Late Fee for Rent in Maryland: 5% Cap, Grace Period, and Limits

In Maryland, late fees for rent are capped at 5% of the unpaid rent for the rental period in which the payment was late.¹ A 2025 law, HB 273, made clear that the 5% applies only to what you actually still owe, not to the full monthly rent.² Any lease clause that charges more is unenforceable, and a landlord who tries to enforce one can be made to pay your damages and attorney’s fees.

How the 5% Cap Works

The cap sits in § 8-208 of the Real Property article. A landlord may not use a lease that charges a late penalty greater than 5% of the unpaid rent due for the rental period in which the payment was delinquent.¹

Say your rent is $1,500 a month. If you pay $1,200 on time and $300 late, the maximum late fee is 5% of $300, which is $15. If you pay nothing on time, the fee can go up to 5% of the full $1,500, or $75. Before HB 273 took effect on October 1, 2025, some landlords calculated 5% on the whole monthly rent even when the tenant had made a substantial on-time payment. That is no longer permitted.²

If you pay rent weekly, a different formula applies. The late penalty cannot exceed $3 per week, with a $12 monthly ceiling.¹

When a Landlord Can Charge a Late Fee

Two things have to be true. The late fee has to be written into your lease, and the amount charged has to stay within the statutory cap. The statute frames the rule as a prohibition on using a lease that contains an oversized penalty provision, so a lease without any late fee clause gives the landlord no basis to add one.¹

There is no statewide grace period. The text of § 8-208 doesn’t require rent to be a set number of days overdue before the fee can be charged. Local jurisdictions are free to add tenant protections above the state floor, and some have. Montgomery County, for example, requires rent to be more than 10 days late before a penalty can be assessed. Where your lease is silent and your county hasn’t enacted its own rule, the fee could technically apply the day after rent is due. Read the lease, and check your local ordinance.

Partial Payments

The statute ties the penalty to the “unpaid rent due for the rental period,” so the math runs on what you still owe, not what you paid.¹ Owe $1,000, pay $800 on time, and the maximum fee is 5% of the remaining $200. That’s $10.

Maryland’s Tenant Bill of Rights adds a related protection: a landlord cannot charge a late fee on a partial rent payment that was made on time.³ The fee attaches only to the piece of rent that was actually late.

Late Fees in an Eviction Case

Base rent and late fees are treated differently at different points in an eviction. In a failure-to-pay-rent case, the Tenant Bill of Rights says rent means base rent only and does not include utility charges, maintenance charges, or other penalties. Before filing, the landlord must give you at least 10 days’ written notice.³ That 10-day notice is a filing requirement, not a grace period for late fees.

Once the complaint is filed, late fees come back in. Under § 8-401, the landlord’s complaint must state the rent and any late fees due and unpaid, the court determines the amount owed as of the filing date, and if the case reaches trial the court recalculates through the trial date. Late fees that accrued in or before the filing month can be included in the judgment.⁴

If the court rules for the landlord and you don’t comply within 7 days, a warrant of restitution issues. You can still stop the eviction by paying all past-due amounts the court determined, including late fees and court costs, at any time before the eviction is physically carried out.⁴

Mobile Home Parks Have Different Rules

If you rent a lot in a mobile home park, § 8A-404 governs, and the rules are not the same. A park owner can charge a late fee only if three conditions are met: the rental agreement provides for it, rent is more than 5 days past due, and the fee is no more than 5% of the rent due or $5, whichever is higher.⁵

Two things are worth noting. The 5-day grace period is written into the statute itself, unlike the general rental rule. And the “whichever is higher” language sets a $5 floor: if 5% of your lot rent would be less than $5, the park owner can still charge $5.

Section 8 Voucher Tenants

If you hold a Housing Choice Voucher, late fees still apply and must follow Maryland state and local law. There is no federal exemption letting a landlord charge more, and the landlord cannot charge voucher tenants extra amounts for items ordinarily included in rent for other tenants in the same building.⁶

One protection is specific to voucher holders. If the public housing authority pays its share of the rent late to your landlord, you are not responsible for any fees resulting from that delay, and the late payment cannot be used as grounds to end your tenancy.⁶

Unpaid Late Fees and Your Security Deposit

At move-out, a landlord may try to take unpaid late fees out of your security deposit. Maryland’s security deposit statute allows withholding for unpaid rent and damage due to breach of the lease.⁷ Whether an unpaid late fee qualifies depends on whether the fee was valid in the first place. A fee that exceeded the 5% cap, or one that wasn’t in the lease at all, is unenforceable, and an unenforceable charge can’t justify a deduction. If the itemization on your deposit return looks inflated or includes fees that violate the cap, you have grounds to challenge it.

What You Can Do If a Landlord Overcharges

A prohibited late fee provision is unenforceable from the start. You don’t need a court order to void it. That said, you may still have to assert the point if the landlord tries to collect.¹

Section 8-208 goes further. If a landlord includes a prohibited provision in a lease, attempts to enforce it, or communicates an intent to enforce it, the tenant can recover actual damages plus reasonable attorney’s fees.¹ The attorney’s fees piece matters, because it makes it realistic to bring a case where the overcharge itself is small.

These claims are filed in the District Court, which handles most Maryland housing disputes.⁸ Bring your lease, your payment records, bank statements, and any written communication with the landlord about the fee. Documentation usually decides the case.

Local law can add protections on top of the state rule but cannot take any away.¹ If you’re in a jurisdiction with rental licensing, the local housing office may take enforcement action against a landlord with repeat violations.

1
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Real Property 8-208
2
Maryland General Assembly. HB0273 Landlord and Tenant Late Fees
3
Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. Tenant Bill of Rights
4
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Real Property 8-401
5
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Real Property 8A-404
6
HUD. HCV PBV Non-Rent Fees Chart
7
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Real Property 8-203
8
Maryland Courts. Housing Cases