So, as you guys know, I’m a landlord, okay? I like to set myself aside, not aside, apart from other landlords, but sometimes being a landlord, I’m sometimes I’m just like, how dare you, right? So let me show you guys what I came across in this landlord group that I’m in on Facebook. One second. Alright, so I’m gonna block out her name so you guys don’t try to go to her Facebook and give her help. But somebody asked a question in the Facebook group because it was like the third, no, the second or the third, and their tenant hadn’t paid rent yet, rents to them. The first you get until the six, well, six is the late fee. So it’s really from the first to the fifth Grace period. So she’s like, what can I do? This landlord says all of my rents are due on the 1st, okay, on the 2nd, a late fee of $50 is assess, okay, on the 3rd, and additional 20 dollar late fee is added and every day until the rent is paid. So what she’s saying is she gives her tenants one day to pay their rent. So rent is doing the first. If your rent is not into her on the first, on the second, you get a 50 dollar late fee. On the third, you get another $20. So we’re at $70. And then every day until the rent is paid is $20 per day. No Grace fee.
I think she meant no Grace period at all. My tenants learn very quickly that we do not play around, been in the business for 30 years. My tenants usually stay with me no less than 5 years. Remember, people mistake kindness for weakness. If you give a masa cookie, he is going to want a glass of milk. Okay. This is so much to unpack. Okay, it’s just so much to unpack and I just don’t know where to start. I don’t know where to start. First off, I don’t agree. Okay. Let’s just put that out there. You’re charging $70. Well, okay, $50 on the second of the month.
This lady is in Florida. She says she’s in Florida, I’m in North Carolina, so maybe my laws are different. Okay, we charge one late fee for the month until we get ready to file court papers. Once we file court papers, you have to pay for the court fellows and court fees and all. That’s totally different. She is charging $50 on the second of the month. Okay? Then on the third, she’s charging 20. On the fourth, she’s charging 20. On the fifth, she’s charging 20.
So potentially, for example, I had one tenant who did not, could not pay their rent until the 16th because she was coming off my turn to leave and she had just started backward and something about they messed up her checks, something like that. She wasn’t able to pay until the 16th. Okay, let me calculate how much she would have paid in nothing but late fees if she was this lady’s tenant. This is unbelievable. If my tenant who wasn’t able to pay until the 16th was her tenant, Martini would have faith $380 and nothing but late fee. That’s crazy. I’ve never seen a landlord charge per day, which I’m sure people do it, but is it humane? Like, is that, is that, is that right? Like, is that really morally like you sleep okay at night knowing that you charge in $20 per day, especially if life happens to everybody. So life happens, your tenant is coming off maternity leave, you know, their pay is messed up, their first, you know, couple weeks back, $20 per day. So she would pay a total of $380, nearly $400, and nothing but late fees, not including the rent, not including if this lady decides to go to court. Like this is how people become homeless. This is exactly how people become homeless.
This is crazy. I have never. I will never. I charge 5% for the light fee. One light fee. You don’t pay multiple light fees. We’re in the state of North Carolina, but 5% I, I felt like 5% was hefty. You know, I thought 5% was hefty. Obviously not when you got landlords doing stuff like this. This is crazy. This is very crazy.