Misinformation about late fees-recourse?

[elaine in the uws]

I rented with one other person in a building owned by an equity group starting July 1, 2008. I started subleasing in January of 2009 to a friend but have continued to pay the rent to the company and gotten reimbursed by my subletter.

Recently, I have run into problems with the billing department that have made me distrustful of anything they tell me that is not in writing.

Last week, a woman from billing called my roommate to tell her there was an outstanding late fee of $80 on the account. My roommate called to tell me it was because of a check I had sent in late and short of money. I went back to take a look at my checking account and saw that the company processed a check I wrote for January's rent of $1083 as $1003. I had sent them the additional $80 when they asked back then, but they never deposited it.

When I told them about the error, the woman on the phone said the fee was actually for another late payment in April. What she was referring to: I had mailed in my rent check at the end of March, but the billing office called my roommate to tell her they had not received it around the middle of the month. I sent in another check, dated April 19, and they deposited it April 27. They told me then that they wouldn't charge a late fee, but now they say they are charging one.

At this point, I wanted to see a statement and talk to a supervisor so I knew what they were actualy charging me for. Today, I talked to the supervisor after some difficulty reaching her, and the supervisor also insisted she would only give me the late fees over the phone.

What's more, when I asked how much was on my balance today, the supervisor told me I owed July's rent, even though our lease expires June 30 and we are not renewing. She said no one had notified their office that we're not renewing. My roommate did in fact send in the lease renewal form saying that we aren't renewing (for obvious reasons--part of her ceiling caved in from a leak, and the building still hasn't fixed it!). My roommate also informed the same billing clerk I had talked to over the phone that we were vacating last week. The billing clerk told my roommate then that the office probably just hadn't entered that information into their system.

So basically, we have been hearing two different things, and I suspect that the management company is hoping my roommate and I don't get our stories straight with each other.

This company has made so many mistakes and been negligent on repairs, so it seems as if they should give us the benefit of the doubt on late fees. Not to mention, I need to see what the fees are being assessed for.

How do I find out the amount of late fees that is owed and for what? I want to make sure the fees aren't excessive (I've read a summary to a case that says they should be up to 5% after the tenth of the month). I also want to make sure I get my security deposit back. Can I tell them they are in violation of the law? If so, what law?

Any help is appreciated.