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Late fees for bills that came while out of town

Leros

Leros

Lifer
I was out of town for a month over the Christmas holiday. When I got back there was a bill from my apartment management for some maintenance fees. The bill came three weeks before I got back and was due two weeks before I got back.

I just sent in a check for the maintenance fee along with a note saying I was out of town when the bill was sent. I just got another bill for a late fee.

Is this standard practice? Do you just get screwed on late fees when you take a vacation?
 
Originally posted by: mundane
Did you let them know you were OOT?
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I sent them a note with my payment.

Am I supposed to contact every possible company I deal with and tell them in advance that I'm going out of town?
 
Originally posted by: Leros
Is this standard practice? Do you just get screwed on late fees when you take a vacation?
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Unless you make them aware beforehand, typically yes.

KT
 
Originally posted by: Leros
Originally posted by: mundane
Did you let them know you were OOT?
Click to expand...

I sent them a note with my payment.

Am I supposed to contact every possible company I deal with and tell them in advance that I'm going out of town?
Click to expand...

Or have someone grab your mail and let you know of any bills? It's not the company's fault you weren't there and they are entitled to charge you if that is part of the original agreement.

KT
 
Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Originally posted by: Leros
Originally posted by: mundane
Did you let them know you were OOT?
Click to expand...

I sent them a note with my payment.

Am I supposed to contact every possible company I deal with and tell them in advance that I'm going out of town?
Click to expand...

Or have someone grab your mail and let you know of any bills? It's not the company's fault you weren't there and they are entitled to charge you if that is part of the original agreement.

KT
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While you are correct, 7 days notice to pay a bill is probably not acceptable. 30 days (1 month) is the norm.
 
I fail to see how your schedule should impact their necessity to get paid. It's not like you didn't know you were going out of town and you certainly didn't think the bills would magically stop coming while you were gone, did you?

This is one of the reason the post office allows you to file a temporary change of address and specify the dates you want it effective. You could have had the mail forwarded to where you were staying and not missed the bill.

Sure, maybe it was an unreasonably short time to require payment, but it doesn't make the obligation to pay go away. It's an expense when the service occurs, not when the bill is due and not when you pay it.

I don't want to sound like a dick here, but I guess you've learned the lesson now, huh?
 
Bills that are due, even if you are out of town, are payable when due. Try using that excuse for a credit card payment. Oh, I was out of town. You will get charged a late fee.
 
Originally posted by: Injury
I fail to see how your schedule should impact their necessity to get paid. It's not like you didn't know you were going out of town and you certainly didn't think the bills would magically stop coming while you were gone, did you?

This is one of the reason the post office allows you to file a temporary change of address and specify the dates you want it effective. You could have had the mail forwarded to where you were staying and not missed the bill.

Sure, maybe it was an unreasonably short time to require payment, but it doesn't make the obligation to pay go away. It's an expense when the service occurs, not when the bill is due and not when you pay it.

I don't want to sound like a dick here, but I guess you've learned the lesson now, huh?
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If its maitenance at the apartment building, is there not notification requirements and such? I find it hard to believe any period under 30 days for un-notified work could be legal.
 
If you will be leaving town for a month or more, it's just logical to make sure all your affairs are in order. This means notifying all involved parties. I believe it's called responsibility or something like that.
 
Originally posted by: compuwiz1
Bills that are due, even if you are out of town, are payable when due. Try using that excuse for a credit card payment. Oh, I was out of town. You will get charged a late fee.
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Originally posted by: OUCaptain
If you will be leaving town for a month or more, it's just logical to make sure all your affairs are in order. This means notifying all involved parties. I believe it's called responsibility or something like that.
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Late is late, regardless of the reason.

It doesn't make you a deadbeat, but it does make you responsible for any late fees.
 
Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Originally posted by: Leros
Is this standard practice? Do you just get screwed on late fees when you take a vacation?
Click to expand...

Unless you make them aware beforehand, typically yes.

KT
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well I'd say at least your LANDLORD should know...other bills you should know of in advance anyway. Single instance type events should have some understanding. Weird though a bill had a 1 week due status. Whenever I rented any maintenance/special assessments were due with the next months rent (not the next current due, but the month after).

They should be able to waive this late fee though if you can provide the proof you were out of town and no one else was staying there.

I am assuming this bill was for something odd that required attention and not something billed at any type of regular interval (annual, monthly, etc)
 
What does your contract say about fees and due dates? If the contract spells out that payment is due two weeks after submittal of bill and that late fees apply then suck up and pay the late fee. If the contract doesn't include this type of language and the two week payment due thing is just something the landlord pulled out of his butt, then don't pay the fee. Again, what's in the contract counts, not fairness, not ATOT's collective wisdom, or your's or the landlord's perception of right/wrong. Read the contract and go from there.
 
Originally posted by: BoomerD
Originally posted by: compuwiz1
Bills that are due, even if you are out of town, are payable when due. Try using that excuse for a credit card payment. Oh, I was out of town. You will get charged a late fee.
Click to expand...

Originally posted by: OUCaptain
If you will be leaving town for a month or more, it's just logical to make sure all your affairs are in order. This means notifying all involved parties. I believe it's called responsibility or something like that.
Click to expand...


Late is late, regardless of the reason.

It doesn't make you a deadbeat, but it does make you responsible for any late fees.
Click to expand...

This
 
Who gives a shit if you're outta town. You didn't pay the bill on time. Suck it up and pay the late fee. The world doesn't revolve around you. Damn.
 
Was it a regular maintenance fee (normal monthly bill) or an assessment? If it's a regular monthly bill, I agree with the others, and good luck getting them to change it (but doesn't hurt to call & ask).

If it was some kind of unusual assessment or a one-off bill, then I'd complain to the appropriate billing department/mgmt/etc (depending on how much the late fee is vs how much my time is worth).
 
Originally posted by: daniel1113
While you are correct, 7 days notice to pay a bill is probably not acceptable. 30 days (1 month) is the norm.
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I get about 16 days notice for my cell-phone bill.

 
Yeah, this was an unexpected bill. I sent two rent checks the month before since I was going to be out of town, but I never formally told the I would be gone. This maintenace fee was for something that happened a month before I left.
 
Originally posted by: Leros
I was out of town for a month over the Christmas holiday. When I got back there was a bill from my apartment management for some maintenance fees. The bill came three weeks before I got back and was due two weeks before I got back.

I just sent in a check for the maintenance fee along with a note saying I was out of town when the bill was sent. I just got another bill for a late fee.

Is this standard practice? Do you just get screwed on late fees when you take a vacation?
Click to expand...

wow, you seriously need to ask this question?

i don't know about you, but i;d say all of my bills are due on a certain date. it's not like it changes from month to month. i'm sure you knew well ahead of time that stuff was due.
just because you weren't there doesn't exempt you from paying.

 
Originally posted by: pontifex
Originally posted by: Leros
I was out of town for a month over the Christmas holiday. When I got back there was a bill from my apartment management for some maintenance fees. The bill came three weeks before I got back and was due two weeks before I got back.

I just sent in a check for the maintenance fee along with a note saying I was out of town when the bill was sent. I just got another bill for a late fee.

Is this standard practice? Do you just get screwed on late fees when you take a vacation?
Click to expand...

wow, you seriously need to ask this question?

i don't know about you, but i;d say all of my bills are due on a certain date. it's not like it changes from month to month. i'm sure you knew well ahead of time that stuff was due.
just because you weren't there doesn't exempt you from paying.
Click to expand...

Dude, it was an unexpected maintenance fee. I paid my rent two months early in preparation for my trip. How about you read the thread?
 
Originally posted by: Leros
Originally posted by: pontifex
Originally posted by: Leros
I was out of town for a month over the Christmas holiday. When I got back there was a bill from my apartment management for some maintenance fees. The bill came three weeks before I got back and was due two weeks before I got back.

I just sent in a check for the maintenance fee along with a note saying I was out of town when the bill was sent. I just got another bill for a late fee.

Is this standard practice? Do you just get screwed on late fees when you take a vacation?
Click to expand...

wow, you seriously need to ask this question?

i don't know about you, but i;d say all of my bills are due on a certain date. it's not like it changes from month to month. i'm sure you knew well ahead of time that stuff was due.
just because you weren't there doesn't exempt you from paying.
Click to expand...

Dude, it was an unexpected maintenance fee. I paid my rent two months early in preparation for my trip. How about you read the thread?
Click to expand...

i read most of it. you should have put that important piece of info in the OP then...
 
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