Landlord to charge £20 for late rent. Is it Legal?

franklee

Obviously a tenant should pay the rent on time but even so these;

m1ntie wrote: »

Most landlords wont mind the occasional late payment upto a couple of days or so, but regular late payments are not acceptable.Your landlord may have a mortgage to pay and must make the payment on time.

poppy_f1 wrote: »

if he is relying on you to pay on time so he can pay the mortgage/other bills then you paying late could be causing him problems

are very worrying. A landlord should not be relying on the tenant's rent payments to that extent. A bad tenant could cause such a landlord to get repossessed!

rizla01

Worth Noting.

Monthly bills for a rented home are up by over 10% across the country so renters are feeling the pinch.


Evidence also indicates more tenants are falling behind with their rent payments. Research from insurance company AXA shows that 13% have gone into arrears in the past 12 months, with over half of these doing so in the past three months alone.


Over 50% of those already falling behind are increasingly concerned about being able to afford their rent. 'On the surface it looks like the rental market should be buoyant. But if you consider that many of those renting may be struggling to make ends meet it's certainly not all good news for buy-to-let owners,' said Mike Keating, managing director of personal loans intermediary at AXA.

Now imagine that the BTLer has mortgaged that flat up to the hilt and that the fixed term he took out 5 years ago is about to end?

Perhaps this could be why your landlord, quite rightly, wants to make sure payments are made on time.

I assume that it's OK if your boss pays you a few days late, as well?

violeta_2

Thanks to everyone who replied. It is difficult at moment financially, hence, paying late all the time. But I was hoping if anyone could tell me if the landlord can legally demand late payment fees.

jacnorm

I am a tenant and I have never had to either miss or be late with my rent payments but, if there was a time I had to pay late I would contact the LL at the earliest time possible and I would definately try to prevent it happening again. After all if the LL does not pay the mortgage because the rent is not paid you would be the one losing your home.

clutton_2

not a single "sorry" to be seen ..................

4% above BBR is quite acceptable - and its what the courts allow you to charge for interest on outstanding debts

"£20 is no money for writing a letter - but it does depend on what is in the AST

myself - i'd have evicted you long ago

bristol_pilot

The £20 'fine' is clearly a penalty charge and therefore not legal. Only a statutory authority such as a court or local authority may impose a 'penalty'. Charging interest on unpaid rent is 'liquidated damages' and is likely to be regarded as fair if it's in the contract.

4% + current BBR is 9%, so the LL can charge 9% x £650 x 12 /365 or about £1.92 per day that the rent is late. Or thereabouts.

SkipE

As a LL we had a clause in our contracts that said the tennant had to pay a charge of £25 for everyday after 7 days if the rent was late. It was on a few occasions over two weeks late but we never instructed this money to be recovered.

If you are struggling contact your landlord and let them know. Oh and yes landlords have mortgages to pay etc. When our tennant was late paying we had to put some mortgage payments on credit card which made paying the installments more difficult for us all because our tennant was lazy, he had the money.

If you are regulary paying late the threat of a £20 charge could be your Landlords way of encouraging you to pay on time in the future!!! Really, if it is often that your late, then I dont blame him. Everyone is feeling the pinch I imagine your landlord is too.

bristol_pilot

SkipE wrote: »

As a LL we had a clause in our contracts that said the tennant had to pay a charge of £25 for everyday after 7 days if the rent was late. It was on a few occasions over two weeks late but we never instructed this money to be recovered.

A good thing you never instructed this money to be recovered - a court would have thrown this out.

SquatNow

So the answer for the OP is, no he can't charge you £20, but if you keep paying late he can kick you out, so either pay on time or agree with the landlord to move the rent payment date.

Gorgeous_George

It is not a question about legality, more about fairness.

Is it fair to consistently pay your rent late? Is £20 reasonable?

Well, BofE is 5% - but that's per year. It's 0.014% per day. Add 4% and daily interest coud be 4.014%. So, £20 is cheap. Besides, the interest is in addition to any other reasonable costs - such as £20 for a letter.

My tenant often pays some of the rent a few days late. However, she always lets me know in advance and is good to her word for the remaining rent. I don't charge extra but if my mortgage depended on the rent, I would need to.

GG