Late fees, chasing steps and promises to pay
Late rent is charged a fee by your rule, with caps, and chased step by step: a reminder, a final demand, a legal notice. Chasing waits while a promise to pay or a payment plan runs.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Late fees are charged to some tenants and forgotten for others.
- The reminder goes out by phone when someone remembers, and nothing records it.
- A tenant who promised to pay on the 20th still gets a demand on the 15th.
- A daily interest fee grows beyond what the law of your country allows.
How it works
- Make a Late Fee Rule (Lease Manager): the kind of fee, its value, days of grace, the least amount late, caps. Mark one rule as the Entity's default.
- Set Chasing Steps: one line per step with Days Late, the level (Reminder, Final Demand, Legal Notice) and Tell the Manager.
- Every day, each running lease with a posted bill past its due date and grace. It gets its late fee as a charge on the next bill.
- The same daily run takes the next chasing step for the oldest late bill. The tenant gets the message of that level and the step goes in the Chasing Log.
- Record a promise to pay with its date and amount. Chasing waits until that day; then the promise is marked Kept or Broken.
- Pause chasing on a lease until a date, or switch off late fees for one lease.
Everything it does
Late fee rule
- Fee: A Fixed Fee, A Share of What Is Late, An Amount a Day, A Share a Day, Interest a Year
- Days of Grace after the due date: 5 to start with
- Least Amount Late: bills with less left are not charged
- At Most (amount) and At Most (% of the bill), per bill; 0 means no cap
- Invoice As product, Entity Default (one per Entity), Legal Limits note
- A fixed fee or share is charged once per bill; daily fees and interest grow until paid or capped
- Each bill shows the late fees charged so far and up to which day
Chasing steps
- Days Late, level Reminder, Final Demand or Legal Notice, Tell the Manager
- Steps go in order for the oldest late bill; each step once
- Chasing Log: date, step, late amount, late since; on the lease and in Lease > Billing > Collection > Chasing Log
When chasing waits
- Chasing Paused Until is in the future
- An open promise to pay has not reached its day
- A payment plan is running
Per lease
- Late Fee Rule (empty: the Entity default)
- No Late Fees
- Chasing Paused Until
- Promises to Pay list
What counts as late
- Posted bills with something left to pay, past their due date
- Draft bills are not chased
Who uses it
Lease ManagerSets the late fee rules and chasing steps.
Lease userRecords promises to pay and pauses chasing when agreed.
Property managerHears about the steps marked Tell the Manager.
TenantGets the reminder, final demand or legal notice.
Where you use it
- Web: Lease > Configuration > Rent and Billing > Late Fee Rules and Chasing Steps; Lease > Billing > Collection > Promises to Pay, Chasing Log, Arrears; the lease's Collection tab
- Not by WhatsApp or SMS: the chasing messages are email and in-app
What you control
Settings
- No late fee rule and no chasing steps come ready: nothing is charged or sent until you add them
- Days of grace: 5 on a new rule
- Daily run: once a day
Notifications
- Rent Reminder, Final Rent Demand and Legal Notice for Arrears: to the tenant at each chasing step of that level. The property manager gets them when the step says Tell the Manager. By email and in-app
- These go out at once when the daily job runs. Each person can switch off a channel, such as email, for themselves. In-app notices always arrive
Questions
Can late fees be capped?
Yes. Each rule has At Most as an amount and as a % of the bill. Daily fees and interest stop growing at the lower cap.Will a tenant who promised to pay be chased?
No. While an open promise has not reached its day, chasing waits. After the day it is marked Kept when nothing is late, or Broken and chasing goes on.Can we stop late fees for one tenant?
Yes. Tick No Late Fees on the lease, or give the lease its own rule.Do reminders go by WhatsApp?
Not these. Rent Reminder, Final Rent Demand and Legal Notice for Arrears go by email and in-app.Related features
LEASES AND RENTPayment plans and legal cases for arrearsAgree a plan of instalments for old arrears and chasing stops while it runs. When it comes to court, keep the case on the lease: grounds, court, case number, hearings, lawyer, amount claimed and the outcome.REPORTS AND AILease expiries, arrears ageing and collectionSee which leases end when and how much rent ends with them. See every unpaid lease bill by how late it is, and billed against collected each month.LEASES AND RENTRent schedule in advance or arrears, with rent-free monthsA confirmed lease bills itself from a schedule: monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly, in advance or in arrears. Part periods go by the calendar, and stepped rents, rent-free periods and holdover worked in.LEASES AND RENTRent paid online through pay linksTenants pay their rent bills online through your own payment provider, from their web page or the app. You can also send a pay link for any amount, take a deposit online, or charge a saved card or mandate on each bill.ACROSS SMARTMY LEASENotificationsTenants, guests, members, owners and vendors hear about bills, payments, cheques, checks, notices, repairs and lease dates, and your team hears what needs them. Email and the in-app inbox work with no set-up; a few rental events can also go by WhatsApp or SMS.
See your buildings on it.
Tell us how many properties and units you have, whether you let your own or manage for owners, and how rent is paid today. We will set up your portfolio with you on SmartMy Lease.