Chicago Late Fee, Partial Payment, and Five Day Notices

[Frank S.]

Howdy,

Tenants thew a party, bought furniture, and now are a little short on cash, go figure.

I am double checking a few things, can a Chicago expert please confirm this information?

2017 Chicago Residential Lease

5. Late Fee. The Monthly Rent shall be automatically increased $10, plus 5% of the amount by which the Monthly Rent exceeds $500, as additional rent, if received by Landlord after the 5th of the month for which it is due.

Per this, I can collect  a late fee AFTER the 5th and the late fee is the same the same no matter if they made a partial payment.  Can you confirm, please? 

E.g., $1,325 per month, fee is $51.25.

LANDLORD REMEDIES {MUN. CODE CH. 5-12-130}

If the tenant fails to pay rent, the landlord, after giving five days written notice to the tenant, may terminate the rental agreement.

I read elsewhere that if you accept a partial payment, you should send another 5 day for the amount due.  Otherwise, this is case will be thrown out in court in Chicago.  So, if  I send a 5 day on day 3 and then they don't pay after day 6, I would have to send another 5 day to include the late fee?  

 Thanks, 

Frank

[Matthew Olszak]

@Frank S. We've discussed this separately, but I'll post here for the benefit of others who may come across the thread.

First, I second @Federico Gutierrez. Never accept partial rent. Not only because of the possibility of waiving your rights, but also because the tenant will usually try harder to get the full amount to you. Example: You accept $500 of a $1500 rent. Next time they get money you get $800 more for $1300 total. That last $200 isn't going to be super-top-priority because they've already paid you $1300, you can wait to get $200 more in the tenant's mind. If you don't accept that initial $500, they've now reached day 6 and haven't paid you a dime, for most people the stress level will increase and they'll try a lot harder to get you the full amount knowing you will proceed with an eviction if you haven't been paid anything.

Also, you'll be able to keep a clearer mind and make better business decisions because you won't consider if its worth it to start the eviction process over $200 when they already paid $1300.

For Chicago specifically - if you accept partial rent after the 5 day notice is issued, its now invalid and you have to issue a new notice based on the new amount due. I'm not sure if you can or can't charge a late fee if partial rent has been paid as I never accept less than full payment.