Late Rent Fee Limits in District of Columbia

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The cap is 5% of the full rent you owe

Section 42-3505.31(a) limits a late fee to "no more than 5% of the full amount of rent due by a tenant." On $1,000 rent, the maximum late fee is $50. The base is the full rent the tenant is responsible for, not just the part left unpaid.

Where a subsidy program pays part of the rent, only the tenant's share counts. For a voucher tenant who owes $300 of a $1,000 rent, 5% of $300 is $15, and the subsidy provider's $700 share cannot be pulled into the calculation (§ 42-3505.31(c)(5)).

Rent must be more than five days late

Under § 42-3505.31(b)(2), a landlord may charge the fee only after the tenant has failed to pay within five days of the due date — or after a longer grace period if the lease provides one. If rent is due on the first, the earliest a late fee can attach is the sixth.

The lease must state the maximum fee

The fee is allowed only if the written lease "informs the tenant of the maximum amount of the late fee that may be charged" (§ 42-3505.31(b)(1)). A lease that is silent on the maximum does not support a late fee.

One fee per late payment, no interest, no rolling it forward

Section 42-3505.31(c) bars a landlord from charging interest on a late fee, deducting a late fee from a later rent payment, or imposing more than one late fee on the same late payment. So a single missed payment can carry at most one 5% fee, and the landlord cannot manufacture a second fee by treating part of next month's rent as payment of the old fee.

What trips people up

A landlord cannot evict you just for an unpaid late fee. Section 42-3505.31(c)(4) prohibits eviction "on the basis of the nonpayment of a late fee." The late fee is collected separately from rent, and refusing to pay it is not, by itself, a ground for eviction.

An unlawful fee is not collectible through the deposit. After the grace period, a landlord may invoice a "lawfully imposed" late fee, payable within 30 days, and if it goes unpaid may take it from the security deposit at the end of the tenancy (§ 42-3505.31(d)). But that route reaches only a lawfully imposed fee. A fee that exceeds 5%, was never disclosed in the lease, was charged before the grace period ended, or was calculated on a subsidy share is not lawful, and cannot be invoiced or deducted from the deposit.

Common questions

My lease says the late fee is 10%. Is that enforceable? No. The maximum is 5% of the full rent you owe; a 10% fee exceeds the statutory cap.

Can the landlord charge a late fee every day rent is unpaid? No. Only one late fee may be imposed on a given late payment, and interest and compounding are prohibited (§ 42-3505.31(c)(1), (3)).

The housing authority paid its share late — can I be charged a late fee for that? No. A late fee may not be imposed on the portion of rent a subsidy provider is responsible for (§ 42-3505.31(c)(5)).

Statutes and sources

• D.C. Code § 42-3505.31 — the 5% cap, the five-day grace period, the written- lease disclosure requirement, the one-fee/no-interest/no-carryforward limits, the subsidy-share carve-out, the no-eviction-for-a-late-fee rule, and the invoice-and-deposit collection route for a lawfully imposed fee.

  (a) Pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, a housing provider may charge a late fee of no more than 5% of the full amount of rent due by a tenant. (b) A housing provider may only charge a late fee: (1) If the written lease agreement ... informs the tenant of the maximum amount of the late fee ...; and (2) If the tenant has not paid the full amount of rent within 5 days, or any longer grace period that may be provided in the lease, after the day the rent payment is due. (c) A housing provider shall not: (1) Charge interest on a late fee; (2) Deduct any amount of a late fee from a subsequent rent payment; (3) Impose a late fee more than one time on each late payment; (4) Evict a tenant on the basis of the nonpayment of a late fee; or (5) Impose a late fee on a tenant for the late payment or nonpayment of any portion of the rent for which a rent subsidy provider, rather that the tenant, is responsible for paying. (d) After the grace period ... a housing provider may issue a tenant an invoice to be paid within 30 days ... for any lawfully imposed late fees. If the tenant does not pay the late fee within the 30-day period, the housing provider may deduct from a tenant's security deposit, at the end of the tenancy, any unpaid, lawfully imposed late fees ...

Official source: https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-3505.31 (accessed 2026-07-20)