Emergency Rule Related to Residential Rental Late Fees and Penalties
On what date may landlords resume charging late rental fees and penalties because the emergency rule is no longer in effect?
Late rental fees and penalties may be charged starting August 9, 2020.
Late fees and penalties may never be assessed or charged for any missed rent payment or any late rent payment that occurred during the effective period of the emergency rule. The emergency rule is effective from April 25, 2020 through August 8, 2020.
It seems to me that August 8th is mathematically improbable, but it is the date we should adhere to.
Why improbable?
If the Public Health Emergency ended with the May 13th Supreme Court decision, then 90 days is August 11th. This has no consequence for most tenancies as the due date of the rent would generally be August first.
However, as The WI Supreme Court found EO 28 to be “unlawful invalid and unenforceable”, then the Public Health Emergency ended on 4/24 with the expiration of EO 12, 90 days after is July 23rd.
If you charged late fees after April 24th you have violated the DATCP 134. The penalties for doing so are great. You should reverse those late fees and notify your tenants that you have done so.
More important than late fees of course is working with your tenants that are struggling. My company waived late fees for April, well before the moratorium. We will evaluate the situation for September based on what we see the economy doing at that time.
Remember that a full third of people who have applied for WI Unemployment and Federal Pandemic Unemployment have not received payment.
