mailed.
I use to do a per day, but I am not going to the PO Box everyday just to pick up a check that may not be there, and when the tenant writes the check they do not know when it will be in my box. So I have a $50 late fee that is due if the check is not delievered to my box my the 6th. And as already meantioned, if you charge a per day you can get people so far behind that they can never catch up.
If it ever goes to court in FL, I am told that the late fees must be reasonable. Think about the late fees the phone company, power company, credit card company charge. You can not decide that you are going to charge a 25% late fee - the judge will never let that fly. Which is another problem with the per day late fees. If you ever tried to evict someone, the tenant could say that the late fee on a $750 rent got to be $310 and the judge could throw out the eviction.
Brenda
I charge 100 dollar late fee the first day and 25 dollars a day after that. I do not give a grace period. I strictly enforce this the first time they test this policy. ( usually the second month) If you do not crack the whip on your new tenants when they try you you will have a bad landlording experience.
Having said that about the late fees-- in Florida you cannot add the late fees to an eviction proceeding so the proper term for the late fees on the lease is
" additional rent ". This can be put on the 3 day notice which I personally deliver around 12:01 a.m. on the day the rent is late. It helps the tenants remember that their rent is their most important payment each month just as our mortgage payments are our most important payments.
Paul
The Central Virginia market sees pools as a liability and generally we do not add any value for one when doing a CMA. Above ground pools reduce value.
Jim
thanks for the reply Chris. Will do.