Late Fee Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Oregon law says, what's specific to Portland - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Under ORS 90.260(1)(a) a late charge is allowed only if rent is not received by the fourth day of the weekly or monthly rental period.
- The fee is unenforceable unless a written rental agreement states the obligation, the type and amount, and the due dates.
- ORS 90.260(2) permits only three fee structures, and a per-day fee is capped at 6% of the reasonable flat amount.
- An unpaid late charge alone is not grounds for a nonpayment eviction under ORS 90.394.
- Our record finds no Portland ordinance adding a late-fee cap or a longer grace period on top of ORS 90.260.
Understanding the Late Fee Clause
A late fee clause sets what your landlord can charge when rent lands after the due date. Oregon is unusual here: instead of leaving the whole question to the lease, the state fixes the earliest day a fee can exist.
ORS 90.260 says a landlord may impose a late charge only if rent is not received by the fourth day of the weekly or monthly rental period. That makes the fifth day the earliest a charge can attach in Portland, and the statute also limits how the amount may be calculated.
Because the figure was read from a faithful reproduction of the statute rather than the state's own published page. Check the current text of ORS 90.260 before you rely on the day count in a dispute.
What renters assume
Most renters assume a grace period is a courtesy the landlord chose to grant, and that a lease can shorten it to the day after rent is due.
What is actually true
In Oregon the grace period is statutory. Under ORS 90.260(1)(a) no late charge may be imposed unless rent is unreceived by the fourth day of the rental period, so a fee dated earlier than the fifth day is charged too soon.
Portland's 4-day grace period lands in the middle of this chart. Denver renters get 7 days; New York City, Seattle and Nashville get 5; Austin gets 2. In Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Phoenix and Atlanta the record shows no required grace at all.
Plain English Version
Oregon treats a late fee like a meter that cannot start on the hour you park. The statute holds the charge off until rent has gone unreceived through the fourth day of the rental period, then limits which of three pricing shapes the landlord may use, and requires the lease to have said all of it in writing first.
Late Fee Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Portland, OR
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
you must pay your rent on or before the 1st day of each month (due date) with no grace period. . . . If you don't pay all rent on or before the 3rd day of the month, you'll pay an initial late charge of $75.00 plus a daily late charge of $15.00 per day after that date until paid in full.
Quoted from the published opinion in Cleven v. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc., 20 F.4th 171 (5th Cir. 2021). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“each month (due date)”
Oregon asks the agreement to carry more than a due date. Under ORS 90.260(1)(b) a late charge is unenforceable unless the written rental agreement states the tenant's obligation to pay it, the type and amount of the charge, and the dates on which rent and late charges become due. A lease that fixes when rent falls due but never when the charge does is missing one of those terms.
“with no grace period”
Oregon answers this line directly. ORS 90.260(1)(a) permits a late charge only where the rent payment is not received by the fourth day of the weekly or monthly rental period for which rent is payable, so the earliest a charge can attach is the fifth day. A lease may still make rent due on the 1st; what it does not set is the day a charge may begin. That cushion varies sharply - seven days in Colorado under C.R.S. 38-12-105, two in Texas under Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 92.019.
“$75.00 plus a daily late charge of $15.00”
Oregon regulates the shape of a late charge as well as its size. ORS 90.260(2) sets out three permitted ways to price one: a reasonable flat amount, once per rental period; a reasonable per-day amount beginning on the fifth day, which may not exceed 6% of that flat amount; or 5% of the periodic rent for each succeeding five-day period, also beginning on the fifth day. Measured against that middle structure, the per-day rate is priced off the flat charge rather than set loose from it: 6% of $75.00 is $4.50.
“after that date until paid in full”
Nothing here stops the meter, which is why Oregon's other limit matters. Under ORS 90.260(6), nonpayment of a late charge on its own is not grounds for a nonpayment-of-rent termination under ORS 90.394, and the tenant may cure by paying only the delinquent rent. A charge that keeps running is money a landlord can pursue; it is not, by itself, what ends the tenancy.
The clause survived - and the reasoning is the part worth knowing. Tenants argued a landlord must actually work out its damages before setting a late fee. The Fifth Circuit disagreed: there is no requirement to go through that process, so long as the fee itself is a reasonable estimate. The burden sits on the fee's size, not on the landlord's paperwork.
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Oregon Law on Late Fee Clause
- ORS 90.260(1)(a): a late charge may be imposed only if 'the rent payment is not received by the fourth day of the weekly or monthly rental period for which rent is payable' - so the earliest a fee can attach is the fifth day.
- The fee is unenforceable unless a written rental agreement states the tenant's obligation to pay it, the type and amount of the charge, and the dates rent and late charges become due (ORS 90.260(1)(b)).
- ORS 90.260(2) allows only three fee structures: a reasonable flat amount once per rental period; a reasonable per-day amount starting the fifth day, capped at 6% of that flat amount; or 5% of the periodic rent for each succeeding five-day period, starting the fifth day.
- ORS 90.260(4) forbids a landlord from deducting an old late charge out of a current rent payment to make that payment delinquent and trigger a new fee or an eviction.
- ORS 90.260(6): nonpayment of a late charge alone is not grounds for a nonpayment-of-rent termination under ORS 90.394; the tenant may cure by paying only the delinquent rent.
- In a periodic tenancy the landlord must give 30 days' written notice to change the type or amount of the late charge (ORS 90.260(3)).
ORS 90.260(1)(a) - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Two things have to be true before you owe an Oregon late fee. Rent has to be unreceived by the fourth day of the weekly or monthly rental period (ORS 90.260(1)(a)), and a written rental agreement has to state your obligation to pay the charge, its type and amount, and the dates rent and late charges become due (ORS 90.260(1)(b)).
ORS 90.260(2) then limits the shape of the charge to three options: a reasonable flat amount, charged once per rental period; a reasonable per-day amount beginning on the fifth day and capped at 6% of that flat amount; or 5% of the periodic rent for each succeeding five-day period, also starting the fifth day.
Changes are not free either. In a periodic tenancy the landlord must give 30 days' written notice to change the type or amount of the late charge (ORS 90.260(3)). Read the current statute text yourself before quoting a subsection back to a landlord.
Oregon Tenant Protections
A late charge may be imposed only if rent is not received by the fourth day of the rental period, and only if a written rental agreement states the obligation, the type and amount of the charge, and the due dates. The calculation must fit one of the three structures in ORS 90.260(2). A landlord may not deduct a previous late charge from a current rent payment to make that payment delinquent. Nonpayment of a late charge alone cannot support a nonpayment-of-rent termination.
What's Specific to Portland
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Our record finds no Portland ordinance that adds a late-fee cap or a longer grace period on top of ORS 90.260, so a Portland renter relies on the state four-day rule like everyone else in Oregon.
That is not because Portland stays quiet on renting. Portland City Code 30.01.085, the Renter Additional Protections, is where the city goes furthest past state law, but it covers 90-day termination and rent-increase notice and relocation assistance of roughly $2,900 to $4,500 rather than late fees. Section 30.01.087 covers security deposits and rent-payment history.
The practical read for a Portland tenant: the day count and the fee math come from the state statute, and the city code is where you look for notice and relocation questions instead. If a Portland charge looks wrong, the argument you make is an ORS 90.260 argument.
That is the trigger. ORS 90.260(1)(a) allows a charge only when rent is not received by the fourth day of the rental period.
It has to be. ORS 90.260(1)(b) requires the written agreement to state the obligation, the type and amount, and the due dates.
Check the math. ORS 90.260(2) caps a reasonable per-day charge at 6% of the reasonable flat amount for that period.
ORS 90.260(4) forbids deducting a previous late charge from a current rent payment to make that payment delinquent.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- ORS 90.260(1)(a), read on oregon.public.law. Oregon publishes the official text at www.oregonlegislature.gov.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Fee dated before the fifth day
ORS 90.260(1)(a) holds a charge off until rent is unreceived by the fourth day, so a fee posted on day two or three is charged too early.
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No late-fee clause in writing
The charge needs a written agreement stating the obligation, the type and amount, and the due dates (ORS 90.260(1)(b)). A portal line item is not that.
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Daily charge above the 6% cap
A per-day fee must start the fifth day and stay within 6% of the reasonable flat amount under ORS 90.260(2).
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Old fee taken out of new rent
ORS 90.260(4) bars deducting a previous late charge from a current rent payment to make it delinquent and trigger another fee or an eviction.
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Eviction threat over the fee alone
Under ORS 90.260(6) nonpayment of a late charge alone is not grounds for a nonpayment termination under ORS 90.394.
Your Rights as a Portland Tenant
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A statutory grace period
Oregon sets the trigger, not your landlord. No charge may be imposed unless rent is unreceived by the fourth day of the rental period.
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Written terms or no fee
ORS 90.260(1)(b) makes the charge unenforceable unless the written agreement states the obligation, the type and amount, and the due dates.
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Only three legal fee shapes
ORS 90.260(2) allows a reasonable flat amount once per period, a per-day amount capped at 6% of it, or 5% of periodic rent per five-day period.
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Cure by paying the rent
ORS 90.260(6) lets you cure a nonpayment notice by paying only the delinquent rent; the unpaid late charge alone does not support the termination.
What To Do - Step by Step
Date the payment
Find the day rent was received against the start of the rental period. A charge is allowed only once rent is unreceived by the fourth day.
Read the clause itself
Your written agreement has to state the obligation, the type and amount of the charge, and the due dates, or ORS 90.260(1)(b) is not satisfied.
Match the fee to a legal shape
It must be a reasonable flat amount once per period, a per-day amount within 6% of that flat amount, or 5% of periodic rent per five-day period.
Check for a change of terms
In a periodic tenancy the type or amount cannot change without 30 days' written notice under ORS 90.260(3).
Pay the rent, dispute the fee
Cover the delinquent rent first. Under ORS 90.260(6) the unpaid late charge alone cannot support a nonpayment termination, but unpaid rent can.
Put the objection in writing
Email the manager, quote the subsection you are relying on, ask for the ledger to be corrected, and read the current ORS 90.260 text before you do.