Is there a legal limit on late fees in North Carolina?

$15 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is greater (monthly rent); $4 or 5% of the weekly rent, whichever is greater (weekly rent).

Does a late fee have to be written into the lease in North Carolina?

Yes — in North Carolina a late fee must be stated in the lease.

Can a landlord charge a daily late fee in North Carolina?

Effectively prohibited. G.S. 42-46(b) allows a late fee to be imposed only one time for each late rental payment, and the fee may not be deducted from a subsequent rent payment so as to manufacture a new default.

What late fees can a landlord charge in North Carolina?

Verified July 8, 2026 All North Carolina topics →

Legislative changes ahead — not yet in force. The rules on this page reflect the law in force today. The following measure would change it:

H990 (2025-2026 session) — Would rewrite G.S. 42-46 to require landlords to give tenants written notice (hand delivery, mail, or electronic per the lease) before collecting a late fee, stating the amount and date imposed, no earlier than five days after the due date. Caps unchanged.Status: Introduced 2025-04-10; referred to House Rules, Calendar, and Operations 2025-04-14; no further action — not enacted. CAUTION: at least one landlord-facing website reports this notice requirement as effective 2025-10-01; that is wrong (the 2025-10-01 effective date belongs to SL 2025-52's separate amendment of 42-46(i)). (checked 2026-07-08).

North Carolina caps residential late fees at the greater of $15 or 5% of the monthly rent (for weekly rentals, the greater of $4 or 5% of weekly rent), and no fee may be charged unless the payment is five or more days late — a statutory grace period.

Cited to G.S. 42-46 (a)-(b), (d)-(j) · Verified July 8, 2026

The fee must be agreed to in the rental agreement, only one fee may be imposed per late payment, and it cannot be skimmed from the next month's rent to create a fresh default. For HUD-, USDA-, state-, or locally-subsidized tenancies the percentage is calculated on the tenant's share of rent only, and no late fee may be charged on unpaid water or sewer charges. Separate from late fees, the statute authorizes a menu of eviction-related administrative fees — complaint-filing (greater of $15 or 5%), court-appearance (10% of monthly rent), and second-trial (up to 12%) — of which a landlord may keep only one per ejectment case, plus actual out-of-pocket court costs and lease-based attorney's fees capped at 15%.

North Carolina late fees at a glance

Statutory cap	$15 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is greater (monthly rent); $4 or 5% of the weekly rent, whichever is greater (weekly rent)
Mandatory grace period	5 days
Must be in the lease	Yes
Daily fees	Effectively prohibited. G.S. 42-46(b) allows a late fee to be imposed only one time for each late rental payment, and the fee may not be deducted from a subsequent rent payment so as to manufacture a new default.
Reasonableness standard	Not addressed by statute

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, North Carolina Late Fee Laws (verified July 8, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/late-fees/north-carolina/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the North Carolina statute in the citations section below.

Check a late fee against the North Carolina rules — free, no signup, built on the same verified North Carolina rules as this page.

Notes and caveats

The eviction-fee menu is routinely stacked unlawfully — The G.S. 42-46(e)-(g) eviction fee schedule is a North Carolina peculiarity, and landlords frequently stack the fees when they may not. Subsection (h) limits a landlord to one of the three per case and prohibits deducting the fee from a later rent payment.
Subsection (i) was amended effective October 1, 2025 (SL 2025-52) — The out-of-pocket expenses and litigation-costs provision, including the 15% attorney-fee cap, was rewritten by Session Law 2025-52. The text cited here reflects that amendment.
H990 is not law — and at least one source says it is — The pending bill requiring written notice before a late fee is collected is flagged in the pending-legislation entry above and deliberately not incorporated. At least one secondary source misreports it as effective law.

Common questions: North Carolina late fees

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

Is there a legal limit on late fees in North Carolina?: $15 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is greater (monthly rent); $4 or 5% of the weekly rent, whichever is greater (weekly rent).
Is there a grace period before rent is late in North Carolina?: 5 days.
Does a late fee have to be written into the lease in North Carolina?: Yes — in North Carolina a late fee must be stated in the lease.
Can a landlord charge a daily late fee in North Carolina?: Effectively prohibited. G.S. 42-46(b) allows a late fee to be imposed only one time for each late rental payment, and the fee may not be deducted from a subsequent rent payment so as to manufacture a new default.

Statute citations

G.S. 42-46 (a)-(b), (d)-(j) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official North Carolina General Assembly site (ncleg.gov / ncleg.net): Tenant Security Deposit Act Article 6 (G.S. 42-50 through 42-56) full article text, G.S. 42-46 (full current text including the SL 2025-52 rewrite of subsection (i)), G.S. 42-14, and G.S. 42-14.1 (operative sentence confirmed in the official Article 1 text). H990 (2025) status verified via LegiScan against the ncleg bill record.