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Estimate the late-fee limit and grace period for one rent payment in ten US states, with the state rule behind each answer.
Estimated maximum late fee for the entered timing
$50New York · Statutory maximumNew York caps an ordinary residential late fee at the smaller of $50 and 5% of monthly rent, once five days have passed. This is an upper limit, not an amount automatically owed; the lease may allow less.
Five days after the due date; the earliest fee is on day 6.
Example figures.
Rates as of
Choose the state, enter the rent and the number of calendar days after its due date. Count the following day as day one. Texas, North Carolina and New Jersey then ask for the facts their rules depend on.
Where a statute sets a dollar or percentage limit, the tool applies it once the waiting period has passed. Where there is no numeric cap, the result explains the rule that applies instead, such as reasonableness or the lease terms. It does not calculate commercial penalties, bounced-check fees, court charges or interest.
For a protected New Jersey tenant whose rent is due on the first, the tool counts five business days after the due date, skipping Saturdays, Sundays and the 2026 state and federal holidays published by New Jersey and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The due date itself is not counted.
Ordinary New York monthly rent is $2,000 and remains unpaid six calendar days after its due date.
If the same payment were only five days late, the result would be $0.
New York Real Property Law 238-a(2) bars a late fee until rent is more than five days late and caps it at the smaller of $50 and 5% of monthly rent. North Carolina General Statutes 42-46 allows an agreed fee once rent is at least five days late, charged once per late payment. Texas Property Code 92.019 requires notice of the fee in a written lease and rent unpaid for two full days. It treats the 12% or 10% limit above as reasonable, and a higher fee must not exceed the landlord's uncertain damages.
In New Jersey, N.J.S.A. 2A:42-6.1 to 6.3 give protected tenants five business days of grace when rent is due on the first of the month, and no late charge may include those days. New Jersey sets no numeric cap; the state's Truth in Renting guide notes that a tenant can ask a court to remove an unreasonable lease term under N.J.S.A. 46:8-48.
Six states set no statewide dollar or percentage cap. California Civil Code 1671(d) treats a preset fee as liquidated damages; the Department of Real Estate guide explains that it must reasonably estimate a cost that is hard to determine. Florida Statutes 83.45 and Ohio Revised Code 5321.14 let a court refuse an unconscionable rental term. The Illinois Attorney General's fact sheet allows a reasonable fee, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's guide says late fees should not be excessive and should bear a reasonable relation to the landlord's cost. Georgia's Department of Community Affairs handbook treats late charges as a lease term.
Each result covers one late rental payment only and never multiplies a one-time limit by the number of days late. In Texas, an initial fee and any daily fees count together as one late fee against the same limit.
A fee limit does not prove a fee is owed, and whether a fee is reasonable, unconscionable or a penalty is for a court to decide. Local ordinances such as Chicago's limits, New York cooperative maintenance charges, subsidized-housing conditions and North Carolina schedules other than monthly or weekly are outside this estimate. New Jersey business days are counted for 2026 due dates only; its 2027 holiday list was not yet published. A lease may allow a lower fee or a longer grace period, and eviction notice periods are separate rules.
Ask a lawyer or the housing authority if a fee is disputed, repeated daily charges are claimed, part of the rent was paid, a local cap may apply, the tenant may be in a protected group, or the agreement does not clearly authorize the charge.
There is no single US maximum. New York caps an ordinary fee at the smaller of $50 and 5% of monthly rent, and North Carolina at the greater of $15 and 5% of monthly rent, or $4 and 5% of weekly rent. Texas treats up to 12% or 10% of the rent as reasonable, depending on the building’s unit count. The other covered states set no statewide numeric cap, so the lease applies and a court can refuse a fee that is unreasonable or unconscionable.
No. New York bars the ordinary fee until rent is more than five days late, and North Carolina allows an agreed fee when rent is five calendar days or more late. Texas requires two full days after the due date. New Jersey gives five business days only to protected tenants whose rent is due on the first; the other covered states leave any grace period to the lease.
For ordinary residential rent it is whichever is smaller, after the five-day period. At $2,000 monthly rent, 5% is $100, so the ordinary statutory ceiling is $50. Different rules can apply to certain cooperative owner-shareholder maintenance charges, which this tool does not calculate.
No. The written lease must give notice of the fee, and rent must be unpaid for two full days. 12% applies to a structure with four or fewer units and 10% to a larger one; those are the amounts the statute treats as reasonable. A higher fee must not exceed the landlord’s uncertain damages, which this calculator does not decide.
It means state law sets no dollar or percentage limit, not that any fee is allowed. The fee must be in the lease and can still be refused as unreasonable, unconscionable or a penalty, and local ordinances can set their own limits. The result names the rule that applies in the selected state.
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