A fee must be a reasonable reflection of your cost

A fee must be a reasonable reflection of your cost by CCRider (CA) on April 22, 2015 @00:39

A holding fee is just a fee for holding a rental, without showing it to anyone else, for a specified time, while the tenant decides if they want it.

A reasonable amount would be what the rent would have been for that time period, for instance.

If the tenant moves forward with the rental, the amount is usually credited toward their rent or deposit.

If the tenant backs out, it is not refundable.

A month's rent to hold a unit for 4 or 5 days is not reasonable.

Any fee for you to get the place ready prior to an agreed-upon start date of a lease is also not reasonable.

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Re: A fee must be a reasonable reflection of your cost by Anonymous on April 22, 2015 @11:40	[ Reply ]

Once a LL collects a holding fee, he lets all other prospects know the property is taken. So if the "tenant" backs out, the landlord is damaged to the extent he could have rented the property out to another tenant. That damage far exceeds the one month rent holding fee he collects. So yes, a full month rent for holding fee is reasonable. The holding fee has to be enough to keep the tenant from continuing to look at other rentals, enough to hurt if he decides to renege on the agreement to rent.

A fee must be a reasonable reflection of your cost - Landlord Forum thread 333945