Late fee clause

Definition

The rental agreement line without which a storage late fee cannot be collected at all.

Why It Matters

Economic occupancy is the gap between rent possible and rent collected, and delinquency sits inside that gap. The late fee is the only line that earns anything out of it, and whether it exists is decided by paperwork the buyer inherits. Washington says no late fee may be collected unless it is written in the rental agreement or an addendum, with twenty dollars or twenty percent deemed reasonable. Ohio says the same and adds two things: no fee at all if the tenant pays in full by the third day after the due date, and the owner carries the burden of proving any larger fee reasonable. Ask for the agreement form in use for each of the last five years and count the tenants sitting on each version, because an uncollectible fee is a revenue line that has to be re-papered before it exists.