- Case Overview: A Prairie Village tenant, was ordered to pay $21,240 in late fees plus $5,700 in back rent after failing to pay rent for multiple months in 2020.
- Lease Terms: Her lease set a $20-per-day penalty for late rent, starting the day after payment was due.
- Timeline:
- Missed three months of rent early 2020.
- Briefly caught up in June 2020, then fell behind again.
- Case took over 2.5 years to reach trial—much longer than the standard 14 days for landlord-tenant disputes.
- Lower Court Ruling: District court awarded full late fees through judgment date, 1,062 days’ worth.
- Appeals Court: Reduced late fees to $1,700, calling the original amount “unconscionable.”
- Supreme Court Decision: Unanimously reinstated full late fees, ruling the issue of unconscionability wasn’t properly raised at trial, so the appeals court should not have reduced them.
Investor Takeaways:
- Lease enforcement clauses—especially late fees—can be upheld even if amounts seem high, as long as lease terms are clear and the legal process is followed.
- Prolonged court cases can drastically increase damages.
- In Arizona, landlords should review lease late-fee provisions to ensure enforceability under state law, but this case shows courts may side with landlords when tenants fail to raise legal defenses early.