What late fees can a landlord charge in Florida?

Question

Accepted Answer

Florida sets no statutory cap on residential late fees and mandates no grace period — rent is due at the start of each rental period without demand (F.S. 83.46(1)), and a late fee is collectable only if it is written into the lease, since it is purely a creature of contract. Courts test fees as liquidated damages, so an amount out of proportion to the landlord's actual cost can be struck down as a penalty. Note that the widely-cited '$20 or 20%' safe harbor in F.S. 83.808 applies to self-storage units, not dwellings. The lease grace period and the 3-day nonpayment notice under F.S. 83.56(3) are separate clocks: a grace period delays the fee, not the eviction notice.

Statutory cap	No statutory cap (see reasonableness standard and notes)
Mandatory grace period	None mandated statewide
Must be in the lease	Yes
Daily fees	Not addressed by statute; daily or compounding fees are evaluated as liquidated damages and uncapped daily accrual risks being struck as an unenforceable penalty.
Reasonableness standard	No residential late-fee statute exists in Part II of Chapter 83; Florida courts treat late fees as liquidated damages under general contract law, so a fee must be a reasonable pre-estimate of the landlord's loss rather than a penalty. Fees in the 5-10% range are commonly upheld; large flat fees on modest rents are vulnerable.

What late fees can a landlord charge in Florida?

Florida late fees at a glance

Notes and caveats

Statute citations