Is there a legal limit on late fees in Maryland?

5% of the amount of unpaid rent due for the rental period for which the payment was delinquent; for weekly-rent leases, $3 per week up to $12 per month (RP § 8-208(d)(3)). The 5% cap is the operative limit; § 8-208(d)(2) separately voids lease provisions waiving tenant rights or remedies. A lease provision violating the cap is unenforceable by the landlord (§ 8-208(g)(1)), and a landlord who tenders a lease containing one or attempts to enforce it is liable for the tenant's actual damages plus reasonable attorney's fees (§ 8-208(g)(2)).

Does a late fee have to be written into the lease in Maryland?

Yes — in Maryland a late fee must be stated in the lease.

Can a landlord charge a daily late fee in Maryland?

Not as a structure that exceeds the cap: § 8-208(d)(3) voids any lease penalty exceeding 5% of the delinquent amount for the period, which forecloses accruing daily fees beyond that ceiling.

What late fees can a landlord charge in Maryland?

Verified July 9, 2026 All Maryland topics →

Check your municipality. Maryland does not preempt local rent regulation — city or county ordinances may impose rent caps, notice rules, and fee limits that are stricter than the state-level rules on this page and are not covered here. Verify your municipality's ordinances before relying on any figure below.

What the state record says

No statewide rent control — but Maryland is a non-preemption state, and three sizable local programs are active: Takoma Park (rent stabilization since 1981, CPI-based annual allowance), Montgomery County (Bill 15-23, eff. 2024-07-23, cap of CPI+3% up to a 6% max, buildings under 23 years old exempt), and Prince George's County (Permanent Rent Stabilization and Protection Act of 2024, eff. 2024-10-17, cap of the lower of 6% or CPI-U+3%). RP § 8-209.1 acknowledges local rent-limit laws and imposes state reporting duties on jurisdictions that adopt them, while its subsection (e) says the section itself may not be construed to AUTHORIZE local rent caps — a no-new-authorization clause, not a preemption. Local ordinances are out of scope v1 but flagged on-page.

Maryland caps residential late fees at 5% of the unpaid rent due for the period the payment is delinquent — and for tenants who pay weekly, at $3 per week with a $12 monthly ceiling.

The cap is written as a limit on lease provisions, so a fee must be in the lease to be charged at all, and a clause purporting to charge more is void. Note the precise base: 5% of the DELINQUENT amount, not flatly 5% of a month's rent — a tenant who has paid half the month's rent can only be charged 5% of the unpaid half. There is no statewide grace period; timing is left to the lease, though local codes can add protections. Fee-disclosure legislation (itemized up-front fee lists with treble damages) passed the House in 2026 but died in the Senate, so watch for a refile.

Maryland late fees at a glance

Statutory cap	5% of the amount of unpaid rent due for the rental period for which the payment was delinquent; for weekly-rent leases, $3 per week up to $12 per month (RP § 8-208(d)(3))
Mandatory grace period	None mandated statewide
Must be in the lease	Yes
Daily fees	Not as a structure that exceeds the cap: § 8-208(d)(3) voids any lease penalty exceeding 5% of the delinquent amount for the period, which forecloses accruing daily fees beyond that ceiling.
Reasonableness standard	The 5% cap is the operative limit; § 8-208(d)(2) separately voids lease provisions waiving tenant rights or remedies. A lease provision violating the cap is unenforceable by the landlord (§ 8-208(g)(1)), and a landlord who tenders a lease containing one or attempts to enforce it is liable for the tenant's actual damages plus reasonable attorney's fees (§ 8-208(g)(2)).

Notes and caveats

statutory_cap quotes the current text base — 'unpaid rent due for the rental period for which the payment was delinquent' — because older sources render it as '5% of rent due,' overstating the base when partial payment was made. grace_period_days is null (no statutory grace; encode the contrast with MA's 30 days on the comparison table). Scope nuance RESOLVED (three independent reads of the official text, 2026-07-09): the 5+-unit threshold in (a)(1) scopes ONLY the written-lease mandate; the (d) prohibitions open 'A landlord may not use a lease or form of lease containing any provision that:' with no landlord-size scoping, and the section contains no other applicability limit (subsection (f) lets local law supplement but not diminish) — so the (d)(3) late-fee cap binds every residential lease in Maryland regardless of portfolio size. Enforcement is via (g): unenforceability plus tenant actual damages and attorney's fees for tendering or attempting to enforce a prohibited provision. must_be_in_lease=true stands on the contract-law baseline that an uncontracted fee has no basis. HB 80 (2026 fee disclosure, new § 8-212.5, treble damages) passed the House 94-35 and died in Senate Judicial Proceedings at Sine Die — likely 2027 refile, not pending now.

Common questions: Maryland late fees

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

Is there a legal limit on late fees in Maryland?: 5% of the amount of unpaid rent due for the rental period for which the payment was delinquent; for weekly-rent leases, $3 per week up to $12 per month (RP § 8-208(d)(3)). The 5% cap is the operative limit; § 8-208(d)(2) separately voids lease provisions waiving tenant rights or remedies. A lease provision violating the cap is unenforceable by the landlord (§ 8-208(g)(1)), and a landlord who tenders a lease containing one or attempts to enforce it is liable for the tenant's actual damages plus reasonable attorney's fees (§ 8-208(g)(2)).
Is there a grace period before rent is late in Maryland?: None mandated statewide.
Does a late fee have to be written into the lease in Maryland?: Yes — in Maryland a late fee must be stated in the lease.
Can a landlord charge a daily late fee in Maryland?: Not as a structure that exceeds the cap: § 8-208(d)(3) voids any lease penalty exceeding 5% of the delinquent amount for the period, which forecloses accruing daily fees beyond that ceiling.

Statute citations

RP § 8-208 (a)(1), (d)(2)-(3), (g) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Maryland General Assembly site (mgaleg.maryland.gov): Real Property §§ 8-203 (read in full twice — independent fetches matched verbatim), 8-203.1, 8-208, 8-209 (read twice), 8-209.1, 8-221 (read twice), and 8-402. Session-law provenance verified on official mgaleg bill pages: HB 693 (2024) / Ch. 124 (deposit cap cut, eff. 2024-10-01), HB 151 (2023) / Ch. 146 (§ 8-209 rent-increase notice, eff. 2023-10-01), HB 1076 (2025) / Ch. 564 (§ 8-221 entry notice, eff. 2025-10-01), and HB 80 (2026) status. § 8-208 re-read three times on 2026-07-09 to resolve the session-5 (d)(3) scope carry-forward (see late_fees notes). Interest mechanics cross-checked against the Maryland DHCD official deposit-interest calculator page; local rent-stabilization programs confirmed on official Takoma Park, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County government pages.