Late fee laws by state decide two things every renter eventually needs to know: how many days you have before a late fee can be charged, and how big that fee is allowed to be. The honest answer in most of the country is that neither number is written into state law, and knowing that changes what you do about a fee that feels wrong. This guide compares late fee laws by state across all 50 states, each row taken from that state’s own verified guide on this site.
Click any state below for its full guide, including whether the fee has to be in your lease, whether it can come out of your deposit, and what to do about a fee that breaks the rule.
Quick Facts — U.S. Late Fee Laws by State (2026)
- Only 18 states put a number on the late fee — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia. In the other 32, the lease controls and courts apply a “reasonable fee” test
- The most common cap is 5% of the rent — Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, and (with a $50 ceiling) New York and Colorado
- New York’s cap is the tightest: the lesser of $50 or 5% of monthly rent, statewide, under RPL § 238-a
- Only 13 states set a grace period by statute — from 2 full days in Texas to 30 days in Massachusetts. Everywhere else the clock starts on the due date unless your lease says otherwise
- Texas has no hard cap but a safe harbor: a fee up to 12% of monthly rent (10% in buildings of 5+ units) is presumed reasonable under Property Code 92.019
- Iowa and Connecticut cap the fee per day, not per month, which is how a small daily fee can quietly break the law by the second week
- In every state, a late fee that is not in a written lease is very hard to collect, and no state lets a landlord evict for an unpaid late fee alone unless the lease defines the fee as rent
Late Fee Laws by State — All 50 States Compared
The table below shows the two figures that decide whether a late fee is legal. Here is what each column means:
Grace Period = the days after the due date before a fee can attach, when state law sets one. “None by statute” means your lease controls; a fee charged the day after rent is due is legal only if the lease says so.
Cap on the Fee = whether state law limits the size of the fee. Where it says “No statutory cap,” a court can still throw out a fee that looks like a penalty rather than an estimate of the landlord’s real loss.
| State | Grace Period | Cap on the Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Alaska | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Arizona | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Arkansas | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| California | None by statute | No cap; a fee must be a reasonable estimate of the landlord’s loss (Civ. Code § 1671) |
| Colorado | 7 calendar days | Greater of $50 or 5% of the past-due rent (C.R.S. 38-12-105) |
| Connecticut | 9 days | Lesser of $5 per day up to $50, or 5% of the late rent |
| Delaware | 5 days | 5% of the monthly rent (25 Del. C. § 5501(d)) |
| Florida | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Georgia | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Hawaii | None by statute | 8% of the rent due (HRS 521-21(f)) |
| Idaho | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Illinois | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Indiana | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Iowa | None by statute | $12 per day, max $60 per month, if rent is $700 or less; $20 per day, max $100, above that (Iowa Code § 562A.9(4)) |
| Kansas | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Kentucky | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Louisiana | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Maine | 15 days | 4% of one month’s rent (14 M.R.S. § 6028) |
| Maryland | None by statute | 5% of the unpaid rent (Real Property § 8-208(d)(3)) |
| Massachusetts | 30 days | No statutory cap |
| Michigan | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Minnesota | None by statute | 8% of the overdue rent (Minn. Stat. 504B.177) |
| Mississippi | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Missouri | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Montana | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Nebraska | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Nevada | 3 calendar days | 5% of the periodic rent (NRS 118A.210) |
| New Hampshire | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| New Jersey | 5 business days for tenants on Social Security, pension or disability benefits | No statutory cap |
| New Mexico | None by statute | 5% of the rent for the rental period (NMSA 47-8-15) |
| New York | 5 days | Lesser of $50 or 5% of the monthly rent (RPL § 238-a) |
| North Carolina | 5 days | Greater of $15 or 5% of monthly rent; weekly rent: greater of $4 or 5% (G.S. 42-46) |
| North Dakota | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Ohio | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Oklahoma | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Oregon | 4 days | No fixed number, but ORS 90.260 allows only three fee methods, each tied to a reasonable amount |
| Pennsylvania | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Rhode Island | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| South Carolina | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| South Dakota | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Tennessee | 5 days | 10% of the rent past due (T.C.A. § 66-28-201(d), URLTA counties) |
| Texas | 2 full days | No hard cap; a fee is presumed reasonable at 12% of rent (10% for 5+ units) under Prop. Code 92.019 |
| Utah | None by statute | Greater of 10% of monthly rent or $75 (Utah Code 57-22-4) |
| Vermont | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Virginia | None by statute | Lesser of 10% of the periodic rent or 10% of the remaining balance due (Va. Code 55.1-1204) |
| Washington | 5 days | No statutory cap |
| West Virginia | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Wisconsin | None by statute | No statutory cap |
| Wyoming | None by statute | No statutory cap |
Each cell was written from that state’s own verified guide on this site. Caps often carry conditions, such as applying only to monthly rent or only in counties that adopted the uniform landlord-tenant act, so check your state guide before relying on one.
Late Fee Laws by State — Why Most States Have No Number
The first surprise in late fee laws by state is how few numbers there are. Thirty-four states never wrote a cap into their landlord-tenant statute. That is not an oversight. Those states treat a late fee as a contract term, and contract law already has a rule for it: a fee must be a reasonable estimate of the loss a late payment actually causes, not a punishment for being late.
In practice that rule has teeth. Judges in no-cap states routinely strike fees that approach a week’s rent, fees that grow every day without a ceiling, and fees stacked on top of interest. The problem for renters is that the rule only helps in court, so in a no-cap state the lease clause is what you live with day to day.
That is why the second column matters even when it says no cap. A landlord who knows the fee is challengeable will usually waive it once rather than defend it. A renter who knows the same thing pays the rent on time and disputes only the fee, in writing, which is the position that wins.
Late Fee Laws by State — Where the Caps Are and How They Work
The 18 capped states use three designs. Most set a percent of rent: 5% in Delaware, Maryland, Nevada and New Mexico, 8% in Hawaii and Minnesota, 10% in Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. Colorado and New York add a dollar ceiling on top, so on a $3,000 apartment in New York the fee cannot pass $50 no matter what the percent works out to.
Iowa and Connecticut cap by the day instead, which sounds smaller and is not. Connecticut allows $5 a day up to $50; Iowa allows $12 a day up to $60 on rent of $700 or less. A daily fee that keeps running past the monthly ceiling is the most common cap violation in both states.
Texas and Oregon sit in between. Neither sets a hard cap, but both name the test: Texas presumes a fee reasonable at 12% of rent and puts the burden on the landlord above that; Oregon allows only three fee structures and requires each to be reasonable.
The grace period is the rule renters miss most. Thirteen states set one by statute, and in the other thirty-seven the lease decides. If your lease is silent, a fee charged the morning after the due date is on shaky ground in every state, because a fee needs a written term that creates it.
Late Fee Laws by State — What to Do About an Illegal Fee
Whatever your state, the sequence is the same. Pay the rent itself on time and in full. Dispute the fee separately, in writing, naming the rule it breaks: the cap, the grace period, or the missing lease clause. Keep the notice and your payment record. Landlords rarely file a case over a disputed fee, but they do file over unpaid rent, so never withhold rent to protest a fee.
If the fee keeps coming, small claims court is built for this. Several capped states add a penalty for charging an illegal fee, and a pattern of fees charged above the cap or inside the grace period is exactly the evidence a judge wants to see.
For the deposit side of the same problem, see what to do when a landlord won’t return a security deposit, and for the eviction side, how long an eviction takes in every state.
Find Your State Late Fee Guide
Ready to check the late fee laws by state where you live? Click any state name in the table above, or browse the full category below.
Browse All 50 State Late Fee Guides →
Official Sources
- Texas Property Code § 92.019: statutes.capitol.texas.gov — the safe-harbor model other states cite
- New York Real Property Law § 238-a: nysenate.gov — the $50 / 5% cap
- State landlord-tenant statutes: each state’s late-fee rule, grace period and any cap, linked inside the individual state guides
- Legal Services Corporation: lsc.gov — find free local legal aid for fee and eviction disputes
Late fee laws by state data compiled from state landlord-tenant statutes and each state’s verified guide on this site. Caps and grace periods are contract terms first and statutes second in most states, so your lease matters as much as the law in the no-cap states. Click any state above for its verified guide. Last reviewed September 2026.
Disclaimer: This page is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. Rules, notice periods, caps and deadlines vary by state and sometimes by city, and they change over time. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney or your local tenant-rights or legal-aid organization.