Does anyone happen to know legally if it's possible to serve the 'Pay or Quit' notice for rent not paid on time, before the day a late fee is assessed? Rent is due Nov. 1st, but our lease states a late fee is not assessed until the rent is 15 days late. Of course we'd like to begin terminating the lease or collect rent before Nov. 15th. Thanks for your ideas.

Hello bj:

You file the pay or quit notice after the rent is DUE and not paid. The grace period that you offer has nothing to do with when the rent is DUE.

excon

While excon is right, on the other hand, if it comes to going to court for an eviction order a judge is not likely to look kindly on this. Unless the tenant has been habitually late, sending such a notice at the first sign of lateness appears a little over the top.

We happen to be in MN where the length of notice on the pay rent or quit is 14 days -so I think it's best to serve the notice the earliest possible because it still allows the tenant two weeks to pay.

I can understand doing this on a tenant who has been habitually late. But the first time a tenant is late, that seems draconian to me.