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Am I required to give the 5 day grace period for late fee on rent?
Anonymous7 views2 answers
Lease renewal is coming up for two of my tenants. Both had a grace period to the 5th before they would incur a late fee. They both pay on the 5th EVERY month. I am tired of this! I researched this grace period and it seems like it is not a requirement by the city of Chicago as I thought. However, I want to make sure.
Can I give them until the 2nd before late fee is incurred? ALSO CAN I GIVE THEM A 5 DAY NOTICE ON THE 3RD?
Stephen Samuel MessuttaReal Estate AttorneyWilmette, IL ·
There is a difference between when the rent is due and payable, and whether there is a grace period before a late charge kicks in. IF the lease says (and I'll bet it does) that rent is due "on the first day" of the month or "monthly in advance" then they are paying their rent late. Period. Since you have allowed this to happen repeatedly, normally you would have to give each at least 1 month notice of a demand for "strict leasehold performance", which won't mean much because they could continue to pay late and make you nuts by having to issue 5 day notices every month on the 1st. So, the easier way is on the renewal to have NO grace period -- a late rent charge should be called "additional rent" and should kick in if rent is not paid ON TIME. PS if you just call it a late charge, most courts will NOT enforce it in eviction court because it is NOT RENT, it is a penalty. Chicago esp. if you are under the RLTO.
It depends on what the current lease says. If there's a grace period in the lease, you must abide by it, especially for giving the 5 day notice. Keep in mind that even if you issue a notice on the 2nd or 3rd, they still have 5 days to pay before you can file an eviction suit. So if they pay on the 5th moving the notice up won't have any real effect.
If you decide to renew their lease, you can rewrite the lease without a grace period. But again, even without a grace period, if you issue a notice on the first, you'll still have to wait until the 5th to begin eviction proceedings.
