law on 10% limit on late fee - Landlord Forum thread

law on 10% limit on late fee by LO (NM) on November 14, 2009 @17:24

I let a tennent move in with agreement to he would pay the deposit amount over a 3 month period. (silly me)
The lease states amounts to be charged as late fees.
Does the NM law limiting 10% on rent payments apply to other amounts owed or just the rent.

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Re: law on 10% limit on late fee by Chris (AZ) on November 15, 2009 @00:04	[ Reply ]
Does your lease say the Security deposit is being paid as late fees? That makes no sense to me. The deposit is not rent. There should be something about the tenant being in default if the security is not paid within X # of days.

Re: law on 10% limit on late fee by OK-LL on November 15, 2009 @11:36

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My turn to intrepret -- OP is saying he split the SD into 3 payments spread over 3 months and tenant has now failed to make a payment. OP has lease which states the amount of the late fee. OP wants to know if he can charge a late fee on the unpaid SD now that the tenant missed the SD payment.

My answer is yes, you can, but I'm not quoting NM law. Late fees apply to all amounts due under the agreement, unless it says otherwise (for instance, if it says "late fees apply to rent which is not paid on the due date", in that case, it applies only to rent, not SD payment).

Try googling that. If your agreement had a clause that says any accrued and unpaid fees, deposits, etc. are deemed to be "added rent", then you could certainly apply a late fee to all outstanding charges, including the SD.

Good luck.

Re: law on 10% limit on late fee