Late Rent Fee Limits in New York

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The $50-or-5% cap

New York fixes both the timing and the size of a residential late fee in Real Property Law § 238-a(2). A landlord may not charge a late fee "unless the payment of rent has not been made within five days of the date it was due," and the fee "shall not exceed fifty dollars or five percent of the monthly rent, whichever is less." So the lawful maximum is whichever figure is smaller: on a $1,000 rent, 5% is $50, so the cap is $50; on a $900 rent, 5% is $45, so the cap is $45; and on a $2,000 rent, 5% is $100 but the $50 dollar limit controls, so the cap is still $50. The one special case is a cooperative, which may charge up to 8% of the monthly maintenance fee for a late maintenance payment if the proprietary lease provides for it.

Because the statute caps the total "payment, fee, or charge for the late payment of rent," a landlord cannot stack a flat fee plus a daily charge to get above the $50/5% ceiling for a given month. The cap is on the whole late charge, not on each line item.

Five days before any fee

The five-day rule is a hard floor. No late fee is lawful until rent is more than five days past due, regardless of what the lease says. This pairs with a separate duty: under § 235-e(d), once rent is unpaid for five days past the date set in the lease, the landlord "shall send the lessee, by certified mail, a written notice stating the failure to receive such rent payment," and a landlord who skips that notice hands the tenant an affirmative defense in a nonpayment eviction.

Waivers are void

Section 238-a(3) makes "any provision of a lease or contract waiving or limiting the provisions of this section ... void as against public policy." A lease clause setting a $75 late fee, or charging a fee on day two, is void to the extent it exceeds § 238-a(2)'s amount or timing limits.

Related fees

The same section limits two neighboring charges. A returned-check (bounced-rent- check) fee is allowed only if the lease provides for it and is capped at the landlord's actual costs or the amount set in General Obligations Law § 5-328(3), whichever is greater (§ 238-a(2-a)). And fees for processing an application or running a background or credit check are separately capped — the credit/background check fee at actual cost or $20, whichever is less (§ 238-a(1)).

What trips people up

The fee rule and the certified-mail rule are related but separate. Section 238-a controls when and how much a landlord may charge; § 235-e(d) creates the notice duty and makes a missed notice usable as an affirmative defense in a nonpayment eviction. The latter section does not say that missing the notice automatically erases an otherwise lawful fee.

Common questions

Does a missed certified-mail notice automatically cancel the late fee? Section 235-e(d) expressly makes the missed notice an affirmative defense in a nonpayment eviction; it does not itself say the fee is cancelled.

Is a bounced-check charge part of the late-fee cap? Section 238-a regulates it separately. The charge must be authorized by the lease and cannot exceed the greater of the landlord's actual return costs or the amount set by General Obligations Law § 5-328(3).

Statutes and sources

• N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 238-a(2), (3) — late fee capped at the lesser of $50 or 5% of monthly rent, only after rent is more than five days late; co-op maintenance fee up to 8%; waivers void.

  2. No landlord, lessor, sub-lessor or grantor may demand any payment, fee, or charge for the late payment of rent unless the payment of rent has not been made within five days of the date it was due, and such payment, fee, or charge shall not exceed fifty dollars or five percent of the monthly rent, whichever is less ... 3. Any provision of a lease or contract waiving or limiting the provisions of this section shall be void as against public policy.

Official source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/238-A (accessed 2026-08-28) - N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 238-a(1)(b) — a background/credit-check fee is limited to actual cost or $20, whichever is less, and is waived when the applicant supplies a qualifying recent report.

A landlord, lessor, sub-lessor or grantor may charge a fee or fees to reimburse costs associated with conducting a background check and credit check, provided the cumulative fee or fees for such checks is no more than the actual cost of the background check and credit check or twenty dollars, whichever is less, and the landlord, lessor, sub-lessor or grantor shall waive the fee or fees if the potential tenant provides a copy of a background check or credit check conducted within the past thirty days.

Official source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/238-A (accessed 2026-08-28) - N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 238-a(2-a) — returned-check fee allowed only if in the lease and capped at actual costs or the Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-328(3) amount.

2-a. (a) No landlord ... shall demand any payment, fee, or charge from a tenant for the delivery of a check ... subsequently dishonored ... except as provided in paragraph (b) ... (i) such payment, fee, or charge shall not exceed the actual costs, charges or fees incurred ... for the return of such dishonored check or the amount set forth in subdivision three of section 5-328 of the general obligations law, whichever is greater[.]

Official source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/238-A (accessed 2026-08-28) - N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 235-e(d) — certified-mail non-payment notice after five days; failure is an affirmative defense in a nonpayment eviction.

If a lessor, or an agent of a lessor authorized to receive rent, fails to receive payment for rent within five days of the date specified in a lease agreement, such lessor or agent shall send the lessee, by certified mail, a written notice stating the failure to receive such rent payment. The failure of a lessor ... to provide a lessee with a written notice of the non-payment of rent may be used as an affirmative defense by such lessee in an eviction proceeding based on the non-payment of rent.

Official source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/235-E (accessed 2026-08-17)