Eviction on a Late Fee

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scraps13

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I live in New Jersey. My february rent was 11 days late, due to a problem with the payment service's website that my complex uses. When i could finally log in on Feb 12th, the system said I owed $803, my normal rent is $815 and since I didnt know why this month was lower, I paid the $815 and then went on vacation.

Later in Feb, I was in the rental office to put money on my laundary card and the manager said that she noticed that I had a balance on my account. At that time I didnt remember what date I paid my feb rent, but said I know there was a problem with the website for a few days, I said I would add the amount to my March rent if it was late fee. She told me that she was going to look into to see what it was. So when my March rent was due a few days later, I paid my $815 and waited to here from her.

On March 18th I have an eviction notice on the front door of my building saying I owe $499.66 in back rent. On the part of the eviction notice where they have to explain the charges, they list my rent as $815 a month, then in the section that requires a breakdown of the $499.66, they list base rent as $68.66 (which is the 10% late charge minus my over payment in feb) $0 under late charges, $400 in lawyer costs and $31 court costs. This eviction noticed reached the courthouse on February 29th. Which means they started charging me lawyer fees before my next months rent was even due on the 1st.

Can they do this? Do I have pay $431 in legal fees on a $68.66 late fee that they didnt even give me a chance to pay before filling for eviction?
 
Look at www.nj.gov/oag/ or www.judiciary.state.nj.us and do searches at both for tenants rights. Also you can call thr OAG office and ask to speak with a consumer rights advocate about your situation. Most states have a tenants rights hotline for questions, and the OAG can answer them to.

Can the glitch in the payment system be verified? Have you been late before? What is the grace period, and how far past that did the rent get paid? What does your lease say about late rent/fees and when they should be paid. Have all the answers ready for theOAG's office if you call them. Good luck.
 
Thanks for your help. My apartment manager informed me that they company realized their mistake and withdrew the eviction and took the legal fees off my account.
 
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