Typical landlord fee question
September 9, 2010 10:05 AM Subscribe
In North Dakota, can a landlord charge a fee for rent payment by credit card? And, can they increase rent more for units to compensate for appliance updates?
I've seen this question come up several times on this site, but I can't seem to find the laws for my state either.
Specifically for question part one- they now allow payment by credit card, but with a $30 fee. I know fees are allowed for one-time payment situations, but wouldn't rent be considered a reoccurring payment? Regarding part two- new appliances were installed in just some of the apartments. I'm guessing this is perfectly within the landlord's rights to base a rent increase on new worth of the individual unit. But I know some states prohibit rental increases as compensation for updates and I'm not sure what this encompasses or if this applies to North Dakota. I found the century code located here, but I wasn't able to find information related to this issue.
If either one of these is not allowed, whom do I contact?
I've seen this question come up several times on this site, but I can't seem to find the laws for my state either.
Specifically for question part one- they now allow payment by credit card, but with a $30 fee. I know fees are allowed for one-time payment situations, but wouldn't rent be considered a reoccurring payment? Regarding part two- new appliances were installed in just some of the apartments. I'm guessing this is perfectly within the landlord's rights to base a rent increase on new worth of the individual unit. But I know some states prohibit rental increases as compensation for updates and I'm not sure what this encompasses or if this applies to North Dakota. I found the century code located here, but I wasn't able to find information related to this issue.
If either one of these is not allowed, whom do I contact?
Also, do you mean they increased the rent in the middle of a signed lease?
posted by KogeLiz at 10:08 AM on September 9, 2010
posted by KogeLiz at 10:08 AM on September 9, 2010
Response by poster: After a year, these rentals go month to month. So I think the answer to KogeLiz is "no".
posted by Eicats at 10:20 AM on September 9, 2010
posted by Eicats at 10:20 AM on September 9, 2010
I'm a landlord, though in Texas. I looked into how I could accept online payments since I'm now based in Chicago. That's what the fees are like for direct small time transactions like that. I decided to provide my tenants stamped envelopes instead of having to either charge them ~$30 a month or eat it myself.
As for the other one, it may be technically illegal to charge for updates, but I don't know how you'd enforce that. What about improvements? Did they replace the dishwasher or whatever or put in a new dishwasher that emails your mom to tell you you're doing the dished or whatever they do now? Basically, the landlord can charge whatever they want within the constraints of the lease, meaning they can't just up the rent in the middle or anything like that.
If some ND landlord/attorney knows the specifics up there, I'd be interested.
posted by cmoj at 12:20 PM on September 9, 2010
As for the other one, it may be technically illegal to charge for updates, but I don't know how you'd enforce that. What about improvements? Did they replace the dishwasher or whatever or put in a new dishwasher that emails your mom to tell you you're doing the dished or whatever they do now? Basically, the landlord can charge whatever they want within the constraints of the lease, meaning they can't just up the rent in the middle or anything like that.
If some ND landlord/attorney knows the specifics up there, I'd be interested.
posted by cmoj at 12:20 PM on September 9, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by KogeLiz at 10:07 AM on September 9, 2010