North Carolina: Late Rent Fee Limits
The short answer
North Carolina caps a residential late fee at the greater of $15 or 5% of the monthly rent (or the greater of $4 or 5% of the weekly rent for a week-to-week tenancy). A fee can be charged only if rent is at least five calendar days late, and only once for each late payment. The same statute separately allows one of a few eviction-related administrative fees, bars a late fee for unpaid water or sewer charges, limits a subsidized tenant's fee to the tenant's own share, and makes any lease term that conflicts with it void.
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This is the general rule in North Carolina. Ezel applies current North Carolina law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-46 — authorized fees, costs, and expenses in residential rental agreements |
|---|---|
| Maximum late fee | Monthly rent: greater of $15 or 5% of the monthly rent. Weekly rent: greater of $4 or 5% of the weekly rent (§ 42-46(a)) |
| Grace period | Five calendar days — chargeable only if a payment is five calendar days or more late, the first day being the day after rent was due (§ 42-46(a)) |
| Lease or notice requirement | Parties must agree to the late fee in the rental agreement (§ 42-46(a)); the separate administrative fees each require a written lease (§ 42-46(e)–(g)) |
| One-time or recurring | Once only — a late fee may be imposed one time for each late payment and may not be pulled from a later payment so as to make that payment late (§ 42-46(b)) |
| Calculated on | The monthly or weekly rent; for HUD-, USDA-, state-, housing-authority-, or locally-subsidized rent, any fee is figured on the tenant's share of the contract rent only (§ 42-46(a), (h)(5)) |
| Related fees & carve-outs | Only one eviction-related administrative fee — complaint-filing (greater of $15 or 5%), court-appearance (10% of monthly rent), or second-trial (up to 12%); no late fee for unpaid water/sewer billed under G.S. 62-110(g); actual court costs and capped attorney's fees allowed separately (§ 42-46(d)–(k)) |
| If the fee is unlawful | Any lease provision contrary to § 42-46 is against the State's public policy and void and unenforceable; an unauthorized administrative fee is likewise barred (§ 42-46(h)(3), (4)) |
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Requirements one by one
The cap: the greater of a dollar floor or 5%
Section 42-46(a) sets a hard ceiling that depends on how rent is paid. For rent
due in monthly installments, the late fee may not exceed $15 or 5% of the
monthly rent, whichever is greater. For a week-to-week tenancy, the cap is
$4 or 5% of the weekly rent, whichever is greater. The "whichever is
greater" wording means the dollar figure is a floor for small rents and the 5%
takes over once it produces the larger number: on $1,000 monthly rent, 5% ($50)
controls; on $250 monthly rent, the $15 floor controls.
Five calendar days of grace
No fee is lawful until rent is genuinely overdue. The statute allows a late fee
"only if any rental payment is five calendar days or more late, with the first
day being the day after the rent was due." If rent is due on the 1st, day one of
the count is the 2nd, and a fee cannot attach until the 6th.
One fee per late payment
Section 42-46(b) allows the fee "only one time for each late rental payment." A
landlord cannot stack a second late fee on the same overdue month, and cannot
skim a past late fee off a later rent payment so as to leave that later month
looking short and "in default."
Subsidized rent: only the tenant's share
If the rent is subsidized by HUD, USDA, a state agency, a public housing
authority, or a local government, § 42-46(h)(5) requires any fee to be
calculated on the tenant's share of the contract rent only — the subsidy
portion is excluded from the base.
The eviction-related administrative fees are separate and limited
Beyond the late fee, § 42-46 lets a landlord with a written lease charge one —
and only one — administrative fee tied to an eviction it actually filed: a
complaint-filing fee (the greater of $15 or 5% of monthly rent, where the tenant
cured and the case was dismissed before judgment), a court-appearance fee (10%
of monthly rent for a successful small-claims ejectment), or a second-trial fee
(up to 12% of monthly rent after an appeal). Subsection (h)(1) caps the landlord
to retaining just one of the three. These are distinct from the late fee and
from actual court costs and capped attorney's fees the statute separately allows.
What trips people up
Water and sewer arrears cannot trigger a late fee. Section 42-46(d) bars a
late fee based on the tenant's failure to pay for water or sewer service billed
under G.S. 62-110(g). The late-fee cap is about overdue rent, not utility
charges rolled onto the ledger.
"Administrative fee" is not a blank check. The complaint-filing,
court-appearance, and second-trial fees are the only administrative fees a lease
may impose for an ejectment, and only one may be kept. Subsection (h)(3) makes it
contrary to public policy to write any other ejectment administrative fee into a
lease.
A lease term that exceeds these limits is void, not just unpaid. Under
§ 42-46(h)(4), any provision contrary to the section is "against the public
policy of this State and therefore void and unenforceable" — so an oversized
late-fee clause does not simply get trimmed by agreement; it is unenforceable.
Common questions
My rent is $1,200 and the lease charges a $75 late fee. Is that legal? No.
Five percent of $1,200 is $60, and the $15 floor is smaller, so the cap is $60.
A $75 fee exceeds the statutory maximum and the excess is unenforceable.
Rent was due the 1st and I paid on the 4th. Can they charge a late fee? No.
The fee is chargeable only once a payment is five calendar days or more late,
counting from the day after the due date. Paying on the 4th is within that
window.
Can the landlord charge a late fee every month rent stays unpaid? A late fee
may be imposed only one time for each late rental payment. A landlord cannot turn
one missed month into repeating monthly late fees on that same payment.
Statutes and sources
- N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-46(a), (b), (d), (h) — late-fee caps ($15/5% monthly,
$4/5% weekly), five-calendar-day grace, one fee per late payment, no fee for
water/sewer arrears, subsidized rent figured on the tenant's share, and any
contrary lease term void.(a) Late Fee. – In all residential rental agreements in which a definite time
for the payment of the rent is fixed, the parties may agree to a late fee ...
chargeable only if any rental payment is five calendar days or more late,
with the first day being the day after the rent was due. If the rent: (1) Is
due in monthly installments, a landlord may charge a late fee not to exceed
fifteen dollars ($15.00) or five percent (5%) of the monthly rent, whichever
is greater. (2) Is due in weekly installments, a landlord may charge a late
fee not to exceed four dollars ($4.00) or five percent (5%) of the weekly
rent, whichever is greater. ... (b) A late fee ... may be imposed only one
time for each late rental payment. ... (d) A lessor shall not charge a late
fee ... because of the lessee's failure to pay for water or sewer services
provided pursuant to G.S. 62-110(g). ... (h) ... (4) Any provision of a
residential rental agreement contrary to the provisions of this section is
against the public policy of this State and therefore void and unenforceable.
(5) If the rent is subsidized ... any fee charged pursuant to this section
shall be calculated on the tenant's share of the contract rent only ...
Official source: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_42/GS_42-46.pdf (accessed 2026-07-20)
- N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-46(e), (f), (g), (h)(1) — the three eviction-related
administrative fees and the rule that a landlord may retain only one.
(e) Complaint-Filing Fee. – Pursuant to a written lease, a landlord may charge
an administrative complaint-filing fee not to exceed fifteen dollars ($15.00)
or five percent (5%) of the monthly rent, whichever is greater ... (f)
Court-Appearance Fee. – ... an amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the
monthly rent ... (g) Second Trial Fee. – ... may not exceed twelve percent
(12%) of the monthly rent in the lease. (h) ... (1) A landlord who claims
administrative fees under subsections (e) through (g) of this section is
entitled to charge and retain only one of the above fees ...
Official source: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_42/GS_42-46.pdf (accessed 2026-07-20)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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