{"id":525,"date":"2026-02-25T18:53:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T18:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/future.tenantstogether.org\/?page_id=525"},"modified":"2026-06-17T21:08:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T21:08:43","slug":"late-fees","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/resources-for-tenants\/know-your-rights\/late-fees\/","title":{"rendered":"Late Fees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-784358f6 alignfull uagb-is-root-container\"><div class=\"uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container content-spacing uagb-block-62560bd8\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Protections against Unfair Late Fees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are late fees?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Landlords can charge late fees to a tenant when rent is paid late or if a rent check bounces, <strong>ONLY IF&nbsp;the late fee policy and amounts are outlined in the lease\/rental agreement<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Late fees can not be punitive or seen as a penalty for paying rent late.&nbsp;Instead, the fee should reflect a reasonable estimate of the amount that the late payment will cost the landlord per&nbsp;Orozco v. Casimiro 121 Cal.App.4th Supp. 7 (2004).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Landlords can charge tenants $25 for a bounced check.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Often lease or rental agreement will include specific information about late fees (i.e. percentage of the rent, etc.).&nbsp;If the late fee seems to high, a tenant may ask the landlord to justify the amount or lower the cost.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you believe you have been charged a late fee unfairly, fill out this&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/sample-letter\/late-fee-invalid\/\" data-type=\"sample-letter\" data-id=\"2679\">Unfair Late Fee Sample Letter<\/a>&nbsp;and turn it in to your landlord as soon as possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can I be evicted if I am not able to pay my late fees?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Under no circumstances may a landlord evict the tenant because of late fees<\/strong>. However, unpaid late fees may be taken out of the security deposit.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>NOTE<\/strong>: Landlords must serve a tenant who is late on rent a 3-day eviction notice to \u00abpay or quit\u00bb before they can file an eviction suit against the tenant in the courts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-fddc05bc alignfull uagb-is-root-container\"><div class=\"uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container less-space uagb-block-86c666a3\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading uagb-block-1fd3b203\"><h2 class=\"uagb-heading-text\">Sample Letters<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To assert your rights to landlord or master tenant, tailor these letters to your situation:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-post-grid uagb-post-grid  uagb-post__image-position-top uagb-post__image-disabled uagb-block-14d53a37     uagb-post__items uagb-post__columns-3 is-grid uagb-post__columns-tablet-2 uagb-post__columns-mobile-1 uagb-post__equal-height\" data-total=\"1\" style=\"\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"uagb-post__inner-wrap\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"uagb-post__title uagb-post__text\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/sample-letter\/demand-rent-receipt\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"bookmark noopener noreferrer\">Demand Rent Receipt<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class='uagb-post__text uagb-post-grid-byline'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"uagb-post__inner-wrap\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"uagb-post__title uagb-post__text\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/sample-letter\/late-fee-invalid\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"bookmark noopener noreferrer\">Late Fee Invalid<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class='uagb-post__text uagb-post-grid-byline'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"uagb-post__inner-wrap\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"uagb-post__title uagb-post__text\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/sample-letter\/returned-check-fee-invalid\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"bookmark noopener noreferrer\">Returned Check Fee Invalid<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class='uagb-post__text uagb-post-grid-byline'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-952f77f1 alignfull uagb-is-root-container\"><div class=\"uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container less-space uagb-block-b0ded7b2\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading uagb-block-d50b5cae\"><h2 class=\"uagb-heading-text\">Resources<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Learn more about your protections and review these additional resources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/resources-for-tenants\/know-your-rights\/rent-increases-and-rent-control\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"456\">Rent Increases and Rent Control<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/resources-for-tenants\/know-your-rights\/eviction-protections\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"336\">Eviction Protections<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container less-space uagb-block-931b129f\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading uagb-block-b337edc2\"><h3 class=\"uagb-heading-text\">External Resources<\/h3><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nolo.com\/landlord-tenant\/late-rent-fees.html\">Late Rent Fees<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-e42660cb alignfull uagb-is-root-container\"><div class=\"uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-separator uagb-block-6e6e82f4\"><div class=\"uagb-separator-spacing-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-uagb-separator__inner\" style=\"--my-background-image:\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My landlord is charging me an expensive late fee. How much in late fees can my landlord charge me?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":301,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"know-your-rights":[21],"class_list":["post-525","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","know-your-rights-know-your-rights"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"giantrabbit","author_link":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/author\/giantrabbit\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"My landlord is charging me an expensive late fee. How much in late fees can my landlord charge me?","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2928,"href":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525\/revisions\/2928"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"know-your-rights","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenantstogether.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/know-your-rights?post=525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}