Can a landlord charge you late fees after you put the rent in the mail?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can a landlord charge you late fees after you put the rent in the mail?
The landlord said I have to pay a $25 fee for delivering a 3 day notice and a $15 per day late fee until the rent get to her. This is in her lease but the law say (from my understanding she can’t) because once you give it to the post office it’s paid in full.
Asked on November 8, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Ohio
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If you placed the rental payment in the mail box addressed to the landlord properly with postage prepaid and the placement was done before the rent was late, under the "mail box rule" the rental payment was timely paid despite the fact that the landlord may have received the payment after its due date.
However, if the written lease contains a different requirement for receipt of the rental payment (actual receipt by the landlord) and she did not get actual receipt until after the due date, then the written lease that you signed controls the issue that you are writing about.
From what you have written, it seems that your rental payment was late under the terms of the lease.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.