NY late fees and grace period - Landlord Forum thread 195803

NY late fees and grace period by Anonymous (NY) on February 3, 2010 @15:54

This is for upstate NY, not NYC (Ulster County to be exact).

I want to know if anyone here knows where to find the NY landlord laws. The only place I can find anything is the link this site has but it seems that is geared more towards tenants.

The reason I'm asking is that I just found out today that some of the things in my rental agreement may not be in line with NY law.

The main thing is that in my rental agreements I start charging late fees after the 5th of the month. I was just told today by a lawyers office that I can't start charging late fees until after the 10th of the month and I can only charge a max of 5% of what the rent is.

Any help would be appreciated.

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Re: NY late fees and grace period by Ultimate M-bone on February 3, 2010 @16:01	[ Reply ]

Evidently the laws that you read for your State are not going to change or become landlord freindly. NY is terrible for landlords. If a lawyer told you no more than 5% after the 10th, you can assume it must be the law or you should have asked that lawyer right then, "is that the law"? Put into your lease that you charge a $XX.XX fee for serving or posting a 'Notice required by your State' the day after rent is due and unpaid. That'll solve that problem.

Re: NY late fees and grace period by Anonymous on February 3, 2010 @19:27	[ Reply ]

I don't know where he got that from. I see nothing about a required grace period in NY state laws, nor do I see a limit on the amount of late fees. Check local ordinances to see if these are under those statutes. If no mandatory grace period is in the law and none is in the lease, you may charge late fees beginning on the 2nd. If this is the case, allowing until the 5th for a grace period is more than what is required. Normal late fees must be reasonable, which means between 5 and 10% of the rent owed. If your area if tenant friendly, stick closer to 5%. Whose lawyer was this, the tenant's?

Re: NY late fees and grace period