Virginia: Late Rent Fee Limits
The short answer
Virginia allows a residential late fee only when the charge is provided in the written rental agreement. The maximum is the lesser of 10% of the periodic rent or 10% of the remaining balance due and owed. The statute states no general grace period for a written agreement; if the landlord offers no written agreement, separate default terms say rent due on the first is late after the fifth and mention a late charge after that date, even though the written-fee requirement appears in the same section.
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This is the general rule in Virginia. Ezel applies current Virginia law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| 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) |
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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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