Can my landord evict me for 8 days past due rent?

Factual Questions
1

Hello all.

I am a poor college student living in a poor college student town. At the begining of this semester I paid two months ahead of time. Well I got mixed up on the month and forgot to make a payment last month. Once informed of this I paid rent with late penalties. This month I came up a little short with rent. I left a message with the landlord’s lakey (sp?) (the landlord took a trip to europe for 4 month so I cannot talk to him directly). that I was short on rent and I could pay rent on the 10th and I would pay the late charges when I got my tuition check in January. The lakey thought this would be ok. Well on the 5th he knock on my door and says that they need the rent on the 8th or I will be served eviction papers. So I write a rent check dated on the 8th know that it won’t clear before I get paid. OK I think everything is fine. Rent is paid I will pay late charges next month.

This brings us to tonight. I am sitting at home and I hear a knock on the door. Enter the lakey. He informs me that if I don’t pay the late charges by monday I will be served with eviction papers. Now I am not mad at this kid, I don’t want to kill the messager but I am thinking to myself (a) “can this idiot landlord do this?” and (b) what is the landlord’s address so I can burn his house down.

So I ask the teeming millions can the landlord evict me for late charges on rent that I have already paid. I live in Washington state.

P.S. I have talked to my parents and they are lending me the money to pay the late charges so it is now a non issue. I also know that any advise given here is not binding legal advise and if I really want to get after this guy I sould seek the advise of a lawyer in person.

2

I’d wager it depends on the lease you signed. If you have a copy, are there any provisions in it about non-payment of rent or that kinda thing?

3

The lease agreement says that I will have to pay ever increasing late payment charges for rent past due. It also says that each time he notifies me of rent past due it cost me $25.

4

Don’t you have 30 days or so to redress an eviction notice? Besides that, does the lackey have the power of attorney to evict you in the landlord’s light?

Just a couple of things you might inquire about: i.e. Who signed the eviction notice (either the lackey or the landlord) and/or how long you have to contest it (for due reasons, of course).

Tripler
I’ve been in similar situations. But I worked it out with the landlord herself.

5

I am not a laywer, laws vary by state, blah blah blah:

The book What Every 18 Year Old Needs to Know about Texas Law has a section on evictions. It would be hard to quote the relevant passage, as it’s kind of scattered through three or four paragraphs, but the book states that you may be evicted for non-payment of rent or any “material” breach of your lease. Non-payment means you have not paid all rent due, including any late fees that accrued. The book does not state, but seems to imply that you may be locked out / evicted immediately when you are past due on your rent. You have 3 days to leave or make amends when you have been evicted, although this length of time may be changed in the lease agreement.

6

Source: Landlord/Tenant Law - Attorney General of Washington - Consumer Protection Division

Also see Washington State Tenants Union

7

Definitely talk to a local tenants union! I got some great practical advice from one here in Chicago a few months back. They are generally nonprofit and charge little or nothing for their services.

8

** etgaw1,** try to see this from the landlord’s point of view. More than likely, he depends on the rent for his income. How would you like it if your job forgot to pay you, or habitually paid you late?

As cold as it may seem, this is a business. Landlords can’t afford to have sympathy with their renter’s financial woes.

The landlord likely looks at you and sees more trouble down the road. He wants you out because he doesn’t want to have to deal with headaches every month, when another tennant may pay promptly.

9

Do you have a lease, or are you a tenant-at-will? Even in Massachusetts, the latter had very few rights where this was concerned.

10

IANAL
Eviction papers aren’t always the last word. There usually has to be a hearing of some sort, and if you’re all paid up before that hearing, the landlord is likely to let the matter drop quietly.

Unless you do this a lot. Show up in front of the same judge twice, and you’ll probably find your belongings on the sidewalk.

11

Many law schools have clinics where people with limited resources can get free/cheap advice about problems like this (and where law students get to play lawyer). If your college has a law school, or you can get to one, it might be worth a visit. Also, that tenants union link above has a lot of information, including a page of sources for emergency rent money. Also, it sounds a little fishy that you get another penalty every time the manager asks for money. Can he ask you every day? Twice a day? Hourly? What does your lease actually say about the penalties? Leases I’ve seen usually specify a flat fee for a late payment.