Tenant paid rent but not Late Fee

[David Stone]

Hey, just had a question for landlords out there to see what everyone else would do in this situation... We have a tenant who has been on time or early coming up on 3 years now and keep the place in excellent condition.

Recently, he was laid off and is collecting unemployment and seeking employment.  The first month, rent came in late by 1 day, so we waived the late fee and explained if he was having trouble affording rent we could let him out of the lease.  The next month, rent was late by 2 days, so we charged the $70 late fee.  He said he couldn't afford the late fee and paid the full rent.  The third month, he paid on time and did not pay the late fee that month either.

I sent a letter of "Balance Owed" for $70 yesterday.  My question is, what would you do?  Let the tenant slide on the late fee for now until they can afford it and take it from the security deposit if they never pay it or get aggressive with recovery, making an example of the seriousness of his obligation to pay us the full due amount?