Utility payback before rent collection

[Kyle Smith]

A renter in one of my units is late on paying his utility bill. Actually, my property manager pays it each month and then bills back to him. He’s been late paying it back for the last two months.

My question is if it’s legal to just apply his rent to paying the utility bill first and then charge him a late fee for rent if he’s late paying that after? Only asking because I don’t know if it’s legal to charge a late fee for utilities, but could be wrong. Anyone have experience here? Thanks in advance!