What are my options when my tenant gave me a revised lease agreement?
If your tenant provided an altered lease in return, that would generally be considered a counter-offer and you are likely not under any legal obligation to accept it. If this is a current tenant, that would mean that they will not renew under the new lease terms and become a month-to-month tenant under the terms of the original lease. If this is a new tenant, then there is no legally binding lease at this point, as a term of that lease was changed and you must agree to the changes to make it a binding document. Ultimately, you should decide whether the 5% late fee is important enough to drive off the tenant, or whether the two of you can come to some reasonable middle ground (or if youre willing to waive it entirely). You should also familiarize yourself with the residential landlord/tenant laws of your city, county, and state, to ensure that such a provision is legal in your jurisdiction an attorney familiar with those laws would be a good person to discuss this issue with.