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Including Late Fees in a 3 Day Pay or Quit Notice

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  • 11-10-2009, 06:28 AM
    Arggghhh
    Including Late Fees in a 3 Day Pay or Quit Notice
    Re: Rental Property in Florida

    I am about to serve a 3 day Pay or Quit Notice on tenants who are late with November's rent. They are chronically late with the rent, but up to now we have never enforced the late fee of $100 in our lease (We've tried to be understanding. I know, stupid us...). I would like to know if we include the late fee in the total due on the notice or we wait and file for it later if we have to evict. Thanks for your response.
  • 11-12-2009, 06:50 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: 3 Day Pay or Quit Notice
    Last time I looked into this question, I concluded,
    Quote:

    Quoting Mr. Knowitall
    View Post
    Florida permits late fees. Last I checked, Florida also permits landlords to apply ongoing rent payments to past late fees - so if you owe a $50 late fee and your rent is $500, and you pay $500 for the next month's rent, the landlord can apply $50 of the amount toward the late fee owed then charge another late fee because you "only paid $450" toward your current rent obligation.

    With that type of accounting, the arrearage is not so much a "late fee" total as it is a past rent total. Let's say they are late with a $1,000 rent payment, and owe a $100 late fee. When they pay $1,000 you credit the first $100 to the late fee and $900 to the rent balance, leaving an outstanding rent balance of $100.
  • 11-12-2009, 07:16 AM
    Arggghhh
    Re: Including Late Fees in a 3 Day Pay or Quit Notice
    Thanks so much for your quick response. We will be mailing the notice, as we live out of town. How do we know what date to use as the final day to pay ( excluding weekends and holidays) if we aren't sure how long the letter will take to reach the tenants? Would an additional 3 days suffice? If I use certified mail, what happens if they refuse to sign for the letter or don't pick it up for a few days? Then the date on the notice will be faulty.

    Thanks for your input.
  • 11-17-2009, 06:08 PM
    HollywoodLandlord
    Re: Including Late Fees in a 3 Day Pay or Quit Notice
    You have a few options. You technically just need to prove that you gave the appropriate notice. You can mail certified which is your proof that you attempted delivery. Or you could have a process server serve the notice for a nominal fee.

    If you mail it, you don't need to give them any extra time. Just as they would have to put the rent money in an envelope and postmark it by the date is was due to you.

    You can add the late fee(s) to your notice. If you end up having to go to court though, make sure the total amount you are asking for is correct or you could have to start the process over again.
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