Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Pennsylvania
Late fees on rent
My rent is 575.00 per month. My landlord charges 10.00 per day late fee after the 5th day. My payment was mailed last August and lost in the mail. So he applied my september rent to August and october to september and so on and so on. As I was paying the rent on time after that i winded up owing and extra 250 every month because of how he applied it I am now always a month behind paying an extra 250 every month since September. I am in PA. I was told my late fee should be .5% of total monthly rent. I believe I have overpaid. From Oct. to Dec. I paid about 1800 In Jan. I wanted to settle up finally I asked what do I still owe I was advised 2000.00 When I questioned it I was told that everything else I paid went to late fees for those months and I still owed for the rent. Please advise me I am a single mom with 2 kids and can not afford to overpay anything.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Late fees on rent
The late fees seem excessive to me. While .5% a month is the legal rate of interest that might not be what he is limited to charge. However, $250 a month on 43.47% per month or 521% per year. I don't know what the usury ceiling is in PA but its less than that.
Further, unless he has something in the lease stating that late fees come out first they shouldn't.
From here it looks like a trip to the District Magistrate is in order.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me. The initial consultation is free.
{John}
Re: Late fees on rent
The late fees are definitely excessive. However, the argument on his side is that you signed the lease (contract) agreeing to those terms. However, a court may still find them excessive.
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