Based on that law, if you have that clause in your lease, the tenant now automatically also gets that right. If tenants can be forced to pay Attorney’s Fees if they lose a court case and your lease contains that language; now, if the tenant wins, they can force the landlord to pay the attorney’s fees also. You will be required to pay the tenants attorney fees, even if it was a pro-bono attorney. It is only pro-bono to them, not you.
If you have low-income tenants, you will always have to pay, they never will. If they already have a low credit score, they are not concerned about another judgment.
If you win, you win attorney fees from the Tenant. The odds of you even being able to collect lost rent and damages is slim, the odds of getting the additional money for attorney fees is even slimmer. The tenants however, WILL be able to collect from you. You have a deeper pocket. You could do yourself a favor by eliminating the attorney fees clause from your leases or specifying a cap on the amount of attorney fees.
Be sure to look at my “Coming Attractions” page and see what I have in store for upcoming articles.
Do you require the tenant to pay legal fees ion your lease? Have you ever been awarded legal fees, or had to pay them for someone else?