Late Rent/Late Fees and not following thru

[David K.]

Just wondering how you all handle these type of situations.  In all my RI rental agreements I charge a late fee of any rent that comes in after the 5th of the month. (rent is due on the 1st). I have a tenant who claims to have paid the rent before the 6th of the month, when in fact he paid the following day.  He's decided to not pay the late fee.  I'm a bit torn on how to handle this.  Never have I had an issue with the 5% late fee, as its clearly stated in writing.

[Jason Boulay]

If you haven't had any issues with this tenant paying rent on time in the past, then I would waive the late fee as a one-time courtesy.  This is simply from a customer service prospective, but make it very clear that this is a one-time thing.  If rent is late in the future, for any reason, the late fee will be assessed and must be paid.

When it comes to rent, I tend to be on the firm side as 1 day after the deadline quickly grows to 2 days, then 5 days, then 8 days, etc.  It's a slippery slope.