Law regarding how much a landlord can charge for a late fee?
March 22nd, 2011 | 
Author: I had an email a while ago regarding what my landlord can charge legally for turning in your rent late and now I can’t find it. Does anyone know what it is in the state of California? She is charging 10% of the total rent. Another attorney told me that isn’t legal. I would google it but I have limited internet access. Thanks!
Posted in Landlord Tenant Law
http://www.caltenantlaw.com/LateFees.htm
http://www.caltenantlaw.com/Res-Law.htm#Late%20Fees
The law regarding residential late fees is almost 30 years old. In 1978, Civil Code 1671 was amended to outlaw virtually all late fees in residential rental agreements. The problem is that it didn’t use the word “late fees,” but instead used the technical legal generic term “liquidated damages,” which would functionally include a late fee by its meaning. Here’s the actual statute:
California doesn’t specifically limit late fees, but there have been court rulings on the subject.
Here… http://www.socalmls.com/DispArticle.cfm?ARTICLE_ID=19252 is an article explaining the logic.
Richard