How much can a landlord charge for late rent in Texas?

What the law says

Texas sets the rules for late rent fees in section 92.019 of the Texas Property Code. It opens with a prohibition:

“A landlord may not collect from a tenant a late fee for failing to pay any portion of the tenant’s rent unless:”

Three conditions follow, and section 92.019(a) of the Texas Property Code requires all three. Notice of the fee must be in a written lease. The fee must be reasonable. And some part of the rent must have stayed unpaid two full days after the date it was originally due.

What counts as reasonable depends on the building. Under section 92.019(a-1) of the Texas Property Code, a fee is considered reasonable if it is not more than 12% of the rent for the rental period in a structure with four or fewer dwelling units, or not more than 10% in a structure with more than four.

Those percentages are not the only route. Section 92.019(a-1)(2) of the Texas Property Code also treats a larger fee as reasonable if it is not more than the landlord’s uncertain damages from the late payment, including direct or indirect expenses and costs, or overhead tied to collecting it.

A fee can grow day by day, but it is still one fee. Section 92.019(b) of the Texas Property Code allows an initial fee plus a daily fee for each day rent stays unpaid, and says:

“the combined fees are considered a single late fee for purposes of this section”

So the daily charges are added to the first fee when the 12% or 10% test is applied, under section 92.019 of the Texas Property Code.

An unlawful fee costs the landlord. Under section 92.019(c) of the Texas Property Code, a landlord who breaks the section owes the tenant $100, plus three times the late fee collected unlawfully, plus the tenant’s reasonable attorney’s fees.

A lease cannot sign these rights away. Section 92.019(d) of the Texas Property Code says:

“A provision of a lease that purports to waive a right or exempt a party from a liability or duty under this section is void.”

A tenant can ask what is owed. Under section 92.0191 of the Texas Property Code, a tenant may ask for a written statement of whether a late fee is owed and how much. The landlord must give it by the means the two of them regularly use for written communication. If the landlord does not answer, any late fee actually owed is still owed.

What changes the answer

The size of the building. A home in a structure with four or fewer dwelling units uses the 12% figure, and a larger structure uses 10%, under section 92.019(a-1) of the Texas Property Code.

The lease. Without notice of the fee in a written lease, section 92.019(a)(1) of the Texas Property Code bars collecting any late fee at all.

The landlord’s actual losses. A fee above 12% or 10% can still be lawful under section 92.019(a-1)(2) of the Texas Property Code if it is not more than the landlord’s uncertain damages from the late payment.

Paying the fee. Under section 92.019(e) of the Texas Property Code, paying a late fee does not give up the rights and remedies in the section. The same subsection says the section covers only the fee itself: it does not change the landlord’s right to end the lease or take other action the lease or other law allows.

The kind of tenancy. Section 92.002 of the Texas Property Code applies chapter 92 only to the relationship between landlords and tenants of residential rental property.