Charging for late rent

AliDesign

Registered User
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38
Hello,

I rent out 2 rooms in my house. One guy moved in during February and I have found a suitable tenant for a second room. I know with the rent-a-room scheme I don't have to provide a lease etc. but after years of varied experiences I have a tenancy agreement drawn up to protect myself and the tenant. Experiences with every previous tenant brings to light a new edit necessary to this agreement.

My current tenant has been regularly late with rent, every month in fact. To be honest it is usually only a few days but a couple of times it has been 2 weeks. Although this is annoying (especially because my mortgage goes out a few days after it is due so I end up having to live on a shoestring until it comes in) but I've heard worse stories so I can deal with that.

My question is, has anyone stipulated a fee for late rent in a lease/rental agreement? Is this something that can be done and if so what is the standard rate? To be honest, I don't even want to have to apply it, I more just want to use it as an incentive.
 
Look at the Topfloor lease - [broken link removed]

It has wording in it that allows for a €30 administrative fee for persistently late rent payments.
 
Why don't you simply tell the tenant the facts and the impact on you? Be firm but polite. If they cannot pay the rent on time, unfortunately you cannot continue funding them and living on a shoestring. Set out on a piece of paper the situation for the last 6-12 months, rent due dates and actual payment dates. From what you are saying the tenant has been regularly late so a pattern has developed which needs to be broken. Ultimately if this situation is not rectified they need to move out, though I might not say that to them just yet, if you are otherwise happy with them. But it may go there in time. Next month remind them in advance of the rent due date, perhaps with a text.

My own experience is that, irrespective of what a lease says re late fees, if it is necessary to go down that route then ultimately it can only lead to conflict and bad feelings. Far better to explain the situation to the tenant and feel that you are giving them the choice of whether they want to continue living there and paying rent on time.
 
Sounds to me more like you need to get your own finances sorted out so that you are ahead even if the tenant doesn't pay you on time. As he's living in your home and always pays goign down the route of penalising doesn't sound like a good idea.

How about a chat with him. Maybe he's bad at financial management, perhaps move rent day to his pay day.
 
You can put anything you like in an agreement...the issue comes when you want to enforce it; and since you can't effectively enforce a penalty for late payment, in my opinion such an agreement isn't worth the paper its written on.

Put it straight, he pays on time or he goes.

No shortage of tenants out there.
 
Hello,

I rent out 2 rooms in my house. One guy moved in during February and I have found a suitable tenant for a second room. I know with the rent-a-room scheme I don't have to provide a lease etc. but after years of varied experiences I have a tenancy agreement drawn up to protect myself and the tenant. Experiences with every previous tenant brings to light a new edit necessary to this agreement.

My current tenant has been regularly late with rent, every month in fact. To be honest it is usually only a few days but a couple of times it has been 2 weeks. Although this is annoying (especially because my mortgage goes out a few days after it is due so I end up having to live on a shoestring until it comes in) but I've heard worse stories so I can deal with that.

My question is, has anyone stipulated a fee for late rent in a lease/rental agreement? Is this something that can be done and if so what is the standard rate? To be honest, I don't even want to have to apply it, I more just want to use it as an incentive.
I am a little confused here. Are you a live in landlord renting under the rent a room scheme or not? As I understand your post, you are and therefore you cannot have 1) a lease or tenancy agreement (but you may have a licensee agreement; 2) You do not have a tenant with all the rights, obligations and protection of the RTA 2004 - he is a licensee.

If you are not a live-in landlord then I believe you may have an clause specifying an administration fee (costs of writing a letter) for the servicing of any legally required notices (all rent arrears' notices). However, if you cannot persuade the tenant to pay on time and let it go, IMHO, the threat of the €35 fee which you don't really want to use, is really meaningless.

Can you confirm if you are a live-in landlord, please.
 
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