I need to find a clause for a lease stating tenants will be responsible for collections and attorney fees.help?
Buttercup asked:
I work at a Resort & Marina on Lake Texoma. I am trying to find a guideline or something to go by as I add it onto our current lease. A collection agency told me that if we add something of this nature onto our lease agreement, that the tenant will be liable for all of these costs if they break the lease. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
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I work at a Resort & Marina on Lake Texoma. I am trying to find a guideline or something to go by as I add it onto our current lease. A collection agency told me that if we add something of this nature onto our lease agreement, that the tenant will be liable for all of these costs if they break the lease. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
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Should it become necessary for Landlord to employ an attorney to enforce any of the conditions of this lease, including the collection of rentals or gaining possession of the Premises, Tenant agrees to pay all expenses so incurred, including a reasonable attorneys’ fee.
Just add a special stipulation to the contract stating that the tenants will be responsible for collections and attorney fees.
I’d suggest you check your state laws before adding that. In Wisconsin for instance they decided that’s double penalizing the tenant and any lease which forces the tenants to pay for the enforcement of the lease is unlawful and completely unenforceable under state law. You can’t even sever the clause and enforce the rest of the lease by decree of the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. And the courts will almost always award the tenants double the security deposit if you try to use a lease which does have one of those statements in it and it goes to court. It obviously varies from state to state.
YOU can write in it what you wrote for your query; it is fine!
This is not legal and enforceable in most states. Only a judge can grant you legal fees, they can not be written into a contract. Well….you can write them, but not enforce them. You may loose a lawsuit based on an illegal contract, so it would be best to have your attorney write this up.