All Forum Posts by: Shannon Gauthier

We have had the same tenant in one of our units since 2015. It is now time for lease renewal and she doesn't want to pay the pet fee for her new lease term because she claims her dog is an emotional support animal. She has never stated this to us previously, nor has she provided any paperwork. We understand that once the paperwork is provided, the pet fee shall be returned to her. But without providing paperwork, is t she still obligated to pay the pet fee for her new lease term? If she refuses, what are our options?

It is a sole proprietorship, but since we do not live in that state perhaps it would be better to have a lawyer take care of things. I welcome your reference.

If you have tenants who are violating multiple sections of their lease, would it be better to send one all-encompassing notice to comply, or one notice for each individual violation?  

Also, does anyone send a notice off fee assessment, or do you simply make a phone call? I have a fee that has gone unpaid by the tenant for several months, but am unsure how to address it. They are becoming increasingly difficult to deal with, and we are pretty certain there will be an eviction in our future. We just want to make sure we have our ducks in a row, since we are new Landlords.

State of Illinois, DeKalb County, for anyone who might be familiar with those particular laws. We do not live in that state ourselves.

@ Michael Sato

Same here. I ordered Managing Rental Properties as well as Rental Property Investing through Audible. May I also have that link, please?

Thank you for your replies. I'm still a little confused. Even though it is written into the lease that they must pay the late fee incorporated into the installments as a condition of being able to make installments in the first place, they don't HAVE to pay the late fee?

I own one property in the state of Illinois, a single-family home currently being rented. When our tenants renewed their lease, they were having financial issues and, having been there ourselves, we were sympathetic.  When they asked if they could pay their rent in installments, we agreed, but since they were not paying in full on the due date, we would include the late fee into their payment schedule. Now, they are behind and we are perusing payment. 

Our tenant stated they spoke to an attorney who told them that they did not have to pay the late fee, just the rent according to the schedule. Although the lease states a specific date that the rent must be paid prior to a late fee and we agreed to allow installments only if they included the late fee, they state that they do mot have to pay that fee. 

Yes, we made a stupid decision. Lesson learned. Does anyone have a story they can share, or let us know if the built-in late fee portion was not allowed in Illinois? We researched before allowing this, and didn't see where it was prohibited, but perhaps we missed something.

Thank you all!