Hi all,

I have been transferring money from my saving to checking on 3rd of every month and then from the apartment owner used to take money on the 5th of every month. This time it happens that the 3rd was Saturday and therefore the money came to the checking on Tuesday, 6th. The apartment owner tried taking money on 5th and my account did not have money. Now I am paying:

$30 to the bank due to overdraft.
$30 return check fee to apartment owner.
Addition, $75 late fee by the rental office.

Please let me know if how I can wait any of the above fees since it looks like more than 10% of my monthly rent. I talked to all the interested party including rental office. They do not want to waive any. Please let me know if something legally can be done to get waived any of the above amount.

Thanks,
Bs

Your rent is likely due on the 1st of each month so closely read the lease. What does the lease say about the exact due date and any grace period. In advance of your answers I'd say you need to do transferes on or before the 1st. Chances are your savings account is only paying .01% so keeping the money in savings for 3 extra days may earn you $0.02

Why not transfer the money before the first of each month and not incur headaches and late and bank fees? Right now you can't blame anyone but yourself for not looking at the calendar and noticing that the 3rd was a Saturday. Your check bounced. End of story.

After rereading your post I am wondering how this happens, "apartment owner used to take money on the 5th of every month" How can the LL access your account?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

After rereading your post I am wondering how this happens, "apartment owner used to take money on the 5th of every month" How can the LL access your account?

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Good question. This doesn't really make sense.

I also don't see what the total amount being more than 10% of your rent has to do with anything. The bank overdraft is one charge from the bank-nothing to do with your rent or landlord. The returned check fee- a common fee when you bounce a check- still not seeing what that has to do with your rent though since it seems to be separate from the late fee. Only the late fee seems like it should have anything to do with 10% of your rent. I know sometimes there's a set maximum amount of 10% of the rent for how much a LL can charge for rent, depending on state laws or the terms of your lease. But you haven't told us how much your rent is, so unless your rent is less than 750 (if I'm doing my math right), you have no argument there either.

Some people allow direct debit for certain bills. I would suspect the OP has given the LL the right to debit his account for convenience.

But, the bottom line here is the OP didn't manage his money properly so has only himself to blame.

It all depends on the wording of the lease. If the LL is allowed to"take" the money on the 5th then yes it's the OP's problem. If however the rent is due by the 10th all the fee could be back on the LL. What about that lease wording suma

You owe all the fees, it is your duty to make sure money is paid on time and that money is transferred, you needed to look at all payments on the first of each month to be sure money is available.

And to be frank, you don't need to wait till the 3 to transfer money for the 5th, it should be done well before that