Late Rent Fee Limits in Arizona

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The ordinary residential rule is reasonableness, not $5 per day

Arizona calls Chapter 10 the "Arizona residential landlord and tenant act" in A.R.S. § 33-1301. Its nonpayment section does not set a dollar or percentage ceiling. Instead, A.R.S. § 33-1368(B) says that before an eviction case is filed, the tenancy is reinstated when the tenant tenders the past-due periodic rent and "a reasonable late fee set forth in a written rental agreement." After filing, the same subsection requires the past-due rent, reasonable written-agreement late fees, attorney fees, and court costs for reinstatement.

That language supplies two limits for the statutory reinstatement amount: the late fee must be reasonable, and it must be stated in a written rental agreement. The section provides no percentage base, flat-dollar ceiling, or daily-accrual formula.

The five-day period is an eviction clock

The first part of § 33-1368(B) allows the landlord to file a special-detainer action when rent remains unpaid for five days after written notice of nonpayment and an intent to terminate. That is not written as a grace period before a late fee may attach. The statute separately addresses the reasonable written-agreement late fee when describing what the tenant must tender to reinstate the tenancy.

What a court can do with an unconscionable fee clause

A.R.S. § 33-1312 does not declare a particular late-fee amount unconscionable. If a court makes that finding about a rental-agreement provision, however, it may refuse to enforce the agreement, enforce the rest without that provision, or limit the provision to avoid an unconscionable result. The section does not add a late-fee-specific refund, damages multiplier, or attorney-fee award.

What trips people up

The $5-per-day rule is for mobile-home parks. A.R.S. § 33-1401 names Chapter 11 the "Arizona mobile home parks residential landlord and tenant act." Within that separate chapter, § 33-1414(A)(4) requires five days and subsection (C) caps a penalty at $5 per day. This survey excludes manufactured-home-park tenancies, so those numbers do not govern the ordinary apartment or house covered here.

A five-day nonpayment notice does not create a fee grace period. The notice controls when the landlord may seek termination. The lease and the reasonable-fee standard control the charge; § 33-1368 gives no separate fee-attachment date.

Common questions

Does Arizona cap an ordinary apartment late fee at 5%? No percentage appears in § 33-1368. The statutory term is "reasonable late fee," and the fee must be set forth in a written rental agreement to be part of the reinstatement tender.

Can a landlord use the mobile-home $5-per-day formula for any rental? The $5-per-day provision is in the separate Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. It is not the ordinary residential rule surveyed on this page.

Does paying within five days automatically avoid a late fee? Section 33-1368 does not say that. Its five-day period begins with the landlord's written nonpayment notice and governs when an eviction action may be filed.

Statutes and sources

• A.R.S. § 33-1301 — identifies Chapter 10 as the ordinary Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.

  This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Arizona residential landlord and tenant act.

Official source: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01301.htm (accessed 2026-07-20)

• A.R.S. § 33-1368(B), (G) — five-day written-notice eviction clock and reasonable written-agreement late fees in the reinstatement tender; days are calendar days.

  B. A tenant may not withhold rent for any reason not authorized by this chapter. If rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay rent within five days after written notice by the landlord of nonpayment and the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent is not paid within that period of time, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement by filing a special detainer action pursuant to section 33-1377. Before the filing of a special detainer action the rental agreement shall be reinstated if the tenant tenders all past due and unpaid periodic rent and a reasonable late fee set forth in a written rental agreement. After a special detainer action is filed the rental agreement is reinstated only if the tenant pays all past due rent, reasonable late fees set forth in a written rental agreement, attorney fees and court costs. After a judgment has been entered in a special detainer action in favor of the landlord, any reinstatement of the rental agreement is solely in the discretion of the landlord. ... G. For the purposes of this section, "days" means calendar days.

Official source: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01368.htm (accessed 2026-07-20)

• A.R.S. § 33-1312(A)-(B) — court options after finding a rental-agreement provision unconscionable.

  A. If the court, as a matter of law, finds either of the following: 1. A rental agreement or any provision thereof was unconscionable when made, the court may refuse to enforce the agreement, enforce the remainder of the agreement without the unconscionable provision, or limit the application of any unconscionable provision to avoid an unconscionable result. ... B. If unconscionability is put into issue by a party or by the court upon its own motion the parties shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to present evidence as to the setting, purpose and effect of the rental agreement or settlement to aid the court in making the determination.

Official source: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01312.htm (accessed 2026-07-20)

• A.R.S. §§ 33-1401, 33-1414(A)(4), (C) — the separate mobile-home-park statute and its excluded five-day/$5-per-day rule.

  This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Arizona mobile home parks residential landlord and tenant act. ... A. A rental agreement shall not provide that the tenant agrees to: ... 4. Permit the landlord to charge a penalty fee for late payment of rent unless a tenant is allowed a minimum of five days beyond the date the rent is due in which to remit payment. ... C. A landlord may charge a penalty fee of not to exceed five dollars per day from the due date of the rent for late payment of rent if the payment is not remitted by the sixth day from the due date.

Official sources: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01401.htm and https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01414.htm (accessed 2026-07-20)