Excessive late fees
February 1, 2010
My daughter signed a year lease not reading or understanding the terms, $900.00 a month she and a roomate agreed to with a 5% late fee every month. Is this fee legal, thay are paying $1600 a month in late fees well over the amount of the rent. I too am a landlord and was under the impresion late fees cannot not be abouve a certain percent. I am sugessting that she breaks this lease and cut her losses. No one can afford that loan shark rate this day and time and what kind of person would take advantage of 2 students 19 years old.
Please help!
A 5% late fee is fairly normal for a residential lease. Some states regulate the size of the late fee, and some state courts may reject a 5% late fee. I looked at the Georgia state website and did not notice a hard and fast limit on the late fee amount that is legal.
About the Author: Bob Cain
Some 30 years ago Bob Cain went to a no-money-down seminar and got the notion that owning rental property would be just the best idea there is for making money. He bought some. Trouble was, what he learned at the seminar didn’t tell him how to make money on his rental property. He went looking for help in the form of a magazine or newsletter about the business. He couldn't find any.
Always ready to jump at a great idea, he decided he could put his speaking and writing skills to work and perform a valuable service for other investors who needed more information about property management. So Bob ferreted out the secrets, tricks and techniques of property management wherever he found them; then he passed them along to other landlords.
For over 25 years now, Bob has been publishing information, giving speeches, putting on seminars and workshops, and consulting for landlords on how to buy, rent and manage property more effectively.
One Comment on “Excessive late fees”
Ron Smeller
November 5, 2013 at 6:03 pm
If they pay the rent on time, there are no late fees. The late fee is a deterent to paying late. As a landlord, you should understand that and teach your daughter to pay on time.