How many states cap late rent fees?

18 of 51 jurisdictions set a statutory cap: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia. The remaining 33 set no number, and a reasonableness or liquidated-damages standard governs instead.

Which states require a grace period before a late fee?

15: Colorado (7 days), Connecticut (9 days), Delaware (5 days), District of Columbia (5 days), Maine (15 days), Massachusetts (30 days), Nevada (3 days), New Jersey (5 days), New York (5 days), North Carolina (5 days), Oregon (3 days), Tennessee (5 days), Texas (2 days), Virginia (5 days), Washington (5 days). New Jersey's applies only to senior citizens and benefit recipients, not tenants generally.

Why do online guides disagree about late fee caps?

Mostly because nine states have a '$20 or 20% of monthly rent' late-fee rule in their self-service storage statute, which surfaces first in search and does not apply to residential tenancies. Arkansas has a similar rule in mobile-home law. Separately, Arizona's '$50 or 5%', North Dakota's 8% and Massachusetts' 5% cap are all pending or proposed bills quoted as current law.

Is a late fee above the cap just reduced to the cap?

No — it is void and unenforceable, and the tenant's signature does not save it. Several states add a penalty on top: Colorado charges the landlord $50 per violation, and Maryland exposes them to the tenant's actual damages and legal fees.

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State Guides

Late rent fee limits, by state

18 jurisdictions cap the amount, 15 require a grace period, and 30 do neither. Every figure here was read against the statute it cites, and each state page prints the statutory wording so you can check it.

Jurisdictions

Cap the amount

Require a grace period

No statutory rule

Every state, with its authority

Click a state for the statutory wording and the mistakes that make a fee unenforceable.

State	Maximum fee	Grace period	Authority
Alabama	No statutory cap	None	Ala. Code 35-9A (Alabama URLTA); 35-9A-161, 35-9A-421
Alaska	No statutory cap	None	Alaska Stat. 34.03.020, 34.03.220
Arizona	No statutory cap	None	A.R.S. 33-1368(B)
Arkansas	No statutory cap	None	Ark. Code 18-17 (Arkansas Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007)
California	No statutory cap	None	Cal. Civ. Code 1671; Orozco v. Casimiro (2004) 121 Cal.App.4th Supp. 7
Colorado	greater of $50 or 5% of the past-due amount	7 days	C.R.S. 38-12-105
Connecticut	lesser of ($5/day capped at $50) or 5% of the delinquent payment	9 days	Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-15a; 47a-4(a)
Delaware	5% of the monthly rent	5 days	25 Del. C. 5501(d)
District of Columbia	5% of the full amount of rent due	5 days	D.C. Code 42-3505.31
Florida	No statutory cap	None	Fla. Stat. ch. 83 pt. II (Residential Landlord and Tenant Act), 83.46
Georgia	No statutory cap	None	O.C.G.A. tit. 44 ch. 7
Hawaii	8% of the amount of rent due	None	HRS 521-21(f)
Idaho	No statutory cap	None	Idaho Code 55-314
Illinois	No statutory cap	None	765 ILCS 705 / 750 (no state late-fee cap)
Indiana	No statutory cap	None	Ind. Code 32-31 (Landlord-Tenant Relations)
Iowa	$12/day or $60/month where rent is $700 or less; $20/day or $100/month above that	None	Iowa Code 562A.9(4)
Kansas	No statutory cap	None	K.S.A. 58-2545
Kentucky	No statutory cap	None	KRS 383.565 (URLTA, local-option)
Louisiana	No statutory cap	None	La. Civ. Code art. 2704
Maine	4% of one month's rent	15 days	14 M.R.S. 6028
Maryland	5% of the unpaid rent due for the delinquent period	None	Md. Real Prop. 8-208(d)(3)
Massachusetts	No statutory cap	30 days	M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(1)(c)
Michigan	No statutory cap	None	MCL ch. 554 (Act 348 of 1972)
Minnesota	8% of the overdue rent payment	None	Minn. Stat. 504B.177
Mississippi	No statutory cap	None	Miss. Code 89-8 (Residential Landlord and Tenant Act)
Missouri	No statutory cap	None	RSMo ch. 441, ch. 535
Montana	No statutory cap	None	Mont. Code 70-24-201, 70-24-103
Nebraska	No statutory cap	None	Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-1414, 76-1412
Nevada	5% of the periodic rent	3 days	NRS 118A.210(4)
New Hampshire	No statutory cap	None	RSA 540, RSA 540-A
New Jersey	No statutory cap	5 days	N.J.S.A. 2A:42-6.1
New Mexico	10% of the total rent payment for each rental period in default	None	NMSA 47-8-15(D)
New York	lesser of $50 or 5% of the monthly rent	5 days	N.Y. Real Prop. Law 238-a(2)
North Carolina	greater of $15 or 5% of the monthly rent	5 days	N.C. Gen. Stat. 42-46(a)
North Dakota	No statutory cap	None	N.D. Cent. Code 47-16-20
Ohio	No statutory cap	None	Ohio Rev. Code 5321.06
Oklahoma	No statutory cap	None	41 Okla. Stat. (Residential Landlord and Tenant Act)
Oregon	a reasonable flat amount once per period; or 6% of that flat amount per day; or 5% of the periodic rent per five-day period	3 days	ORS 90.260(1)(a), (2)
Pennsylvania	No statutory cap	None	68 P.S. 250.101 et seq. (Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951)
Rhode Island	No statutory cap	None	R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15, 34-18-59
South Carolina	No statutory cap	None	S.C. Code 27-40-310
South Dakota	No statutory cap	None	S.D. Codified Laws ch. 43-32
Tennessee	10% of the amount of rent past due	5 days	Tenn. Code 66-28-201(d)
Texas	12% of rent where the structure has 4 or fewer dwelling units; 10% where it has more	2 days	Tex. Prop. Code 92.019
Utah	greater of 10% of the rent or $75	None	Utah Code 57-22-4 (Fit Premises Act)
Vermont	No statutory cap	None	9 V.S.A. ch. 137 (Residential Rental Agreements)
Virginia	lesser of 10% of the periodic rent or 10% of the remaining balance due	5 days	Va. Code 55.1-1204(D), (E)
Washington	No statutory cap	5 days	RCW 59.18.170(2)-(3)
West Virginia	No statutory cap	None	W. Va. Code 37-6
Wisconsin	No statutory cap	None	Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(8)
Wyoming	No statutory cap	None	Wyo. Stat. 1-21-1201 to 1-21-1211 (Residential Rental Property)

The reason most guides get this wrong

Search for almost any state’s late fee cap and you will be told it is “$20 or 20% of monthly rent, whichever is greater.” That figure is genuine — and it is from the self-service storage statute, which governs a locker, not a tenancy. Nine states have it:

Florida — § 83.808
Georgia — § 10-4-217
Illinois — 770 ILCS 95/7.10
Kansas — § 58-816a
Kentucky — KRS 359.215
Louisiana — § 9:3314
Missouri — § 415.417
New Hampshire — § 451-C:7
Vermont — 9 V.S.A. § 3903

Arkansas has an equivalent rule in its mobile-home statute (§ 18-16-411, $30 or 20%). None of these applies to a house or an apartment, and every one of them outranks the actual landlord–tenant chapter in search results. That is almost certainly why no two guides on this topic agree.

Three figures in circulation that are not law

Arizona, “$50 or 5% of the unpaid amount” — from SB 1173, a bill. A.R.S. § 33-1368(B) requires only that the fee be reasonable and set out in a written rental agreement.
North Dakota, 8%— from HB 0576. The enacted § 47-16-20 governs only when rent is payable and caps nothing.
Massachusetts, 5%— a proposed amendment to c. 186 § 15B. The real Massachusetts rule is the most generous grace period in the country, 30 days, with no cap at all.

Adjacent deadlines that are not grace periods

Several numbers get reported as late-fee grace periods when they govern something else entirely. Rhode Island’s 15 days is the arrears window before an evictiondemand may be sent. Louisiana’s 10 days bars dissolving the lease. Arkansas’ 5 days is a termination period. Arizona’s and Alaska’s notice periods are about when a landlord may file, not when a fee attaches. None of them stops a fee.

Greater of, or lesser of

Where a cap combines a dollar figure and a percentage, which way it resolves changes the answer completely, and it is easy to get backwards. Colorado, North Carolina and Utah take the greaterof the two — so on low rents the dollar floor wins and the fee is higher than the percentage alone. New York, Connecticut and Virginia take the lesser — so the dollar figure is a ceiling. New York at the lesser of $50 or 5% means a $3,000 rent still caps at $50.

Common questions

How many states cap late rent fees?: 18 of 51 jurisdictions set a statutory cap: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia. The remaining 33 set no number, and a reasonableness or liquidated-damages standard governs instead.
Which states require a grace period before a late fee?: 15: Colorado (7 days), Connecticut (9 days), Delaware (5 days), District of Columbia (5 days), Maine (15 days), Massachusetts (30 days), Nevada (3 days), New Jersey (5 days), New York (5 days), North Carolina (5 days), Oregon (3 days), Tennessee (5 days), Texas (2 days), Virginia (5 days), Washington (5 days). New Jersey's applies only to senior citizens and benefit recipients, not tenants generally.
Why do online guides disagree about late fee caps?: Mostly because nine states have a '$20 or 20% of monthly rent' late-fee rule in their self-service storage statute, which surfaces first in search and does not apply to residential tenancies. Arkansas has a similar rule in mobile-home law. Separately, Arizona's '$50 or 5%', North Dakota's 8% and Massachusetts' 5% cap are all pending or proposed bills quoted as current law.
Is a late fee above the cap just reduced to the cap?: No — it is void and unenforceable, and the tenant's signature does not save it. Several states add a penalty on top: Colorado charges the landlord $50 per violation, and Maryland exposes them to the tenant's actual damages and legal fees.

Stop guessing whether your fee is legal

Pacific Rentals Pro flags a lease whose late fee exceeds the state cap or whose grace period falls below the statutory minimum, using the same verified data as the table above.

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All 51 jurisdictions last read against their cited sources on November 6, 2026. General information, not legal advice — statutes change and city ordinances can impose caps the state does not. Each state page links to its source.