Re: Violation Fee - Landlord Forum thread 358418

Re: Violation Fee by AnonymousFL on August 13, 2018 @00:07

Hi Ann,

What state are you asking about?

Please take Gary's answer as one opinion. Sometimes his relies can sound like an 'official answer'. What doesn't work for him may or may not be helpful to you. You really would be best served contacting a landlord/tenant lawyer in your area for a definative ansswer.

We have home rentals in Wisconsin and we use $25.00 fee charges for minor infractions such as unmowed grass, unshoveled snow, unkept yards, illegal vehicles, etc. In general, it works pretty well. For those that ignore the fees or don't take care of the infractions, we either move on to the 5-day notice to remedy or vacate or we bring up the issue at renewal time (or we non-renew)...and sometimes you do have to live with the problem. Keep in mind that the infractions I mentioned relate to curb appeal, so we do have some leverage in that we can offer proof to the judge that the violation has a tangable affect. We also have each of our fees listed clearly in our lease.

For larger violations, we don't mess with fees. The 5-day notice to remedy or vacate really is your go-to strategy. If it is that serious, you would probably be better off without that tenant.

Also, your ability to keep 'penalty fees' when you go to court is really dependant on how the judge interprets the law. Your repuation with the court can also help some. I can say with certainly that our good reputation with the judges has helped us a fair bit. We are respectful; we come prepared; and we are willing to negotiate to come to an agreement. We don't consider fees anything but an incentive for the tenants to honor their lease and we are willing to give up some or all if it leads to a resolution. There have been plenty of times when judges ahve allowed us to keep our 'penalty' fees.

However, your $500.00 penalty really is a pretty unreasonable amount. Can you honestly say that $500.00 is a proper amount for not having a battery? My suggestion to you is to list service charges in your lease for winterizing the house and replacing detector batteries if the tenant fails to do so. Set the charge on the high side, but still be reasonable. If the tenant does not take care of it by a reasonable date you set, send a notice for a service call and send your own guy out to take care of it.

On the other hand, if you notify a tenant to take care of a violation or be charged any fines given to you by the city/township/etc. That is entirely different. In most cases, you can assess a tenant a charge you receive if the tenant does not take care of their responsibility. The tenant should have a reasonable amount of time to remedy the issue...and that should be spelled out in your lease as well.

...so much 'stuff'...it's no wonder some rental leases are 20 pages long... :)

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Re: Violation Fee by LAMAC66 on August 14, 2018 @14:05	[ Reply ]

Good stuff!

Re: Violation Fee by Ann on August 17, 2018 @22:53	[ Reply ]

Thanks a lots! YES. This is what my lawyer has been doing - work out solutions for the past 3.5 months. One of the most important things my lawyer does is to get lawful enter right allowing Tenant's repairs to be done in time matter. Tenant would video and audio taping Contractors for the whole process. My lawyer asks me to stay in my car after I confirm the problem, work scope and price per Tenant repair request. I even park myself 120-plus feet away from my rental property until Contractors need to talk to me.