Dear Editor:
I have been renting in the (moderated) community which is managed by a company named (moderated), for nearly a year now. For the most part my experience has been pleasant; until recently, when they increased my rent from $1250 to $1300, a $50 increase, in one year. To top it off, rent is due by the first of each month as is expected. Management, however, grants one a grace period of 5 days, by which if payment is not received, they levy a fine of $50!!! YES you read correctly. Not $15; not $25, but $50!!!!!!! This month I mailed out my September rent on the first, but due to Labor Day weekend my payment wasn’t processed until the 6th, thou they acknowledge receiving on the 3rd. Hence, I was slapped with a $50 late fee penalty.
Firstly, I in my opinion, a late payment fee of $50 is extremely excessive and outrageous! I am aware I agreed to pay this fee when I signed my lease, but truth be told I didn’t really pay much attention to this detail, reasoning my rent has always been and will always be on time. Well this month I was late by their terms and reality has kicked in. In today’s climate when so many people are unemployed or have fallen on hard times and are struggling to make ends meet, wouldn’t you agree $50 is excessive and unjust?
Moreover, I think it is fair to say that the community of (moderated) is, by and large, not an affluent community and there are many yeshivaleit families struggling to make ends meet. Surely there are many who don’t have their rent in by the 5th of each month, let alone who fail to pay there rent at all. Are these families also obligated to pay this $50 penalty each month?
Wishing you all a piska tova, and I look forward to your input and advice.
[Please don’t print my name]
(TLS welcomes your letters by sending them to tlsnewstips@gmail.com)
“I am aware I agreed to pay this fee when I signed my lease, but truth be told I didn’t really pay much attention to this detail”
End of conversation
you agreed to the terms and signed the lease.now you have the chutzpa to complain!!
this is free country. you can move if you want to
We have a tenant who is habitually late. This puts us in a very uncomfortable situation. Every month we have to beg for the rent. And by the 15th we get a text – don’t worry, we will pay the $50 late fee. Do we take it or not?
If they acknowledge that they received your rent by the 3rd then they have no right to charge the late fee.
It’s not your fault that it takes them a few days to process. If it would take them two weeks to process would that mean that you have to send it two weeks early?
There have been class action lawsuits against banks and credit card companies over the years over this specific issue and the courts have heavily protected the consumers rights in regards to this issue.
As you admit to having agreed to the penalty, there is no doubt that you should be held to the contract. $50 is not unreasonable. Nor is it an unreasonable penalty.
However, if the office indeed admitted to receiving your check on the 3rd, then you have submitted it on time. You need not be punished for their delay in getting to the bank. If you have that confirmation in writing (or in another provable fashion), I would send a polite, registered letter, to the Management, with a cc. to an attorney.
Finally, a $50 increase in rent on a $1250 monthly rent is a 4% increase, which I don’t see as a particularly tough increase. Because of your tone, and off topic complaints, your article comes off as a rant rather that a reasonable question.
My suggestion – mail your check a couple of days early, or, if possible, deliver it in person.
check re ribbis. late fees are not pashut
For #3 – might I suggest modifying the lease terms upon your next contract to include an increasing penalty for late payments (if legal – I’m no expert)? $50 for 5-10 days late, with a $10 increase per day thereafter – for the first late payment. Start the second at $100 with the same terms (+$10 per day after 10 days). Start the third at $150, and have the additional penalty of the grace period being removed permanently. Document everything.
Additionally, you may not want to renew this tenant’s lease.
You are lying in regards to at least one detail. If they received the check on the 3rd (which was a friday/working day) then they would not have charged a late fee. In fact I find it hard to believe that anyone would do that even if they received it on 7th because monday the 6th was a holiday. In any event the exact same story was printed in Der Yid or Der Blatt (can’t remember which one) a week ago about a williamsburgh apartment. Which makes me believe that both are a hoax.
Btw, if they in fact did receive it on the 3rd then legally they can’t charge you a late fee, you should report them.
While i agree that it is a bitter pill to swallow, the question is if that is an industry standard? if it is, whatever you want to call it, it is not cruel of the management to charge that.
I dont recall doing this before but i must say i agree with The Rat that if you did send it in on time thye should not be charging you for their inability to process it in time.
If rent is due by the first, does this mean the tenant must mail it by the first, or the landlord must have it by the first?
The late fee should be more than $50!
There are many stipulations in leases that are there to avoid sticky situations like returned check fees, dealing with violations fee, eviction filing fees. These are necessary parts of the rental business. These are standard and the fees charged you including the rent increase is not excessive. Sounds like you feel you are being picked on because you work and they think you can afford these fees. Try sending something like a thank you note or gift to the management company once a year to show your appreciation of how they manage the properties and they will likely waive a once in a while type fee.
We charge a 10% late fee if the rent is received after the 5th of the month. This is a pretty standard policy so I’m not sure what the big deal is exactly.
At my property we charge a 10% late fee! This is the norm!
If they received it before the fifth they are not allowed to charge you a late fee. IN addition I know the goverment recently enacted legislation related to the credit card companies that if a payment due date falls on a weekend/holiday it is due the following business day
To quote the legislation from the website federalreserve.gov
If your payment due date is on a weekend or holiday (when the company does not process payments), you will have until the following business day to pay. (For example, if the due date is Sunday the 15th, your payment will be on time if it is received by Monday the 16th before 5 p.m.).
I do not know if this applies to all bills or just credit cards. Common decency says that you obviously mailed it on time and they should not charge you. I believe I live in the same development as you and unfortunatly whenever you go to the management company in (moderated) they are horrrible people to deal with and common sense or decency do not matter to them.
Also to correct a error in your post to quote Management, however, grants one a grace period of 5 days It is not management that gives the grace period. IT is nj law. IN nj no one is allowed to charge a rental late fee before 5 days.
I personally would advise you that if this really bothers you to contact someone from the attorney generals office and ask them the law in regard to your case of receiving it on the third and processing only on the sixth.
Why would you accuse a fellow jew of lying without any proof whatsoever. I believe I suspect wich development the poster is referencing too and it makes perfect sense that is what the management company would do.
Your story sounds nice and I can imagine you don’t like getting extra fees – but as a rental manager myself I can tell you why this is done. OUR MORTGAGE HAS TO BE PAID ON TIME OR WE GET A LATE FEE!!! We are not doing this to make $$ we are doing it to cover the expense of the late fee YOU are causing US! If you don’t pay on time; we can’t pay on time, and no mortgage comnpany cares for any excuse – late is late. That is why we charge you. As for the increase; that is 100% legal.
To # 7 that is legal
If your rent is due on the first dont mail it on the first.
Firstly do you have a lease agreement? Did you get a notice of terminating the 1st year lease and prior notice of rent increase? At that point the ball is in your court whether to sign a new lease and pay the increase or to seek a new residence.
Secondly a 4% increase may be on the higher side but it’s not at all outlandish. Also ask your neighbors when last the development got an increase. These may not occur on an annual basis, so it could be you just got bad mazal that it occurred at the end of your first year.
Lastly I am a big believer in penalties, even though I too hate having to pay them (believe me I pay my fair share – a result of been a little ztufloigen). If there wasn’t a warning for paying late, most people would push off their payment. It’s human nature to resist doing something you don’t want to do, and who wants to pay for anything. I guess now that you’ve paid your $50 you’ll think about paying your rent a little earlier.
Hatzlocho raba
On my mortgage if I am late I have to pay a $60- penalty.
Wow I wish mine was 50 I have a late charge of 125 !
I happened to have recently moved out of this same community( I bought a house). NJ Rent Law ( you can find it in the statutes) does not allow for a late fee untill the 5th of the month, and at that point allows a maximum $50 late fee. This management company is legaly entitiled to the late fee. However, if they admit to having received the checked on the 3rd, they CANNOT legaly asses the late fee. Send a certified letter to this effect, and they will back down. The rent increase is fully withing the limit legaly allowed in Lakewood. This management company is out to maximize profit which is why they are raising rent year after year while demand for their apartments is stron. My apartment was raised from $1050 to $1200 in yearly $50 increments. You can expect more of the same with them. The one issue I had with them is when I had to break the lease due to my home purchase. Despite leaving my apartment in pristine condition, theycharged me a $400 “liqidated damages clause” fee. This despite rerenting my apartment out in just one day, at a higher rent, so they actually made money on the deal! Liquidated damages clauses are very dubious legaly. They also tried to charge me hundreds of dollars in attourneys fee when I told them to use my security deposit for last months rent and insted they files for eviction for nonpayment of rent, despite the fact that I was abou to move out and they had the security deposit. I negotiated the fee away and paid them the liquidated damages fee. Oh, and don’t think there are so many people not paying them rent for months. They consistently file for eviction within two weeks of a late rent payment! Let the renter beware and realize that if it is written into their lease they will enforce it. To be fair their maintanance of the apartments is exemplary.
First of all, property tax alone in Lakewood has gone up more than 5% annualy, thus they are fully justified to raise your rent.
As for the last commentor about security deposit, no, security deposit is not meant to cover the last months rent. It is returned after you vacate the apartment, & the apartment is inspected. Otherwise it has no value.
As for the evictions, remember, evictions cost money. Usually over $500, and you can be sure that some of the late fees go to cover that.
Also, your rent is due the 1st, you should be paying it a few days earlier. 5 days is more than enough grace period.
Unless recently changed, as per the NJ TRUTH IN RENTING, that your landlord is required to give you a copy of when you move in, the maximum late fee allowed in the state is $35.00. Check it out for yourself….
A late fee of this nature is halachically invalid – “asmachta b’alma”, contractually stipulated or not. Confirm with a Rav, obviously, but I have some experience in this area and I am certain that it is unenforcable.
i really feel bad for those who are financially struggling , but there is no excuse to pay anything late. it causes a domino affect where everyone starts paying the next one late, and its all the first guys fault. if you cannot afford a 1300 rent move to a 900 rent , but dont pay late. i work in a totally different industry and was knocked out about 2 years ago mainly becuase of cashflow issues due to late payers. i had to totally adjust and do something else. it is you that started the domino affect and every company should have the right to make whatever penelty they want on latepayers , so that they can protect themselves and in turn it protects everyone.
I have been renting a house in lkwd from mgmt company. my late fee is $75 and I do not even have a lease- it is written on the btm of my bill each month.
first of all,When rent is due on the 1st that means your late on the second already.But we are kind to give you a grace period.And 50.00 late fee is cheap.Most places charge 100.00
Also managment bases you being late by when we recieved check not when we processed it.So its hard to belive that they got it on 3rd and still charged you.Whats thier argument?
Lady, you may have been in the right this time, and if you’d call up and calmly explain your situation you would get it off your bill. I also live in the “moderated” community you’re talking about and I had the same thing happen. They took it off immediately agter a calm phonecall. I suggest you pay online from now on, it’s a lot more hassle free.
As far as the fee itself, do you really think everyone pays ontime? LOL!!! they have to evict a nice amount of people every year who don’t pay their rent at all. The fee is not there for nothing trust me. Try being a landlord, it’s not as easy as you think.
As far as your rent increase, look around Lakewood and you’ll see you’re getting a very fair rent. People are paying 1000 bucks for a basement today. You have to be reasonable and WANT to pay ffor what you’re getting if it’s reasonable. Life is not free or a government program all the time.
my lease states late fee is charged after 5th day. Does this mean business day? This month the 5th was on a Saturday and the landlord received it on Monday the 7th. Can he still insist on me paying a late fee?