# What's normal for late fees?



## existentialpony (Dec 4, 2012)

Ours is a flat $25 late fee! And board isn't even that expensive... I think they just wanted to give us a good incentive to pay on time .


----------



## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

existentialpony said:


> Ours is a flat $25 late fee! And board isn't even that expensive... I think they just wanted to give us a good incentive to pay on time .


Thanks, at some point does it get more than $25, or just $25 per month until they take possession of the horse?


----------



## existentialpony (Dec 4, 2012)

AlexS said:


> Thanks, at some point does it get more than $25, or just $25 per month until they take possession of the horse?


Honestly, our barn is on a private residence (we only have 5 boarders), so it's never been to that point. Everyone pretty much pays on-time. I imagine, though, if it was a bigger barn it would be something like a fee + x dollars per day. I feel like the penalty can be bigger, as long as there is room for flexibility if the boarder comes to the barn manager before the due date to work something out.


----------



## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

$50 after the due date.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

25.00 seems fair. 
10.00 a day seems like extortion LOL
or a buck a day. 
A window of a day or two after the board is due is simply good 'politics'


----------



## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

Thanks for the input everyone so far. 

Anyone else want to share what their barns policy is?


----------



## Northernstar (Jul 23, 2011)

My QH was boarded for just a short time before we brought her home - seems to me that a $25.00 late fee was the policy.... I don't recall anyone being late and having to pay it, but I think there was one boarder who was struggling and given a few days 'grace period', however.


----------



## Annanoel (Mar 29, 2011)

Our is a pretty private barn as well, friends or friends of friends board only. Board is due 1st of every month, plus additional grain costs. _We have two days after the first of the month, but after that she charges a flat $25 dollar fee then $2 a day after that initial fee._ So day one late is $25, day 2 $2, day 3 $2. That's in our contract. We have one boarder, who lack of a better term is an airhead. She's not by any means "stupid" she doesn't apply herself or care to be at the barn when her horse needs her. So we got new contracts with the late clause. She hasn't been late since.


----------



## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

Thanks for your input everyone.


----------



## Poneigh (May 25, 2012)

I used to be at a barn w. a late fee...flat fee of $25 if you paid after the first of the month...I dont think it was ever an issue bc that seemed to motivate everyone to pay on time!


----------



## wetrain17 (May 25, 2011)

Late fee is 10% of boarding fee 10 days after board is due and then it jumps to 25% after 10 days.


----------



## GhostwindAppaloosa (Jun 3, 2011)

5/day . i would do a day vs flat fee.


----------



## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

Here's an interesting way to handle it -

We didn't call it a late fee. We gave a 10% discount to boards who paid early, that is, before the first of the month. Any board payments received after the first of the month didn't receive the discount. 

Somehow this made it more palatable to the boarders. 

And I had one boarder who chose to pay an entire year's board in advance to get the discount and not have to worry about missing the deadline. This was fabulous, I got a chunk of cash to do a capital improvement every year.


----------



## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

maura said:


> And I had one boarder who chose to pay an entire year's board in advance


When I was boarding, the owner of the property wouldn't let us do that! They'd just rid themselves of a really bad boarder who never came out [it was all DIY self-care in a pasture so coming out to see the horse was part and parcel!] and I think they were terrified they'd get themselves stuck in the same situation if we paid ahead.

Once we got into the rhythm of paying monthly, once the property owners had had a chance to see we were good boarders who, y'know, actually turned up every day to look after our horses, they would have let us do it, but we didn't ask again. Such lovely people, it was almost a shame when we got the lease on our current ten acres because it meant we didn't get to see them daily any more!

Mum liked to pay long-term because it secured the boarding. She'd been kicked out without notice a few times [for no reason!] and people are less likely to just up and kick you out if you've already paid. But I find that if you board at an actual barn/center instead of random private properties, you sign a contract, and it's easier to get the property owner to stick by their side of it!

From the other side [I work at a center] it's much easier to have a contract to ensure you get paid and to make sure that your boarders understand exactly what they're getting for their money! My boss charges a lot, but all hay, feed and rugging is included, and fly masks on/off as necessary, and individual pastures. Some boarders pay a little extra to get special suppliments, like one horse gets brewers yeast for his extremely sensitive stomach and another gets MSM to keep his joints working properly, and other boarders pay a little less because they supply their own basic vitamin/mineral suppliment. There's an extra fee to use the arena, which every boarder understands as this is laid out in the contract and marked on the "arena booking" whiteboard/notebook. I don't know if she even charges a late fee - she's nearly always full, so it'd be easy enough to just kick a boarder out if they weren't paying their way.


----------



## zurmdahl (Feb 25, 2009)

I've been at barns that have done what maura described, if you paid by the 1st then you got a $25 discount. I have also boarded at barns where there is a $25 late fee if you pay after the 5th of the month, I find most places that I've been at have had late fees starting around the 5th.


----------



## crimsonsky (Feb 18, 2011)

zurmdahl said:


> I have also boarded at barns where there is a $25 late fee if you pay after the 5th of the month, I find most places that I've been at have had late fees starting around the 5th.


same here. this is the most typical clause i've seen in all of the boarding contracts i've looked over.


----------

