Is it typical for an internist to charge a retention fee?

Can rental agency charge Notice To Quit fee?

• Background: We've lived here a year and in Jan., we had our rent check bounce. I contacted the rental agency that we rent the house from on the 6th of Jan. and she said when can you pay the rent, I told her on the 1/13 and she said on that date I will owe 1367.50 (rent plus a check fee and all late fees that our in our lease). She said we had until the 14th to pay or she had to file eviction papers. We got a NTQ delivered on the 11th of Jan., for non payment of rent. On the 13th we went to pay and they said we owed 1412. 50 which isn't what I was told I would owe. She said there was a 45 dollar fee for the guy to deliver the NTQ. I refused to pay it because it's an arbitrary fee that she just threw in there. I didn't sign for the NTQ and paid all late fees in my lease. I left and since then she has called several times telling me that if I don't pay it, she will take it out of my rent and charge me late fees on that which is illegal. I got a letter today saying that she would put the 45 dollars in collections if I didn't pay it. I talked to my uncle who is a landlord for 19 years and is telling me she cannot charge the fee , she can't pull a fee out of a bucket and charge it. Is he right? Note the amount on the NTQ was 1392.50 which is more than I was told on the 6th but less than the 1412.50 they told me I owe when I got there on the 13th. I don't know why the amounts differ. What should I do? ** When I called her today, she said I told her I would pay the rent on the 20th and she legally has to file a NTQ on the 15th of the month if no rent is received. I told her that I said the 13th which I did and also, she filed the NTQ on the 11th? That is before the 15th, right?!

• Answer:

  Kind of a hard to follow question, but where I am you can charge the filing fee with rent due. In fact when you file this form it asks you the amount owed and seperately the cost of filing and then adds those 2 together to get the amount you have to pay. Since your uncle said you don't have to pay it, however, it sounds like he should know, but at least where I am this is a valid fee added to these filings. As to what to do yo might just want to pay it since thats so much easier than fighting it. If you do fight it, simply flat out refuse to pay it. If this goes to court explain the whole situation to the judge and they'll decide if you have to pay this. There is some chance you'll lose, and if you do lose you'll probably have to pay court costs too plus there is a huge hassle factor in this whole thing. However for a lousy $50 I'd be surprised if the landlord didn't just give up on it/