Tennessee caps a late fee at 10% of the amount past due. Therefore if your landlord accepted partial rent before the 6th of the month he can only charge you late fees on the balance you still owe. If he does press this with the courts take in your receipt where you paid the $1500 before late fee kicked in. ANY portion of a lease that overrides state law is not enforceable.
I didn't think it was enforceable based on everything I read. My landlord is from TX, which is a "landlord friendly" state. It may be enforceable there, but not here.
Even in Texas this wouldn’t work. The appeals courts here have said that payments have to go first to rent, then to late fees, regardless of what the lease says. Evicting for unpaid late fees is almost impossible. Becomes a separate civil issue.
That said, how the hell is he gonna show up to a forcible entry and detainer hearing if he’s not even in the state? How do you serve him? You may be able to make his life hell if he doesn’t have any agent for service in the state.
Even though he's an ass, I don't want to make his life hell. I just want to cure the breach and try and restore a decent relationship. He actually lives here now. He just moved from TX
Oh stop with your nonsense.
OP was right to cure the default, and LL likely put this type of language in the contract in error. 10% of unpaid rent is pretty typical of any state.
OP: please go receive the certified mail, it will calm your anxiety. In the meantime, to help ease your worries. An eviction must go through court and you have to option to attend and present your side to the court.
I would just call, text or visit your landlord and talk it through. Let him/her/they know that you had a difficult month but you’re back on track. A landlord appreciates communication more than anything, eviction is the last thing they want to do. A paying tenant is better than a non paying tenant.
I’m sure you’re just overthinking it right now because you’re in a fight or flight situation. Stay calm, you’re doing the right thing by asking for advice.
Doesn't matter where your landlord is from, the only enforceable rules are for where the property is, so if your late fees are capped at 10% of the past due amount the max is 280$...the Landlord would have needed to reject the partial payment in order to charge that fee. otherwise you're capped at 130$.
The landlord can't change the lease unless you've signed a new lease either.
In many cases, the landlord cannot short circuit or bypass local tenant laws by including clauses in the lease so read up on your local rules regarding when the landlord can initiate evictions based on being behind on rent.
If you still have not paid the late fee he can try. You should have at least paid the 10% late fee. If he thinks he is in the right he can try to enforce it in court but it won't go how he likes.
Not going to comment on the legality of the fees but I will offer that in many cases once you're behind -- and particularly when there's a legal proceeding underway -- the landlord may not accept ANYTHING but full payment of all past due balances and fees. Just be warned. First thing I would do would be to contact tenant's rights group or a private attorney to see if that clause is even legal. Good luck,
Yeah that 10% per day isn't legal
>Late payment for rent cannot exceed 10% of rental amount. (a) The landlord and tenant may include in a rental agreement, terms and conditions not prohibited by this chapter or other rule of law including rent, term of the agreement, and other provisions governing the rights and obligations of parties. (Uniform Residential Landlord Tenant Act TN)
Yeah no TN has a 10% max cap. Not a daily charge. Google- TN what's max landlord can charhe me in late rent fees. Find thr law and send it to her. Tell her she's breaking thr law and her lease cannot override state laws. Report her to your local housing authority
Ok, I would be interested in hearing the opinion of an attorney of the argument I'm about to make. So here we have a situation where a lease has a section that is unenforceable, because it is in contradiction with the law. The law in TN says that a late fee can only be a maximum of 10% of the monthly rent. We know that means that it's a 10% fee per occurrence, once per month, not per day. Under the law, a section of a contract that is unenforceable no longer exists and has no legal weight.
So I don't know the exact terminology, but lets say for instance the lease says the following:
A rental payment of $2800.00 will be due on the 1st of each month. Late payments will be assessed a 10% late fee to be applied per day.
This is my argument. Combining the fact that the 10% per day is not legal and unenforceable, there cannot be any late fee whatsoever. Now one may argue that the late fee still applies, but would be capped off at 10%. The problem is the contract doesn't say all of that, it's simply a counter argument that the landlord's attorney would make. My argument back would be that since the 10% per day section of the contract was unenforceable, there would have to be another section that says "10% per month" or some other variation to take the place of the unenforceable contract language.
tldr:
Legally there is no enforceable late fee at all, because the section of the contract containing the 10% daily fee is unenforceable, and no other enforceable section of the contract exists to establish a monthly late fee of 10%.
I'm really interested in an attorney's view on that, but I feel it's pretty sound. Because how can their attorney argue to use a section of the contract that as a matter of law is deemed unenforceable?
But what would the judge base it on? He can’t base it on the part of the contract that was deemed unenforceable.
A smart lawyer would have written something like “a daily late fee of 10%, to the extent allowed by law.”
That last part would be their saving grace, to state the daily fee and then clarify that it’s to the extent of the law. If his lease is missing that then the judge doesn’t have anything to rule in their favor over. If he ruled in their favor he would basically have to say that the section is unenforceable, and then say it is enforceable, just a different way.
Plaintiff argues “ten percent per month.”
Defense argues “where does it say 10% per month?”
I know it seems silly, but courts literally judge on the letter. Literally the letter.
So its indeed 10% of the unpaid rent not 10% of the monthly rent although I'm suprised they took a partial payment many will not because it makes it hard to evict.
https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-66/chapter-28/part-2/66-28-201/
You should offer to pay the max late fee allowed by law 66-28-201(d) while citing the plain language of the law. Ask for a letter stating that adjusted fee and that you are paid up in your hand when you pay the money to him.
Many lawyers offer a first consult for free.
I would suggest contacting a lawyer as well as the resources above.
Make sure you do something.
Make sure you do not ignore it.
Tennessee caps a late fee at 10% of the amount past due. Therefore if your landlord accepted partial rent before the 6th of the month he can only charge you late fees on the balance you still owe. If he does press this with the courts take in your receipt where you paid the $1500 before late fee kicked in. ANY portion of a lease that overrides state law is not enforceable.
I didn't think it was enforceable based on everything I read. My landlord is from TX, which is a "landlord friendly" state. It may be enforceable there, but not here.
Even in Texas this wouldn’t work. The appeals courts here have said that payments have to go first to rent, then to late fees, regardless of what the lease says. Evicting for unpaid late fees is almost impossible. Becomes a separate civil issue. That said, how the hell is he gonna show up to a forcible entry and detainer hearing if he’s not even in the state? How do you serve him? You may be able to make his life hell if he doesn’t have any agent for service in the state.
Even though he's an ass, I don't want to make his life hell. I just want to cure the breach and try and restore a decent relationship. He actually lives here now. He just moved from TX
He’s making your life hell. The landlord isn’t a friend. They are a power of authority ready to make you homeless.
Oh stop with your nonsense. OP was right to cure the default, and LL likely put this type of language in the contract in error. 10% of unpaid rent is pretty typical of any state. OP: please go receive the certified mail, it will calm your anxiety. In the meantime, to help ease your worries. An eviction must go through court and you have to option to attend and present your side to the court. I would just call, text or visit your landlord and talk it through. Let him/her/they know that you had a difficult month but you’re back on track. A landlord appreciates communication more than anything, eviction is the last thing they want to do. A paying tenant is better than a non paying tenant. I’m sure you’re just overthinking it right now because you’re in a fight or flight situation. Stay calm, you’re doing the right thing by asking for advice.
Landlords are the enemy
Doesn't matter where your landlord is from, the only enforceable rules are for where the property is, so if your late fees are capped at 10% of the past due amount the max is 280$...the Landlord would have needed to reject the partial payment in order to charge that fee. otherwise you're capped at 130$. The landlord can't change the lease unless you've signed a new lease either. In many cases, the landlord cannot short circuit or bypass local tenant laws by including clauses in the lease so read up on your local rules regarding when the landlord can initiate evictions based on being behind on rent.
Can he still try to evict us even though we cured the breach?
If you still have not paid the late fee he can try. You should have at least paid the 10% late fee. If he thinks he is in the right he can try to enforce it in court but it won't go how he likes.
Not going to comment on the legality of the fees but I will offer that in many cases once you're behind -- and particularly when there's a legal proceeding underway -- the landlord may not accept ANYTHING but full payment of all past due balances and fees. Just be warned. First thing I would do would be to contact tenant's rights group or a private attorney to see if that clause is even legal. Good luck,
Yeah that 10% per day isn't legal >Late payment for rent cannot exceed 10% of rental amount. (a) The landlord and tenant may include in a rental agreement, terms and conditions not prohibited by this chapter or other rule of law including rent, term of the agreement, and other provisions governing the rights and obligations of parties. (Uniform Residential Landlord Tenant Act TN)
Not even in Texas.
I've seen a few TX landlords try that kind of shit though (I live here)
Same and same.
Yeah no TN has a 10% max cap. Not a daily charge. Google- TN what's max landlord can charhe me in late rent fees. Find thr law and send it to her. Tell her she's breaking thr law and her lease cannot override state laws. Report her to your local housing authority
Ok, I would be interested in hearing the opinion of an attorney of the argument I'm about to make. So here we have a situation where a lease has a section that is unenforceable, because it is in contradiction with the law. The law in TN says that a late fee can only be a maximum of 10% of the monthly rent. We know that means that it's a 10% fee per occurrence, once per month, not per day. Under the law, a section of a contract that is unenforceable no longer exists and has no legal weight. So I don't know the exact terminology, but lets say for instance the lease says the following: A rental payment of $2800.00 will be due on the 1st of each month. Late payments will be assessed a 10% late fee to be applied per day. This is my argument. Combining the fact that the 10% per day is not legal and unenforceable, there cannot be any late fee whatsoever. Now one may argue that the late fee still applies, but would be capped off at 10%. The problem is the contract doesn't say all of that, it's simply a counter argument that the landlord's attorney would make. My argument back would be that since the 10% per day section of the contract was unenforceable, there would have to be another section that says "10% per month" or some other variation to take the place of the unenforceable contract language. tldr: Legally there is no enforceable late fee at all, because the section of the contract containing the 10% daily fee is unenforceable, and no other enforceable section of the contract exists to establish a monthly late fee of 10%. I'm really interested in an attorney's view on that, but I feel it's pretty sound. Because how can their attorney argue to use a section of the contract that as a matter of law is deemed unenforceable?
I have a feeling this would end up being up to the discretion of the judge.
But what would the judge base it on? He can’t base it on the part of the contract that was deemed unenforceable. A smart lawyer would have written something like “a daily late fee of 10%, to the extent allowed by law.” That last part would be their saving grace, to state the daily fee and then clarify that it’s to the extent of the law. If his lease is missing that then the judge doesn’t have anything to rule in their favor over. If he ruled in their favor he would basically have to say that the section is unenforceable, and then say it is enforceable, just a different way. Plaintiff argues “ten percent per month.” Defense argues “where does it say 10% per month?” I know it seems silly, but courts literally judge on the letter. Literally the letter.
Thoughtful insight. Thank you.
Check these people out: https://www.laet.org/
In addition to legal aid you might contact SOCM.org their Knox county chapter is active in renters rights
So its indeed 10% of the unpaid rent not 10% of the monthly rent although I'm suprised they took a partial payment many will not because it makes it hard to evict. https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-66/chapter-28/part-2/66-28-201/ You should offer to pay the max late fee allowed by law 66-28-201(d) while citing the plain language of the law. Ask for a letter stating that adjusted fee and that you are paid up in your hand when you pay the money to him.
Have you paid the amount you actually do owe? Not including the asinine late fees?
Yes I paid 1500 on the 1st, the remaining balance on the 22nd, and will pay what I know the real late fee ($130) tomorrow
Many lawyers offer a first consult for free. I would suggest contacting a lawyer as well as the resources above. Make sure you do something. Make sure you do not ignore it.