Late Fee Laws by State: Caps & Grace Periods

Quick Answer Late-fee law is not one rule with a national number — it takes three shapes, and the shape matters more than the size. 22 of the 51 US residential-tenancy jurisdictions have a late-fee rule we drafted directly from the statute cited on the row. 19 of those write a ceiling, formula or bar into the statute — the tightest percentage is Maine at 4% of the amount due for a month (14 M.R.S. §6028) and the most permissive is Texas's safe harbour of 12% for buildings of four units or fewer, 10% for five or more (Tex. Prop. Code §92.019). California, New Jersey and Washington set no statewide ceiling on the amount at all, on rows drafted directly from the cited statute. And 11 jurisdictions mandate a grace period before any fee may be charged. In the remaining 29 jurisdictions our record shows no statutory cap and only a reasonableness standard — but that record is unverified, so those rows are badged and hedged rather than stated as fact. California’s much-quoted 5% is a court threshold, not a statute — see the note below the table.

Free ToolSkip the table: the free late rent fee checker takes your state, your rent and the fee you were charged, and returns your state's rule, its citation, and the arithmetic against your own numbers. Where a state sets no cap it says so rather than inventing one.

This is a state-by-state reference for the four things that decide a late-fee dispute: whether the statute sets a ceiling, whether a grace period must pass before a fee can be charged, what standard governs when there is no ceiling, and the statute citation so you can read the source yourself. Every row links to the checker with your state pre-selected. Rows carry their own provenance: where we drafted the row directly from the cited statute it is badged Cited to statute; where the row is our working record and has not been re-checked, it is badged and hedged instead of being dropped — a missing state would read as “no rule,” which is the one thing we know is wrong.

Late fee rules — all 50 states + DC

Cited to statute drafted directly from the statute cited on the row Our record — verify our record, not yet re-verified — confirm before relying on it

State	Statutory cap	Grace period	Governing rule	Statute	Record status
Alabama	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: no statutory cap; must be reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Alaska	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Arizona	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: must be stated in lease; reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Arkansas	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: no cap	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
California	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: must be a valid liquidated-damages estimate; unreasonable fees void	Civ. §1671	Our record — verify
Colorado	Greater of $50 or 5%	7 calendar days	Must be in lease; one fee per late payment; penalties for violations	§38-12-105	Cited to statute
Connecticut	Lesser of $5/day (max $50) or 5% of the delinquent rent payment (5% of tenant's share if subsidized); only ONE late charge per delinquent payment	9 days (week-to-week tenancies: 4 days)	Lease clauses charging before the grace period or above these amounts are unenforceable (§47a-4(a)(8)-(9))	C.G.S. §47a-15a (P.A. 23-207)	Cited to statute
Delaware	5% of monthly rent	5 days (8 if no in-county rent-receiving office/agent)	—	§5501(d)	Cited to statute
District of Columbia	5% of monthly rent	5 days	—	§42-3505.31	Cited to statute
Florida	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Georgia	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: no cap	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Hawaii	8% of amount due	None in our record	—	HRS §521-21(f)	Cited to statute
Idaho	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: must be in lease	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Illinois	Our record: no statewide cap (Chicago: $10 + 5% of amount over $500)	None in our record	—	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Indiana	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Iowa	Rent ≤$700/mo: $12/day max $60/mo; rent >$700: $20/day max $100/mo	None in our record	—	§562A.9(4)	Cited to statute
Kansas	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Kentucky	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: no cap	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Louisiana	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: no cap	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Maine	4% of amount due for a month	15 days	—	14 M.R.S. §6028	Cited to statute
Maryland	5% of rent due	None in our record	—	§8-208(d)(3)	Cited to statute
Massachusetts	NONE until rent 30 days late	No fee until rent is 30 days late (from the cap rule)	—	c.186 §15B(1)(c)	Cited to statute
Michigan	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Minnesota	8% of overdue payment	None in our record	—	§504B.177	Cited to statute
Mississippi	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: no cap	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Missouri	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Montana	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Nebraska	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Nevada	5% of periodic rent	None in our record	—	§118A.210(4)	Cited to statute
New Hampshire	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
New Jersey	No statutory ceiling on the amount	See the rule column	Reasonable; 5-business-day grace for seniors/disability benefits recipients	§2A:42-6.1	Cited to statute
New Mexico	10% of periodic rent	None in our record	—	§47-8-15(D)	Cited to statute
New York	Lesser of $50 or 5%	5 days	—	RPL §238-a	Cited to statute
North Carolina	Greater of $15 or 5% (monthly); $4/4% weekly	5 days	—	§42-46	Cited to statute
North Dakota	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Ohio	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable (case law)	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Oklahoma	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: no cap	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Oregon	Three exclusive options (must be specified in a WRITTEN agreement): (a) one reasonable flat charge per period; (b) per-day charge from day 5, ≤6% of the flat amount per day; or (c) 5% of periodic rent per succeeding 5-day period of delinquency	Rent not received by the 4th day of the period	—	ORS 90.260	Cited to statute
Pennsylvania	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Rhode Island	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
South Carolina	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
South Dakota	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: no cap	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Tennessee	10% of amount past due	5 days	—	§66-28-201(d)	Cited to statute
Texas	Safe harbor: 12% (≤4 units) / 10% (5+ units); must be in lease	2 full days	—	§92.019	Cited to statute
Utah	Greater of 10% of the agreed rent or $75; must be in the rental agreement (month-to-month: 15-day notice exception)	None in our record	—	Utah Code §57-22-4(5)	Cited to statute
Vermont	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: must approximate actual costs (case law)	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Virginia	Lesser of 10% of periodic rent or 10% of remaining balance due	None in our record	—	§55.1-1204(E)	Cited to statute
Washington	No statutory ceiling on the amount	5 days	No statewide cap on the AMOUNT for ch. 59.18 tenancies; NO fee may be charged if rent is paid within 5 days of the due date (if later, fees may accrue retroactively from day 1); Seattle caps $10/mo; manufactured-home lots (ch. 59.20): 2%/3%/5% tiers per HB 1217	RCW 59.18.170(2)	Cited to statute
West Virginia	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: reasonable	No citation in our record	Our record — verify
Wisconsin	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: must be disclosed; no fee-on-fee	ATCP 134.09(8)	Our record — verify
Wyoming	Our record: no statutory ceiling	None in our record	Our record: no cap	No citation in our record	Our record — verify

How to read this table. Statutory cap is the ceiling, formula or bar the statute itself sets on a residential late fee; where the statute sets none, the cell says so rather than showing a number. Grace period is the time that must pass before any fee may be charged — it does not change when rent is due. Governing rule is the standard that applies where there is no ceiling. Record status is this page's provenance: Cited to statute rows were drafted directly from the citation shown; Our record — verify rows are our working record and have not been re-checked, so they are hedged rather than asserted. Empty cells mean we hold no such figure — not that the state has no rule. Local ordinances can be stricter than the statewide figure. Read the cited statute before acting.

The three shapes a late-fee rule takes

Almost every argument about a late fee is really an argument about which of these three regimes the tenancy sits in. Sorting the table by Statutory cap groups them.

A ceiling, formula or bar written into the statute. 19 jurisdictions. Some are flat percentages — Hawaii 8% of the amount due (HRS §521-21(f)), Maryland 5% of rent due (§8-208(d)(3)), Nevada 5% of periodic rent (§118A.210(4)). Others are two-part tests, and the direction of the test is the whole game: Utah allows the greater of 10% of the agreed rent or $75 (Utah Code §57-22-4(5)), while Connecticut allows the lesser of $5/day capped at $50, or 5% of the delinquent payment (C.G.S. §47a-15a). Iowa does not use a percentage at all: $12/day capped at $60/month where rent is $700 or less, $20/day capped at $100/month above that (§562A.9(4)).
No statutory ceiling — a reasonableness test instead. This is the single most misunderstood category, because “no cap” is not the same as “anything goes.” A fee with no statutory ceiling is still attacked as an unenforceable penalty if it does not approximate the landlord's actual loss. California, New Jersey and Washington have no statewide ceiling on the amount, on rows drafted directly from the cited statute. In 29 further jurisdictions our record says the same thing but has not been re-verified.
A grace period the fee cannot cross. 11 jurisdictions bar any fee until a set number of days has passed, regardless of the amount: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. Washington's is the clearest illustration — no fee at all if rent arrives within 5 days of the due date, but once that lapses fees may accrue retroactively from day one (RCW 59.18.170(2)). A grace period does not move the rent due date; it moves the date a fee becomes chargeable, which is why rent can be late for nonpayment-notice purposes while still being fee-free.

California: no statutory cap — the 5% figure is a court threshold

The most repeated claim in this subject is that California caps residential late fees at 5% of rent. That figure is not a statute. California sets no statutory percentage ceiling on residential late fees, and no statutory grace period either. What governs is Civil Code §1671, the liquidated-damages provision: the fee has to be a genuine pre-estimate of the loss the landlord actually suffers from late payment, and a fee that is really a penalty is void. Roughly 5% of monthly rent is the level above which California courts have voided late fees as unreasonable penalties — which makes it a practical ceiling, not a safe harbour. A 5% fee that bears no relation to actual loss is just as voidable as a 15% one.

The full treatment — including the San Francisco ordinance, why a late fee must never appear in a 3-day notice to pay or quit, and why daily and compounding fees fail — is in our California late fees and grace periods guide. Read §1671 before you draft the clause.

Where late fees actually get struck down

In practice the amount is rarely the first thing that kills a late fee. These are:

The fee was never in the lease. Several states say in terms that the charge has to be an agreed term of the tenancy — Texas requires it to be in the lease (§92.019), Utah requires it to be in the rental agreement (§57-22-4(5)), Oregon requires a written rental agreement specifying which of its three permitted structures applies (ORS 90.260). A fee invented after the fact is usually uncollectible even where it would have been lawful if written down.
It was charged during the grace period. Connecticut is explicit that a lease clause charging before the grace period runs, or above the statutory amounts, is unenforceable.
It was charged more than once for the same missed payment. Colorado and Connecticut both limit the landlord to one late charge per delinquent payment.
It compounded. Wisconsin's record includes a no-fee-on-fee rule (ATCP 134.09(8)); that record is unverified, so read the regulation before relying on it.
The city is stricter than the state. Statewide figures are a floor for tenant protection, not a ceiling. Where a municipality has legislated, it is generally tighter.

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FAQ

Does California set a statutory percentage cap on late fees?

No. California sets no statutory percentage cap on residential late fees. They are governed by the liquidated-damages rule in Civil Code section 1671: the fee must be a genuine estimate of the loss the landlord suffers from late payment, and an unreasonable fee is void as a penalty. The widely quoted 5% figure is not a statutory maximum; it is the level above which California courts have voided fees as unreasonable penalties, so it is a practical ceiling rather than a safe harbour.

Which state has the lowest late-fee cap?

Among the jurisdictions we drafted directly from the cited statute, Maine sets the tightest percentage: 4% of the amount due for a month (14 M.R.S. section 6028), after a 15-day grace period. New York and Connecticut are tighter in dollar terms for higher rents because both use a lesser-of test capped at $50 (RPL section 238-a; C.G.S. section 47a-15a).

What does "no statutory cap" actually mean for a landlord?

It means no statute names a number, not that any number is safe. Where there is no ceiling, the fee is still tested against a reasonableness or liquidated-damages standard, and a fee that functions as a penalty rather than an estimate of actual loss can be struck down in full. It also means the lease has to do the work: an unwritten fee is generally uncollectible regardless of size.

Does a grace period push back the date rent is due?

No. Where a state mandates a grace period it restricts when a fee may be charged, not when rent is due. Rent is still late on the due date, which can matter for a nonpayment notice even while no fee can yet be charged. Some states also allow the fee to accrue retroactively to day one once the grace period lapses — Washington works this way under RCW 59.18.170(2).

Can a city cap late fees below the state limit?

It can, and where a city has legislated it is usually stricter rather than looser. This table reflects statewide statutes only. Check your municipal code as well, particularly in large cities and in states that leave the amount to the lease.

Why are some rows marked "our record — verify" instead of stated as fact?

Because they have not been re-checked against the current statute, and pretending otherwise on a page landlords and tenants use to decide what to charge would be worse than saying so. Those rows are still shown, because dropping a state would read as "this state has no rule" — which is a different and larger error. Rows badged as cited to statute were drafted directly from the citation on that row.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information about state landlord-tenant law and is not legal advice. Rows marked “Cited to statute” were drafted directly from the statute cited on that row and are our reading of it, not an independent attorney review; rows marked “Our record — verify” are our working record and have not been re-checked against the current statute, so confirm them before relying on them. Local ordinances can be stricter than the statewide rule. Laws change — read the cited statute before acting, and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for your situation. Dataset compiled 2026-07-08.

Late Fee Laws by State: Caps, Grace Periods and Statute Citations

Late fee rules — all 50 states + DC

The three shapes a late-fee rule takes

California: no statutory cap — the 5% figure is a court threshold

Where late fees actually get struck down

Related references

Get the late-fee clause right in the lease itself

FAQ