Attorney's Fee Lease Clause

This Clause Has Saved Me Thousands of Dollar$ !

I am surprised at how many landlords do not have a clause in their lease addressing the issue of attorney's fees and collection, in case of a default by the tenant.

Here is the clause to insert into your lease agreement, so that in the future you will have legal fees and collection expenses covered as being the tenant's responsibility. If you are already using The LPA Lease, the below clause is already included in your lease.

<!-- Start Copying here --> ATTORNEY'S FEES In any legal action to enforce the terms hereof or relating to the premises, regardless of the outcome, the Owner or agent shall be entitled to all costs incurred in connection with such action, including a reasonable attorney's fee. Tenant acknowledges all attorney’s fees shall be classified and billed to tenant as “added rent”. <!-- End Copying here -->

By having these costs classifed as "added rent", the same way we classify late fees as "added rent", a court will more readily grant a full judgement to the landlord for all past due charges, such as owed rent, late fees and legal fees.

Certain states, such as Wisconsin will not enforce an attorney clause like this. Most states will. Be familiar with your state's Landlord Tenant Laws.

About the author:
As a Real Estate broker / investor in New York, John Nuzzolese has been involved with rentals and investment property since 1979. Besides owning and operating two real estate businesses, he is president and founder of The Landlord Protection Agency, Inc. , an organization specializing in helping landlords and property managers avoid the hurdles and pitfalls and expensive blunders common when dealing with tenants.

More information on The Landlord Protection Agency is available at www.theLPA.com

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