I guess I just needed a sanity check that I was not being unduly harsh or unfair to the tenant.

Good points, however I think that the assumption that people are running out and buying things purely because they meet a rule-of-thumb metric such as 50%/2%/etc may be a little harsh.

Sometimes the advice can be harsh and too direct, but you need to have some thick skin to see past that to what are they really trying to say to "help" you.

I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm trying to help.

When you explain things in person they don't come across harsh. 

It is nice to see the harsh slant in that article. 

Sorry if I sound harsh, but if you are not getting sympathy from fellow landlords, that could spell trouble in court.

I originally thought about charging $100/day for a late fee (I really hate unpunctuality) but my attorney said that any judge would throw it out as too harsh and that Florida law stipulates a max of 10% of the rent, so instead I revised it to “$50/day up to 10% of the monthly rent.”

This may sound harsh but You are really screwing this landlord thing up right from the start bro .

Cliff like fall for some companies, and harsh uptick in unemployment(real unemployment).