Q: If I get a letter from my landlord stating one thing, but they verbally say another, is that legal?
My rent is due by the fifth, and I have always been on time or early. This month I was slightly late and was going to pay it on the sixth. I received a letter in my email very early in the morning on the fifth stating that rent is late but if I paid it before the ninth I would receive no fees. When I logged in to pay it when my check cleared, it showed that I had a $40 fee. When I reached out to my landlord, they said that they’re not sure why the email said that, and that rent was due by the sixth or there would be fees. When I pointed out that I tried to pay it on the sixth but there was already a fee, she backtracked and said no and that the fees are put on on the sixth. This seems slightly predatory and possibly illegal to me. I know that our rent agreement says the fifth, but the correspondence I received from the landlord stated I had till the ninth, and then she said I had until the sixth. I had been waiting for my paycheck to clear as it was running behind.
A: You have a valid argument that the email constitutes a written waiver by the landlord of its right under your lease to charge the $40 late fee as long as you paid before the 9th.
Ben Corcoran agrees with this answer
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