Q: My rent payment portal removed fee-less bank account payment options. The charges for credit/debit are not in lease.
After renewing our lease, our management company removed the option to pay with a bank account leaving only the options to pay with credit or debit, and incurres huge fees to do so. The current lease states all rent and fees agreed to in the lease shall be paid through the mandatory portal, but the lease does not specifically state the fee as it does different utitilies and charges. Can they force people to pay without specifically stating the fees and options in the lease?
A:
This is a grey area. If the contract does not specify that you need to pay any credit card fees you may be able to argue that they cannot charge them. I would think this is especially true since they do not provide you with any payment options where you would not need to incur these fees. But it would depend on the lease and contract interpretation.
I am not aware of any laws that would prohibit this practice at this time. If any other attorneys are aware please feel free to chime in.
Regardless, I would let an attorney take a look at the lease. If you have an attorney fee provision in the lease, you may be able to recoup the costs of litigation if needed.
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