While I fully sympathize with landlords burdened by tenants who fail to pay rent, I have observed that some landlords interpret a standard rental agreement to provide an automatic 25 percent surcharge for attorney’s fees (“Tenants at disadvantage in eviction cases, study finds,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 9).

In fact, HRS §521-35 limits fees incurred after default to “reasonable attorney’s fees not in excess of twenty-five per cent of the unpaid rent …”

Tenants in default should not agree to hundreds of dollars in unreasonable fees, i.e., those never incurred or those routinely incurred prior to a default, without questioning the fees or consulting their own legal adviser.

John Keiser

Makiki

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