Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Missouri

help with resolving late fee date

My husband and I entered into an agreement in July 1, 2004 for a rent with option to purchase which every payment recieved goes towards the total amount of the purchase price, but here is my question it is in reguards to the section in our agreement as Late Fee: Should the Party of the Second Part fail to pay any part of the rent herein, or any other sum required to be paid by the Party of the second part (my husband and I) to the party of the first part, within ten days AFTER the due date thereof, we shall pay a 25.00 late fee. would the late fee be incurred as of the 10th day of the month or anything after the 11th of the month? the actual due date is the 1st of the month, but the way I understand the contract is we have 10 days after the 1st of the month to make payment. which would mean in order to be late it would have to be anything after the 11th of the month. the party of the first part is saying that if the payment is recieved ON the 11th it is late?? is this accurate or would it be the 12th before it would be considered late?? thanks


Asked on 2/18/06, 11:25 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Smith LawSmith

Re: help with resolving late fee date

There is no hard rule on this. However, it would lkely be determined by the wording of the due date. If it says "payment due by the first of each month" then payment on the 11th would likely be late, and perhaps payment on the 10th could be considered late. If it says "payment is due on the 1st of the month" then it probably would not be considered late on the 10th. The other consideration for a Court to use, would be the course and dealing (how the parties treated the late date interpretation) That may not be useful, as it appears that there is a disagreement on that determination.

If the wording is deemed to be "ambiguous" by the court, than it will be interpreted to be not in favor of the party who drafted it. I am unsure how a court will handle a preprinted form that the parties agreed to use as the written description of their agreement.

Good Luck,

Tony Smith

Read more
Answered on 2/20/06, 6:56 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Landlord & Tenants questions and answers in Missouri