Rent Late Fee Calculator
Is your late fee legal? Pick your state, enter your rent and the fee, and see the most a landlord may charge, the first day a fee is allowed, and whether your fee is over the limit. Every figure comes from the state's own law, with the section linked.
Check your late fee
Choose your state to see its late fee limit.
Earliest day a late fee may be charged
What the law says
Conditions
Good to know
Late fee limits by state
The limit on the fee and the wait before it, for the 50 states and DC. Where a city sets its own figure, it has its own row.
| State | Limit on the fee | Wait before a fee |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Alaska | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Arizona | No set number; must be reasonable | None found; the lease decides |
| Arkansas | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| California | No set number; must be reasonable | None found; the lease decides |
| Colorado | Greater of $50 or 5% of the past-due rent payment | 7 calendar days; first fee on the 8th for rent due the 1st |
| Connecticut | Lesser of $50 or 5% of the delinquent rent payment | 9 days; no fee before the 11th for rent due the 1st |
| Delaware | 5% of monthly rent | 5 days; no fee before the 7th for rent due the 1st |
| District of Columbia | 5% of the full amount of rent due | 5 days; no fee before the 7th for rent due the 1st |
| Florida | No set number; must be reasonable | None found; the lease decides |
| Georgia | No set number; must be reasonable | None found; the lease decides |
| Hawaii | 8% of the amount of rent due | None found; the lease decides |
| Idaho | No set number; must be reasonable | None found; the lease decides |
| Illinois | No set number; must be reasonable | None found; the lease decides |
| Chicago, Illinois | $10 on the first $500 of monthly rent plus 5% of the rent above $500 | None found; the lease decides |
| Indiana | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Iowa | $12 a day up to $60 a month (rent $700 or less); $20 a day up to $100 a month (rent above $700) | None found; the lease decides |
| Kansas | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Kentucky | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Louisiana | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Maine | 4% of the amount due for one month | 15 days; no fee before the 16th for rent due the 1st |
| Maryland | 5% of the unpaid rent due for the rental period that was late | None found; the lease decides |
| Baltimore, Maryland | 5% of the unpaid rent due for the rental period that was late | 10 days; no fee before the 12th for rent due the 1st |
| Massachusetts | No cap found | 30 days; no fee until 30 days after the due date |
| Michigan | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Minnesota | 8% of the overdue rent payment | None found; the lease decides |
| Mississippi | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Missouri | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Montana | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Nebraska | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Nevada | 5% of the periodic rent | 3 calendar days; first fee on the 4th for rent due the 1st |
| New Hampshire | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| New Jersey | No cap found | None for most renters; 5 business days for rent due the 1st for some benefit recipients |
| New Mexico | 5% of the rent for each rental period in default | None found; the lease decides |
| New York | Lesser of $50 or 5% of monthly rent | 5 calendar days; first fee on the 7th for rent due the 1st |
| North Carolina | Greater of $15 or 5% of monthly rent | 5 calendar days; first fee on the 6th for rent due the 1st |
| North Dakota | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Ohio | No set number; must be reasonable | None found; the lease decides |
| Oklahoma | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Oregon | No single cap: a reasonable flat fee, a per-day fee up to 6% of that flat fee, or 5% of rent per 5-day period | 4 calendar days; first fee on the 5th for rent due the 1st |
| Pennsylvania | No set number; must be reasonable | None found; the lease decides |
| Rhode Island | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| South Carolina | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| South Dakota | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Tennessee | 10% of the amount of rent past due | 5 days; no fee before the 6th for rent due the 1st |
| Texas | Safe harbor of 12% of monthly rent (4 or fewer units) or 10% (more than 4); more only up to the landlord's damages | 2 calendar days; first fee on the 4th for rent due the 1st |
| Utah | Greater of $75 or 10% of the rent agreed to in the rental agreement | None found; the lease decides |
| Vermont | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Virginia | Lesser of 10% of the periodic rent or 10% of the remaining balance owed | None found; the lease decides |
| Washington | No set number; must be reasonable | 5 calendar days; first fee on the 7th for rent due the 1st |
| Seattle, Washington | $10 a month | 5 calendar days; first fee on the 7th for rent due the 1st |
| West Virginia | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Wisconsin | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
| Wyoming | No cap found | None found; the lease decides |
Laws change. Read the current text of the section before you rely on it. This is general information, not legal advice.
Late fee questions
It depends on where you rent. Of the 50 states and DC, 15 cap a late fee at a percentage of rent, sometimes with a dollar floor or ceiling, 3 set limits of another kind (Iowa, Oregon and Texas), 9 require only that the fee be reasonable, and 24 have no cap that we found. The percentages run from 4% in Maine to 10% in Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. Chicago and Seattle set their own city limits; Seattle's is $10 a month. The table above lists every state.
In 38 of the 50 states and DC we found no required waiting period, so the lease decides when a fee can start (New Jersey gives 5 business days to some renters on listed benefits). The rest set a grace period first: Colorado (7 calendar days); Connecticut (9 days); Delaware (5 days); District of Columbia (5 days); Maine (15 days); Massachusetts (30 days); Nevada (3 calendar days); New York (5 calendar days); North Carolina (5 calendar days); Oregon (4 calendar days); Tennessee (5 days); Texas (2 calendar days); Washington (5 calendar days). Baltimore adds its own rule: no fee until rent is more than 10 days past due. Some count the days differently, so the checker above works out the first day a fee is allowed.
Check three things. First, the lease or rental agreement must provide for the fee; many of these laws say so outright. Second, the amount must be within the cap where the law sets one. Third, it must not be charged before any grace period ends. The checker above tests the amount where the law sets a number and the date where it sets a wait, and shows the conditions that apply in your state.
In most places the fee has to come from the lease or rental agreement, and several laws say so outright. Virginia bars a late charge that is not provided for in the written rental agreement (Va. Code § 55.1-1204(E)). Nevada requires a written rental agreement to cover late charges (NRS 118A.200(3)(g)), Hawaii requires the agreement to provide for one (HRS § 521-21(f)), and Maine requires written notice at the start of the tenancy that a penalty of up to 4% of one month's rent may be charged (14 M.R.S. § 6028(3)). In New Mexico, charging a fee not in the rental agreement is an unfair or deceptive trade practice. A few states let a landlord add one later: Utah on a month-to-month agreement after a 15-day notice, and Idaho after a written 30 day notice.
Several states limit it. Iowa allows up to $12 a day and $60 a month when rent is $700 or less, and $20 a day and $100 a month above that. Connecticut allows $5 a day up to $50, but no more than 5% of the late payment, and only one late charge per payment. Oregon allows a per-day fee of no more than 6% of the lease's flat late charge. North Carolina and DC allow a fee only once per late payment, and Seattle caps any late fee at $10 a month. In Pennsylvania, a court found a $25 first-day plus $5-per-day late fee unconscionable in 2026.