Rent! Late Fees & Eviction Texas?

abbeycoolit

A rental lease is a legal document whose terms you have to live up to or you are going to be in violation of a legally binding contract.Like any contract, violation carries penalties which in your case are late fees ;failure to pay those fees can result in an eviction. Your landlord is not obligated in any legal way to work out a payment plan with you; he can do it at his own discretion but does not have to.However, if he wants to evict you ,he has to follow the proscribed law in your state. Based on the applicable laws, the judge may ask both parties to see if they can work out an agreement and arrangement that both parties can live with.At this point management can work out a payment schedule with you which you have to abide by or you might not get a second chance. My suggestion will be to find the late fees you owe and pay them off as long as you are sure that you will be able to meet your rental obligations in the future.This way you will be current and owe someone whom you can make arrangements with on good terms.

Kaz

Since you had signed the original lease that stated that rental fees be collected on the first of each month, they have a legal right to evict you accordingly. You had breached the contract and if you read your lease, the landlord is in an advantageous position against the tenant. I would suggest borrowing the money necessary to pay off the late fee and come to a mutual agreement with the landlord about the late fee issue. You could revise the lease but make sure it's in writing since any verbal revisals do not have any effect on the original contract. Good luck

Nutritionally Fortified

Yes, they can legally evict you. It's all in the lease you sign.

At this point what you can do is to be as sweet as possible and try to come to an agreement. They need to know that this will not happen again and you telling them you can't afford late fees is making them wary of keeping you as a tenant.

Your lease should tell you when your rent is due and what the late fees are. After that due date if you have not paid then you are in violation of your lease and they can evict you at any time generally after posting a 3 day notice to pay or vacate.

Letting you stay and pay fees are a courtesy - they do not have to agree to accept your rent after it is overdue. You are in violation of the lease right now and they can put that 3 day notice up any time.

Call them and talk it over. Tell them that you are doing the best you can and that times are difficult. Tell them you have no place else to go and that if they wont accept the late fees you'll have to stay through eviction proceedings and until the sheriff comes out.

Eviction proceedings have to filed in court and generally take about a month. It may take longer these days as a lot of people are being evicted. It's costly for them with attorney fees and filing fees and it can be time consuming. If a judge approves it then they send the sheriff out to escort you off the property.

It's in their best interest to work something out with you but you don't want to say that. You can just say that the process to evict you would cost more time, effort, and money than if they just waited for you to pay the late fees.

An eviction will show up on your credit report. As an alternative you can offer to move out at the end of this month voluntarily if they do not pursue eviction proceedings. If you're just going to be late again next month then this is the best option for you.

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