Kansas late fee laws for rent: the lease sets the fee, the notice gives three days
Kansas's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act does not name a late fee cap in the section on rental agreements. The lease sets the fee, and unpaid rent leads to a written notice that gives the tenant three days, counted as three consecutive 24-hour periods.
What does K.S.A. 58-2545 let the lease say?
Subsection (a) says the landlord and tenant may include in a rental agreement terms and conditions not prohibited by the act or other rule of law, including rent, the term of the agreement and other provisions governing their rights and obligations. A late fee clause is that kind of term. The section does not set a dollar amount, a percentage or a number of days before a fee can apply.
Subsection (c) covers timing. Rent is payable without demand or notice at the time and place agreed upon by the parties. Unless otherwise agreed, rent is payable at the dwelling unit, and periodic rent is payable at the beginning of any term of one month or less and otherwise in equal monthly installments at the beginning of each month.
What does the three-day notice require?
K.S.A. 58-2564(b) says the landlord may terminate the rental agreement if rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay within three days after written notice of nonpayment and of the landlord's intention to terminate if the rent is not paid within that three-day period. The statute says the three days are computed as three consecutive 24-hour periods. The subsection goes on to say more about how the notice is served, so read the full text before you deliver one.
Example a made-up owner in Wichita has a $950 rent due on the 1st, with a $40 late fee in the lease. On the 8th the tenant has not paid and the owner serves the written notice at 2:00 pm. Three consecutive 24-hour periods run to 2:00 pm on the 11th. Paying $950 by then answers the notice for the rent, and the $40 fee stays a separate lease charge.
How do you write a Kansas late fee clause?
- Pick one flat dollar amount and say on which day it applies.
- Keep it modest compared with the rent. Kansas gives no safe percentage in these sections, so proportion is your protection.
- Say whether the fee is charged once per missed payment.
- Post it on its own ledger line so the rent figure in any notice is only rent.
Keeping the fee apart matters for the notice. A nonpayment notice that adds a fee to the rent figure can be harder to defend than one that states the rent alone, so ask a Kansas attorney how you should list the two.
What mistakes do Kansas owners make with the notice?
The three days are three consecutive 24-hour periods, so counting calendar days is the usual error. Write down the exact time you serve the notice and the exact time the period ends, and keep both with the notice copy.
Another error is putting the late fee inside the rent figure on the notice without checking how a Kansas attorney wants it listed. The lease sets the fee, but the notice is about unpaid rent. A short habit helps: state the rent owed on one line, the fee on the next, and the total last, and have your attorney confirm that layout once. Finally, keep the reminder you sent before the due date, since it shows the tenant knew the date.
How DoorKeeping handles it in Kansas
DoorKeeping posts the late fee you approved from your lease as its own line, separate from rent, and sends the tenant a reminder first. Rent and payments stay in your own bank accounts. DoorKeeping never holds your money and sends a payment only when you approve it. This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your lease and your notices with your own Kansas attorney.
Sources
Questions
- Is there a maximum late fee in Kansas?
- K.S.A. 58-2545 and 58-2564 name no cap. The lease sets the fee within terms not prohibited by the act or other law.
- How long does a Kansas tenant have to pay after a nonpayment notice?
- Three days after written notice, computed as three consecutive 24-hour periods under K.S.A. 58-2564(b).
- Is rent due without a reminder in Kansas?
- Yes. Under 58-2545(c), rent is payable without demand or notice at the time and place the parties agreed.