Can a Landlord Charge a Daily Late Fee?

As a tenant, you have the right and responsibility to live in and maintain your landlord's apartment or home. Part of your job as a renter is to pay your rent in full and on time. However, if you can't pay your rent as expected, your or other late fees that you'll have to deal with in addition to your regular rent.

If you're struggling to pay rent but still don't want to be stuck with late fees, you may have to take some legal action to prevent a difficult situation. But it can be challenging to know exactly what to do if you're charged with daily late fees that keep piling up. Thankfully, DoNotPay can help you avoid late fees and get your payments back on the right track.

What Late Fees Can a Landlord Charge?

In most rental agreements, you'll find a clause noting how much of a late fee your landlord will charge if you fail to pay your rent on time. When exactly the late fee takes effect depends on your contract and your manager. However, there are two main methods of charging a late fee:

A landlord may charge you a flat rate fee for late rent. Often, these fees will be a percentage, often around 10%, of your total monthly rent.
for late rent. In this case, you will have to pay an additional amount every day you are late on your payment. Usually, the amount is small, around $10 - $20, but you may be charged more or less at your landlord's discretion.

Usually, a late fee will have a limit, sometimes set by the state, sometimes set by the landlord. This limit is an amount that the landlord cannot exceed when charging you a late fee. If they are nearing the limit, they may have to begin the eviction process instead of charging you more money that you can't pay.

Will Your Landlord Offer a Grace Period?

Sometimes, landlords offer a grace period for late fees. For example, it's not uncommon for a landlord to offer a five-day grace period after rent is due to allow you to pay near your due date without incurring any late charges.

That way, if you're just waiting for a paycheck to clear before you can pay, you don't get charged with a late fee.

What Laws Govern Late Rent and Eviction?

In many states, laws are put in place to prevent unreasonable late fees or eviction from occurring. Each state differs, but you will find that there are a few main things many states require in laws surrounding eviction. For example, many states:

Mandate a grace period.
Set a late fee limit so that tenants are not asked to pay an "unreasonable" fee.
Require landlords to offer tenants notice before evicting them.

Basically, a landlord could begin eviction proceedings as soon as you are late on rent. However, they are required to give you notice of eviction, usually at least three days prior. If you find that you simply can't pay rent, but you don't want to be evicted, you will have to seek out legal help in order to remain in your home.

Late Fee Laws in the Various States

Each state has slightly different regulations on late fees. Let's take a look at a few states so that you get a clearer picture of what may be required.

California	Late fees are not technically legal as they can be considered liquidated damages. However, if you agree to late fees in your contract, you may still be required to pay them.
Texas	Late fees must be reasonable (in most cases, no more than 10%) and can be charged after a renter is two full days late on a payment.
New York	Late fees can be charged if payment is ten days late but must not exceed 3% of the monthly rent.
Florida	There are no specific laws surrounding late fees, but they cannot be charged unless they are specifically provided for in the lease.

How to Find Help Fighting an Eviction With DoNotPay

If you're running late on rent because of a financial emergency and need help fighting a wrongful eviction, DoNotPay can help. We have many resources available to make sure that your rights as a tenant are respected by your landlord. Our Landlord Protection product can help you:

Get back your security deposit.
Learn about your state's eviction laws and what protections apply in your case.
Resolve disputes regarding repairs with your landlord.
Resolve disputes with roommates by filing demand letters or going through small claims court.
Break your lease early.

If you want to fight a wrongful eviction, , or resolve a dispute in small claims court, can help.

The process is fast and easy. Simply provide us with the information requested regarding your case, and we'll get in touch with the right people and help you solve your problem. All you need to do is:

Search for and open the Landlord Protection product on DoNotPay.
Select which issue applies to you.
Answer a simple set of questions so our chatbot can collect the necessary information to create your demand letter.
Choose whether you want DoNotPay to send the demand letter to your landlord or roommate on your behalf. If you already tried sending a demand letter and it didn't work, we can help you start the small claims court process.