Made arrangement to pay rent late yet still legal fees?

[Kheiron2711]

My rent payment is due on the 1st of each month. I made arrangements with my leasing agent to pay a few days late and they accepted the agreement.
Subsequently, a day before the arranged pay date, I was served with an eviction notice and a letter to appear in court which they then claimed could be ignored as long as I paid the following day.
They advised me that it was an automatic process that they couldn't stop even when an arrangement was made.
I paid the rent the following day, as agreed and they acknowledged that the matter was now closed.
However, I have now received notification that I still have to appear in court since there is a $200 legal fee for the eviction notice/court filing.

Is this legal?
I made an arrangement (I still have proof of email exchange) prior to the 1st so how can I suddenly be charged for these fees after the fact just because it's an "automatic process that cannot be stopped"?
NOTE: I opted for the email solution as I figured it'd have more grounds than a simple telephone call.

Surely they would have to inform me in advance then that I can pay late but that I would also be liable for the legal fees. Or at the very least, something along those lines should be written into the leasing agreement?

And I'm now also told that I still have to appear in court if the legal fees (which in my opinion should not even be due) aren't paid in full.

[TenantNet]

It depends on the laws where you are, and you say you are not in NYC.

But I can't imagine any location where filing court papers is "automatic." That's bullshit. And I hear that all the time from landlords. A 3 or 5 day notice to pay might be automatic, but a court petition is not. Never.

And once you get a petition, you must show up in court even if you've paid. There are many times when tenants are told the problem is solved only to have the court issue eviction orders. And do not think the court proceeding is over unless the court says so.

Legal fees can ONLY be issued by the court and not by the LL. You do not owe legal fees simply because the LL says so. That is a scam.

Do not pay legal fees, but you should appear in court. If the LL makes a motion for legal fees to the court, you should oppose that. After all, what legal work did they do? Legal fees are usually levied to "the prevailing party" after a trial or successful motions. From what you say, the LL has done none of that. And since you are still in occupancy, in our view you are the prevailing party.