What late fees can a landlord charge in Utah?

The word 'greater' matters: many summaries flip it to 'lesser,' which understates what landlords may lawfully charge on higher rents. A late fee also effectively must be in the rental agreement, because 57-22-4(5)(b) bars any fee that is not included in the agreement or that exceeds the agreed amount — except that on a month-to-month agreement an owner may add a charge after giving the renter a 15-day notice. Utah mandates no grace period: rent is late when the lease says it is, and the three-business-day window in the eviction statute (78B-6-802(1)(c)) only delays termination for nonpayment, not fee accrual. The cap's enforcement is unusual and weak: under 57-22-4(9) a renter may not sue the owner or withhold performance over a violation — the cap operates defensively, for example in disputing unlawful charges when a landlord seeks to collect or evict.

Utah late fees at a glance

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Utah Late Fee Laws (verified July 10, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/late-fees/utah/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Utah statute in the citations section below.

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Notes and caveats

• 'Greater,' not 'lesser' — the statute bars 'a late fee that exceeds the greater of: (i) 10% of the rent agreed to in the rental agreement; or (ii) $75.' Circulating summaries routinely flip 'greater' to 'lesser,' which understates what a landlord may lawfully charge on higher rents.
• There is no section 57-22-4.3 — the cap is miscited as '57-22-4.3' all over the web, but no such section exists in Chapter 22 — the official table of contents runs 1, 2, 3, 4, 4.1, 5, 5.1, 6, 7. The cap is 57-22-4(5)(a).
• Wrong bill: it was 2021 HB 68, not HB 213 — the cap was enacted by HB 68, 'Rental Expenses Disclosure Requirements' (Ch. 98, eff. 5/5/2021). The 2021 HB 213 that some sources credit was a dog-bite liability bill (Canine Injury Amendments) in the Legislature's own bill records.
• The fee must be in the agreement — with one exception — 57-22-4(5)(b) bars any fee 'not included in the rental agreement,' which is what makes the lease-writing requirement true. The statutory exception is for month-to-month agreements, where the owner may add the charge after giving a 15-day notice of it.
• No grace period, and the eviction window is not one — no Utah statute mandates a grace period. The three-business-day pay-or-quit window in 78B-6-802(1)(c) is an eviction cure period, not a grace period, and conflating the two is a common error.
• No reasonableness test, because the cap is hard — the reasonableness field is left empty: where a fixed statutory cap exists there is no separate reasonableness standard to apply.
• The cap has no private enforcement — 57-22-4(9) expressly bars a renter from bringing a cause of action, or excusing compliance with the lease, based on a violation of subsection (5). Subsection (8) preserves fees 'allowed by law or stated in the rental agreement' but does not override the specific late-fee cap.

Common questions: Utah 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 Utah?

The greater of 10% of the rent agreed to in the rental agreement or $75 (Utah Code 57-22-4(5)(a)).

Is there a grace period before rent is late in Utah?

None mandated statewide.

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

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

Can a landlord charge a daily late fee in Utah?

No Utah statute addresses daily late-fee accrual. A daily fee is lawful only if the total stays within the statutory cap — the greater of 10% of the rent or $75 — however it accrues.

Statute citations

• Utah Code § 57-22-4 (5), (8), (9) (verified 2026) Official source
• Utah Code § 78B-6-802 (1)(c) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Utah Legislature site (le.utah.gov): the versioned section content files behind the xcode pages for Utah Code 57-17-1 through 57-17-5, 57-22-2, 57-22-3, 57-22-4, 57-22-7, 57-20-1, 78B-6-802, and 10-8-85.5, plus the chapter tables of contents for Title 57 Chapters 17 and 22 (negative checks). Every key figure re-read on law.justia.com's 2025 Utah Code mirror and matched verbatim: the 30-day deposit return clock and its vacate-plus-return-of-possession trigger, the five-business-day cure window and $100 civil penalty with the 57-17-3(3) notice prerequisite, the late-fee cap ('the greater of 10% of the rent agreed to in the rental agreement; or $75'), the 24-hour entry-notice default and its 'except as otherwise provided in the rental agreement' carve-out, the 57-22-4(9) no-cause-of-action clause, the 15-calendar-day month-to-month termination notice of 78B-6-802(1)(b)(i), and the 57-20-1 rent and fee control prohibition. Bill attributions and statuses verified against le.utah.gov's own bill-status JSON endpoint and enrolled/introduced bill texts: 2021 HB 68 (Ch. 98, late-fee cap and entry notice, eff. 5/5/2021), 2025 HB 480 (Ch. 275, electronic deposit returns, eff. 5/7/2025), 2026 HB 591 (Ch. 401, nuisance-only changes to 78B-6-802, eff. 5/6/2026). 2026 General Session (adjourned sine die March 2026, no carryover) checked: HB 478 (rent-increase/fee notice) and HB 516 both died 'House/ filed' 3/6/2026; no enacted 2026 law touches the four topics.