Late Rent Fee Limits in Virginia
At a glance
| Governing law | Va. Code § 55.1-1204(E) — written-agreement requirement and lesser-of 10% cap under the VRLTA |
|---|---|
| Maximum late fee | Lesser of 10% of periodic rent or 10% of remaining balance due and owed (§ 55.1-1204(E)) |
| Grace period | Written agreement: none stated. No written agreement offered: due on 1st, late after 5th, charge mentioned after 5th (§ 55.1-1204(C)(4)-(5)) |
| Lease or notice requirement | Late charge must be provided for in the written rental agreement (§ 55.1-1204(E)) |
| One-time or recurring | Not addressed; statute caps the late charge but states no daily, recurring, or compounding rule |
| Calculated on | Lesser-of comparison: full periodic rent versus remaining balance due and owed (§ 55.1-1204(E)) |
| Related fees & carve-outs | Payment-processing fee requires a fee-free alternative and cannot exceed the landlord's third-party out-of-pocket expense (§ 55.1-1204(J)(1)) |
| If the fee is unlawful | Damages and injunctive relief for chapter noncompliance; reasonable attorney fees unless landlord proves its actions reasonable (§ 55.1-1234) |
The written fee and the cap
Virginia Code § 55.1-1204(E) makes the written agreement decisive: a landlord cannot charge for late rent unless the charge is provided for in the written rental agreement. The same subsection caps the charge at the lesser of two figures:
- 10% of the periodic rent; or
- 10% of the remaining balance due and owed.
For example, if monthly rent is $1,500 and $500 remains unpaid, the two figures are $150 and $50. The statutory maximum is $50 because the lower figure controls.
The section does not say whether the charge may recur daily or once per missed payment. It supplies a maximum for "such late charge," not a separate accrual or compounding rule.
What trips people up
Five days is not a general grace period for every written lease. Subsection C supplies default terms only when the landlord does not offer a written rental agreement. Those terms make rent due on the first, call it late if unpaid by the fifth, and say the landlord is entitled to charge a late charge after the fifth day as provided in the chapter. Subsection E, in the same section, separately says a landlord may not charge a late fee unless it is provided for in a written rental agreement. The statute contains both statements; this page does not erase that textual tension by turning the default fifth-day rule into a universal grace period.
The percentage does not always run against the full rent. The cap compares 10% of the full periodic rent with 10% of the remaining balance. A partial payment can therefore reduce the maximum charge.
Payment-processing fees have their own rule. Under § 55.1-1204(J)(1), a landlord who charges a processing fee must offer a fee-free alternative, and an electronic-payment fee cannot exceed the actual third-party out-of-pocket cost.
The official page contains a future version. A version scheduled for July 1, 2027 changes the renewal-notice subsection. The late-fee rule in subsection E is identical in the current and future versions.
Common questions
Can the late fee be a flat dollar amount? The statute does not prescribe a format, but any charge still must fit under the lesser of the two percentage ceilings in § 55.1-1204(E).
Can a city impose a different late-fee cap? Section 55.1-1201 says the VRLTA applies statewide and supersedes local ordinances concerning landlord-tenant relations and residential leasing. It preserves local property-maintenance codes, not a separate local late-fee system.
What can a tenant seek for an excessive charge? Section 55.1-1234 permits damages and injunctive relief for a landlord's noncompliance with the chapter and awards reasonable attorney fees unless the landlord proves its actions were reasonable under the circumstances.
Statutes and sources
- Va. Code § 55.1-1204(A), (C)(4)-(5), (E), (J)(1) — contract authority,
default fifth-day terms, the written-fee requirement and cap, and the
payment-processing rule.
A landlord shall not charge a tenant for late payment of rent unless such charge is provided for in the written rental agreement. No such late charge shall exceed the lesser of 10 percent of the periodic rent or 10 percent of the remaining balance due and owed by the tenant.
Official source: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title55.1/chapter12/section55.1-1204/ (accessed 2026-07-20) - Va. Code § 55.1-1201(A), (E) — statewide application and local-law boundary.
This chapter shall supersede all other local ordinances or regulations concerning landlord and tenant relations and the leasing of residential property.
Official source: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title55.1/chapter12/section55.1-1201/ (accessed 2026-07-20) - Va. Code § 55.1-1234 — tenant relief for a landlord's chapter noncompliance.
the tenant may recover damages and obtain injunctive relief for noncompliance by the landlord with the provisions of the rental agreement or of this chapter. The tenant shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees unless the landlord proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the landlord's actions were reasonable under the circumstances.
Official source: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title55.1/chapter12/section55.1-1234/ (accessed 2026-07-20)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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