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     We all live with the fantasy that government is here to help us. Governmental agencies and the bureaucrats that serve them, however, try not to miss an opportunity to require businesses to disclose "fees" or other costs associated with a transaction, especially real estate development.

     Most legitimate businesses, whether required by law or not, disclose most if not all fees or charges "up front". Regrettably our government does not feel the same sense of responsibility to its tax payers. Our elected representatives appear to be quite comfortable charging individuals and businesses excessively high fees and penalties if they are more than thirty days late. Very often, these exorbitant charges are levied against those who can least afford them.

     The backbone of our economy is small businesses. Small enterprises employ a large percentage of our population and their owners pay the bulk of our taxes. For a small business to churn out a profit, it requires a lot of time, effort and hard work. When you consider high rents, wages and all the other expenses it takes to operate a business, it becomes difficult to make a modest income when a business owner is faced with high government fees and penalties. Government bureaucrats seem to have a basic assumption that if you want to do business in our City, County, or State you will pay whatever they charge without recognition that unreasonable late fees and penalties are hurting those payers that are the "backbone of our economy".

     It appears, from my experience, the word "reasonable" has been thrown out the window. Forty percent, one-hundred percent and larger penalties levied by government for being slightly late seems the norm. For example, the Department of Motor Vehicles charges a 40% late fee if you do not pay your car registration on time. For City of Los Angeles business licenses, the late charges run as high as forty percent plus accrued interest for late payment. The City of Los Angeles Housing Department charges a small apartment building owner a fifty-eight percent penalty if they are late sixty days and a two-hundred-fifty percent penalty if they are late 90 days on their annual registration. We are not talking pennies here. On a thirty unit building, the annual fee is $1,627, but if you are late sixty days you’ll be charge $2,580 and for ninty days the fee is a whopping $4,065. These are just a few examples of the astounding excessive late fees and penalties that are rampant in Los Angeles.

     But, businesses are not the only victims. When the County of Los Angeles bills you an assessment or fee that you believe is incorrect, they inform you that you must pay the charge and then appeal it. They tell you that if you do not pay it on time, whether or not you owe the money, they will assess you a late fee of forty percent. If you win your appeal it will take ten weeks for the County to refund your money. That is a heck of a deal!

     Often it turns out the late charges cost more than the original governmental charge. It is a shame that our government is not subject to the same usury laws that the rest of us are. It is a much bigger shame that reasonableness and fairness do not appear to be a normal part of our government’s way of doing business.

     Rickey can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it