State Specific Question About: FLORIDA (FL)

You have a couple of choices. My favorite is to apply part of the rent to the late fee and to send a __ Day Notice To Pay Rent Or Quit for the balance of the rent. This brings the issue to a head very quickly. Of course, you risk losing the tenant if you evict over the late fee, but the alternative is to let the tenant walk all over you.

Some people will deduct the late fee from the SD, but then the SD is reduced.

I do what Mike suggests -- my lease makes it clear that all payments are first applied to any outstanding debts, including late fees and other charges, then to any past-due rent, and only lastly to the current period's rent.

So, if someone did that to me, I'd subtract the late fee from it, credit the rest towards the current rent, and then immediately post the Pay or Quit with the amount that was missing due to the late fee.

So, to be clear, the Pay or Quit is NOT for the late fee. It is for the MISSING RENT.

That being said, I am curious -- what is their reasoning? Why are they running the show? They were late, right? Are they arguing that they weren't late? That your fee is unreasonable? Or is it really just a "I don't care, I'm not paying it and that's that" situation?

John,

Isn't crediting the payment first towards the late fee and the rest to the rent the same as accepting a partial rent payment? In Florida, if we accept partial rent, we can't give the pay or quit for that month.

Gina, Why lose a paying tenant over 3 days? If it were me I would say ok let's rewrite the lease and you now pay on the 5th. You sign up for our debiting service and we are done.

Be flexible without being taken advantage of. You still get rent and all are happy. I just adjusted my due date for a good tenant to the 5th because his disability check comes in on the 3rd. I ate the cost of the debit because I had also just given a 5% rent increase. Not sure how long he will stay but I know it's lots cheaper to move the due date a couple of days than to find a new tenant.

You should address this in your lease,

Any late fees will be deducted from the next months rent,

We send them a bill to document the expenses, and then address it in the Security Deposit accounting.,

I have seen banks forgive late fees, sometime it is best to look at them as a client, and hope things work out in the long run.

I do not make money on every job I do, many times I do not get paid enough, when a job goes bad, I eat it and get it done.

Gina, If he is SS or SSD I would move his due date to the 3rd as Bill said. I have done this for my ss tenants and it works good.

You could fight over a 30.00 late for and post a pay or vacate notice. As for me I like my rent. 3 days is not that big of a deal to me.

In my market this time of year can take some time to fill a vacancy. I would talk to them and see what you can do to resolve the problem.

I have current 15yr tenant who pays 6 to 7 days late. I shrug it off. I don't want to spend the 7 to 8K it would cost to update and remodel.

Indeed -- seeing the rest of the story, I would likely adjust the lease. Especially with FL law issues on applying funds.

- John...

Some states have laws about how rent money can be applied. For example, in WI the landlord must apply payments to rent owed before applying payment to late fees.

We can't get away with using March rent to pay the $50 late fee from Feb. Late fees can be taken from the security deposit at the end of the lease, but I never like to eat into the deposit during the lease.

Here is the thing, your rent is paid in advance.

Only LL get paid in advance..and say they are paid late,

If I were a tenant, I'd pay with a credit card and enjoy the float..

Just a perspective from the other side.

I pay my Attorney after the case is over,

I pay my Physician after the procedure.

Even my CPA files my taxes and then sends me a bill.

You need to have in your lease that any money paid to landlord would first be applied to late fees, repair fees, court fees and then to rent due. I have taken money and then given the tenant a 3 day notice to pay rent. How much is your late fee?

I know landlords who have rent due on the 1st and being late on the 2nd. In Florida this is legal.

Gina,

This is a version of a PayDayPlan!

Go back to his application and check his source of income.

Bark all you want but he does not have money on the first if this is SSI or disability.

Are you HOLDING checks for others? But mad about him?

I'd send a letter putting the due date on the 3rd to match his check. The letter keeps it from lingering later.