Late Rent Fees: How Much Landlords Can Charge

Late fee laws by state: the states with specific rules

These are the states that set a number, a waiting period or both. “None stated” means the statute in our records sets no waiting period. Your lease can still give one. Rows marked (verify) have changed recently or need checking against the current statute.

State	Late fee cap	Grace period	Statute
Colorado	Greater of $50 or 5% of past-due rent; one fee per late payment	At least 7 days late	C.R.S. § 38-12-105
Connecticut (verify)	Lesser of $5 a day up to $50, or 5% of the delinquent payment	9 days	Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-15a
Delaware	5% of monthly rent	More than 5 days late (3 extra days if no landlord office in the county)	25 Del. C. § 5501(d)
Hawaii (verify)	8% of rent due	None stated	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-21(f)
Illinois, Chicago and Cook County only (verify)	$10 a month for the first $1,000 of rent plus 5% of rent above $1,000	None stated	Chicago RLTO; Cook County RTLO
Iowa	Rent of $700 or less: $12 a day, max $60 a month. Over $700: $20 a day, max $100 a month	None stated	Iowa Code § 562A.9(4)
Maine	4% of one month’s rent, disclosed in writing	More than 15 days late	14 M.R.S. § 6028
Maryland	5% of monthly rent due	None stated	Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-208(d)(3)
Massachusetts	No fee or interest until 30 days late	30 days	Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15B(1)(c)
Minnesota	8% of the overdue payment	None stated	Minn. Stat. § 504B.177
Nevada (verify)	5% of periodic rent	None stated	Nev. Rev. Stat. § 118A.210
New Jersey (verify)	No cap; must be in the lease and reasonable	5 business days for seniors on Social Security, pension or disability	N.J.S.A. 2A:42-6.1
New Mexico	10% of rent per rental period	None stated	N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-8-15(D)
New York	Lesser of $50 or 5% of monthly rent	More than 5 days late	N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 238-a(2)
North Carolina	Greater of $15 or 5% of monthly rent	5 days	N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-46
Oregon	Reasonable flat fee; or daily fee up to 6% of that flat fee; or 5% of rent per 5 days late. Must be in the written agreement	Unpaid by end of the 4th day	ORS 90.260
Rhode Island (verify)	No cap; must be disclosed in writing	Rent demand notice can’t be served until 15 days late	R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-35
Tennessee	10% of past-due rent	5 days (next business day if day 5 is a weekend or holiday)	Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-201(d)
Texas	Presumed reasonable up to 12% of monthly rent (4 or fewer units) or 10% (more than 4 units); must be in a written lease	Unpaid 2 full days after due date	Tex. Prop. Code § 92.019
Virginia (verify)	Lesser of 10% of periodic rent or 10% of remaining balance; must be in the written lease	None stated	Va. Code § 55.1-1204
Washington	No cap	More than 5 days late	Rev. Code Wash. § 59.18.170

What the rules mean on a $1,650 rent

Percentages are easier to judge as dollars. On a $1,650 monthly rent, paid in full but late:

• New York: 5% would be $82.50, so the $50 cap applies. Maximum $50, once rent is more than 5 days late.
• Connecticut: 5% is $82.50, but the daily formula tops out at $50. Maximum $50, after 9 days.
• Colorado: the greater of $50 or 5%, so $82.50, once rent is at least 7 days late.
• North Carolina: the greater of $15 or 5%, so $82.50, after 5 days.
• Delaware, Maryland, Nevada: 5%, or $82.50.
• Maine: 4%, or $66, once rent is more than 15 days late.
• Minnesota, Hawaii: 8%, or $132.
• Tennessee, New Mexico, Virginia: 10%, or $165.
• Texas: up to $198 is presumed reasonable in a fourplex (12%), or $165 in a 6-unit building (10%), after 2 full days.
• Iowa: rent is over $700, so up to $20 a day with a $100 monthly maximum.
• Chicago or Cook County: $10 on the first $1,000, plus 5% of the remaining $650, or $42.50.
• Oregon: one option is 5% of rent for each 5 days late, so $82.50 for each 5-day period.

States with no set cap

The other 31 states set no fixed cap or grace period in statute: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois (outside Chicago and Cook County), Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey (apart from its grace period for seniors), North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Arkansas and South Dakota are flagged in our records for checking, since no statute was located.

No cap doesn’t mean anything goes. In these states the fee generally has to be in the lease and reasonable. A few have more specific tests:

• Arizona requires the fee to be reasonable and stated in the written lease (A.R.S. § 33-1368(B)).
• California treats a late fee as liquidated damages, so it must be a reasonable estimate of the landlord’s actual losses (Cal. Civ. Code § 1671, applied in Orozco v. Casimiro). Fees around 5% to 6% of monthly rent are commonly viewed as defensible, and rent-controlled cities may restrict them further.
• Michigan and Oklahoma courts have struck down excessive fees as penalties.
• Ohio has no state cap, but some cities, including Dayton, have adopted local limits.
• Wisconsin requires late fees to be reasonable and stated in the lease (Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(8)).

A flat 5% with a few days’ grace is a common choice in no-cap states. Whatever you pick, be ready to explain how it relates to the real cost of late rent: your time, a late mortgage payment, bank fees.

Rules that apply almost everywhere

• Put it in the lease. Amount, when it kicks in, and whether it repeats. Several states require a written lease term, and a fee you invent after the fact is hard to defend.
• One fee per late payment is the safe default. Colorado requires it. Stacking a new fee every day without a cap invites a challenge.
• Don’t charge late fees on late fees, and in Colorado, don’t charge late fees on non-rent charges at all. A 2025 law (HB25-1090, effective January 1, 2026) also bans many other junk fees there.
• Count days carefully. “More than 5 days late” in New York means the fee can apply on day 6. Tennessee pushes day 5 to the next business day if it lands on a weekend or holiday.
• Be careful with partial payments. How you apply a partial payment, and whether accepting it affects an eviction notice, varies by state.
• Apply the policy the same way to everyone. Selective waivers can look like discrimination under the Fair Housing Act.

Setting late fees in rent collection software

Most rent collection apps can charge late fees automatically, including TurboTenant, RentRedi, Avail, Innago, TenantCloud and Buildium. They’ll apply whatever rule you enter, legal or not. Before you turn automation on:

1. Set the grace period to match your state, or longer if your lease says so.
2. Choose flat or percentage to match your lease.
3. If your state uses a “lesser of” or “greater of” formula, check whether the app supports it. If not, set the amount that’s legal at your rent and recheck it when rent changes.
4. Watch the first two or three months of automatic fees and fix anything that looks wrong.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Late fee rules change often, so read the current statute and any local ordinance, and talk to a local attorney before you rely on an unusual fee structure.