28 Sep 2017 3:18 pm
One would think that a lawyer would be able to read.
This was actually my reply to one of his posts.
Apparently he took that to mean that I said that Kushner's company had definitely charged illegal fees.Misty » 27 Sep 2017 7:14 pm » wrote:The tenants are alleging that Kushner's company is engaging in a illegal practice called 'fee churning.'
Now it will be up to them to prove that in court.
These are the ALLEGATIONS:
I'm not a legal expert, so maybe the lawyer can tell me if it is legal to charge 'court-related fees' that have not been awarded by any judge?The Public Justice Center said Westminster charges tenants “excessive, illegal fees, regularly misapply tenants’ subsequent payments in part to the illegal fees, and then deem the next rent payments ‘late’ to justify additional excessive fees.”
If tenants “do not pay the improper fees,” the plaintiffs allege, the company files “summary eviction proceedings to collect these fees, even when the tenant’s rent is current. …
If a tenant has not paid his or her monthly rent in full by the end of the fifth day of a month, [the company] charge not only a ‘late fee,’ which purports to be 5 percent of the monthly rental payment, but also other fees.”
The plaintiffs allege that Westminster charges court-related fees that are improper because judges have not awarded those costs.
The tenants allege that the charging of such fees violates Maryland law, which states that landlords may not collect penalties in excess of 5 percent of the rent due.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/re ... story.html