What late fees can a landlord charge in Texas?
Texas allows a residential late fee only if it is in the written lease and rent has remained unpaid for two full days after the due date — rent due on the 1st cannot draw a fee before the 4th.
Cited to Tex. Prop. Code § 92.019 (a), (a-1), (b), (c), (d) and 1 more cited source · Verified October 1, 2026
A fee is automatically considered reasonable up to 12% of the rent for the rental period in buildings of four or fewer units, or 10% in larger buildings, counting initial and daily fees together. Charging an unlawful late fee costs the landlord $100 plus three times the fee collected plus the tenant's attorney's fees, and the statute cannot be waived by lease language.
Texas late fees at a glance
| Statutory cap | Safe harbor: a late fee is considered reasonable if it is not more than 12% of the rent for the rental period (structure with 4 or fewer dwelling units) or 10% (more than 4 units); a higher fee is considered reasonable if it is not more than the landlord's uncertain damages related to the late payment, including direct or indirect expenses, costs, or overhead associated with collecting late payment (§ 92.019(a-1)). Initial + daily fees combine into a single fee for the cap. |
|---|---|
| Mandatory grace period | 2 days |
| Must be in the lease | Yes |
| Daily fees | Yes — an initial fee plus a daily fee per day unpaid, but the combined total is one late fee measured against the reasonableness standard. |
| Reasonableness standard | Fees within the 12%/10% safe harbor are considered reasonable; a fee above it is considered reasonable if it is not more than the landlord's uncertain damages related to the late payment of rent, including direct or indirect expenses, costs, or overhead associated with collecting late payment (§ 92.019(a-1)(2)). |
Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Texas Late Fee Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/late-fees/texas/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.
Check a late fee against the Texas rules — free, no signup, built on the same verified Texas law as this page.
Notes and caveats
- Two full days unpaid is a charging precondition, not a grace period — § 92.019(a)(3) frames the two-day rule — no late fee unless any portion of the rent 'has remained unpaid two full days after the date the rent was originally due' — as a precondition to charging a late fee, not as a grace period granted to the tenant.
- Why the record still shows a 2-day grace period — This page shows the precondition as a 2-day grace period because it functions as a mandatory minimum, even though the statute is written the other way around.
- A written statement of late fees, on request — A tenant may ask the landlord for a written statement of whether a late fee is owed and, if so, how much. The landlord must provide it by any established means the two already use for written communication. The statute adds that a landlord who does not respond still keeps the right to collect a late fee the tenant genuinely owes (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0191).
Common questions: Texas 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 Texas?
- Safe harbor: a late fee is considered reasonable if it is not more than 12% of the rent for the rental period (structure with 4 or fewer dwelling units) or 10% (more than 4 units); a higher fee is considered reasonable if it is not more than the landlord's uncertain damages related to the late payment, including direct or indirect expenses, costs, or overhead associated with collecting late payment (§ 92.019(a-1)). Initial + daily fees combine into a single fee for the cap. Fees within the 12%/10% safe harbor are considered reasonable; a fee above it is considered reasonable if it is not more than the landlord's uncertain damages related to the late payment of rent, including direct or indirect expenses, costs, or overhead associated with collecting late payment (§ 92.019(a-1)(2)).
- Is there a grace period before rent is late in Texas?
- 2 days.
- Does a late fee have to be written into the lease in Texas?
- Yes — in Texas a late fee must be stated in the lease.
- Can a landlord charge a daily late fee in Texas?
- Yes — an initial fee plus a daily fee per day unpaid, but the combined total is one late fee measured against the reasonableness standard.
Citations
- Tex. Prop. Code § 92.019 · (a), (a-1), (b), (c), (d) (verified 2026) Official source
- Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0191 (verified 2026) Official source
How this record was verified: Web verification against the Texas State Law Library landlord-tenant guides (guides.sll.texas.gov, official state source summarizing Prop. Code ch. 92) and full statute text of Prop. Code §§ 92.019, 92.103, 92.104, 92.107, 92.109 via legal databases; statutes.capitol.texas.gov URLs cited for the official text. September 5, 2026 addendum: statutes.capitol.texas.gov stopped serving section text (it returns an application shell), so every statute citation on this record was re-pointed to the Texas Legislative Council's host at tcss.legis.texas.gov, and the eviction figures were re-read there the same day; the earlier reads stand as recorded. October 1, 2026: every section the security deposit, rent increase, late fee and entry answers rest on was read again on the Texas Legislative Council's host, tcss.legis.texas.gov, current through the 89th Legislature's 2nd Called Session (no session has met in 2026): Property Code section 91.001, chapter 92 (including sections 92.0081, 92.019, 92.0191, 92.101 to 92.113 and 92.351), sections 94.003, 94.004 and 94.055, and Local Government Code section 214.902. Rule 510 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure was read in the rules as the Supreme Court of Texas publishes them (last amended July 1, 2026).