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Re: bounced rent check - Landlord Forum thread 187912

Re: bounced rent check by P-Bone in WNY (NY) on September 25, 2009 @14:32

                              
Leases should be written to directly address these things. If you have a late charge, a bounced check would constitute late rent as you do not have it in hand on time.

My rental agreements specifically states when rent must be paid and has a late fee. If I do not have cleared funds by that date (so long as the delay was not my fault), then they are subject to the late fee. Even if they mail it to me and it gets lost in the mail, it is still their responsibility to make sure I have it (I probably wouldn't enforce it in that case if I was confident it got lost in the mail for a good tenant). When it comes to writing checks, I have a specific clause in my rental agreements that state if any checks are bounced, the tenant is no longer allowed to pay by personal check and must pay by cash, certified check, or money order until written approval is provided by the landlord allowing personal checks again.

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Re: bounced rent check by P-Bone in WNY (NY) on September 25, 2009 @14:33 [ Reply ]
I also have a specific clause stating a $35 charge for any bounced check. If you do not have it written, I am not sure how you would go about charging for it.
Re: bounced rent check by Anonymous on September 25, 2009 @15:05 [ Reply ]
You are right that paying on time with a bad check is not paying at all. You have your bases covered about bounced checks in the lease. It is enough to just collect the bounced check fee and casually mention that they can no longer pay with a check. Mention the lease clause and then go over the accepted future payments. Be sure cash payments are handed to you personally and not left in some other way. Nothing evaporates faster than cash. If you feel it is worth the hassle, you can ask for the late fee. But collecting a bounced check fee and a late fee may require more screaming and cursing than you want to hear. The ill will generated by this act will never quite dissipate and come back to you. However, you are right to ask for it. You will just have to weigh the cost of being right.

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