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Received a Notice to all residences: Effective May 1, 2024-
All rental payments will be by _ (Insert Online Third-Party Service name ).
Landlord will no longer accept payments at the Leasing OFFICE location. No checks or money orders will be accepted. Utilize the Portal or Named Third party Online Provider.
The Lease I signed has specific terms of How payment can be received to them.
The Actual verbiage is:
Resident agrees to pay Rent to Landlord, or its agent. Rent must be paid to the landlord each month by the First (*1st) day of the month. All rent payments should be made "Payable" to: ABC Condo and mailed to 123 main st address, city, state, zip code.
(a) late fees: If any or all of the rent is not paid before the end of the fifth (5th) day of each month, resident shall pay landlord, as additional rent, a late fee of $50.00
(b) Returned Checks: You will pay to the landlord, as additional rent, a fee of $35.00 per returned check. Only two returned checks will be permitted per unit, all future payments must be in the form of certified check or money order. Returned checks must be replaced with certified check or money order.
With the above being the actual and only lease payment term verbiage-
My history has been by check on the 28th of each month to the leasing office. Giving them time to properly receive the funds in their account. I cannot do the Online portal service as they are a blocked service thru my local bank. Apparently, they have been flagged for past history reports of breech of Identity. I pay by check because its my paper trail and I am not leaving my Bank account wide open for them to retrieve funds at will. I keep my account secure and limited to a specific amount being accessed- .
Be that as it may, I need to know based on the terms of the original active lease signed, If I have any recourse to continue to pay by check since my current lease states that is an acceptable form of pay. Or can they change terms without an addendum? My landlord at the local level is all about being "we can do what we want, or you can leave" type. But leaving would be breaking the lease and causing more problems then resolution. is it true they can change terms simply by sending a 'All residence Notice" on this lease term change? Any recourse or advisal is welcomed. Thank you !
They have to honor the terms of the original lease until it expires. After that, they can make changes with proper notice. Sounds like you need to be prepared to receive a non-renewal for raising a fuss.
Last edited by CrabbyAppleton205; 04-11-2024 at 11:17 AM..
They have to honor the terms of the original lease until it expires. After that, they can make changes with proper notice. Sounds like you need to be prepared to receive a non-renewal for raising a fuss.
can you clarify "raising a fuss" for my due diligence on honoring the terms of the lease?
Return a written notice to them that you will comply with the terms of the lease and continue to mail your rent check to *address* as stated in the lease. That your bank will not deal with the service they request.
Then keep mailing your checks and be aware and plan ahead to move when your lease is up because you won't be staying there after your lease ends.
It is actually legal for the landlord to request a different delivery of rent in spite of what is in the lease. What if the landlord has terminated the management agreement with ABC Condo? You would not continue to pay through them.
Outside of the lease terms, there are "house rules" which can be changed at any time. If you want to go to court about it, any judge will consider it reasonable to change the method of accepting payment.
can you clarify "raising a fuss" for my due diligence on honoring the terms of the lease?
It's just that they have all the leverage - and can probably just not renew your lease if you object to basically anything they dictate, mid lease term or not.
Coming back to ad: they can't evict you for continuing to pay by check, but if the online payment service is important to them, they can terminate your lease agreement at renewal time.
Give them written notice. If you have been a good, reliable, trouble-free tenant, they might make an exception for you. You won't know until you ask. It's possible that this change is not aimed specifically at you. But if they change for one, they have to change for all, so everybody gets it due to the trouble caused by a few. Your politicians have protected you ion that way.
Return a written notice to them that you will comply with the terms of the lease and continue to mail your rent check to *address* as stated in the lease. That your bank will not deal with the service they request.
Then keep mailing your checks and be aware and plan ahead to move when your lease is up because you won't be staying there after your lease ends.
It is actually legal for the landlord to request a different delivery of rent in spite of what is in the lease. What if the landlord has terminated the management agreement with ABC Condo? You would not continue to pay through them.
Outside of the lease terms, there are "house rules" which can be changed at any time. If you want to go to court about it, any judge will consider it reasonable to change the method of accepting payment.
Thank you for an interesting perspective. I have made no fuss in this matter. Currently educating myself and will be seeking legal advisal since this is a contract. And yes a judge would read the lease and see that both parties consented to one means of payment . Words matter in contract law. If the Mangement did terminate the agreement with ABC condo- All tenants would be given thirty days notice of the change and to sign a brand new lease. Because thats how acquisition and change in management works.
Haven't seen anything inside the lease on House rules. We have community guidelines about parking or garbage collection. Beyond that its not the same as a complete Null and void for use of checks when paying rent.
To re-iterate ( and as unpopular as it is) I prefer to be informed before addressing this matter with management.
Your lease terms allow them to designate an agent, but stipulates to whom the payment must be addressed and it sounds to me as it must still be the landlord’s business account (correct me if I read that wrong). Since you desire a paper trail, and your bank will not deal directly with them, I would continue to send them paper checks made payable as described in the lease agreement, but send them to the new agent receipt requested, tracking and with signature required. Include a copy of that section of your lease with every payment and start looking for a new place to lease right now. Do not spend the rent money if they do not cash the check, you will likely end up in small claims court to recover your deposit or to defend against a claim for late fees. Having the paper trail and the delivery receipt should protect you in most courts against the late fees but having the money sitting in the bank will bolster your credibility that you did not have any intention of not paying despite the mid term changes.
It's common. The complex I've lived at for almost 4 years have gone through 4 different management companies, changing how the rent is paid, annoying as hell but not much one can do about it.
In your case being your bank has blocked this portal you need to have a conversation with your landlord
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