North Carolina returned rent check fee: up to $35

What is the most a North Carolina owner can charge?

The statute is one short paragraph. A person who accepts a check in payment for goods or services, or that person's assignee, "may charge and collect a processing fee, not to exceed thirty-five dollars ($35.00)." The fee is for a check on which the payor bank has refused payment.

The ceiling is a flat dollar figure, not a percentage. A $500 check and a $2,500 check carry the same cap. Because the cap is the same at every rent level, a lease clause that says "$35" is easy to defend, and one that says "5 percent of rent" is not, once rent passes $700.

Which returns does the statute cover?

Two reasons are named: insufficient funds, and the drawer not having an account at that bank. Those are the only grounds in the text. A check sent back for another reason, such as a stop payment order or a closed account that the bank describes differently, is not obviously inside the fee statute, so read the return reason on the bank's notice before you add a charge.

The text speaks of goods or services and does not use the word rent. An owner who wants to rely on it should have the lease itself state the returned payment fee, so that the contract supports the charge as well as the statute.

Example a made-up owner in Raleigh deposits a $1,325 rent check, and the bank refuses it because the tenant's account has insufficient funds. The owner may add a processing fee of up to $35. A $50 fee would exceed the ceiling, and a $35 fee does not. The ledger shows $1,325 rent still unpaid plus a $35 fee line, kept apart from any late fee.

What if you hand the debt to a collection agency?

The statute has a rule for that case. If a collection agency collects or tries to collect for its principal a processing fee under this section in addition to the check amount, the fee must be stated separately on the collection notice. The agency may not collect or seek from the drawer any sum other than the actual amount of the returned check and the specified processing fee.

So the agency's own add-ons cannot ride on top. If you use an agency, ask what appears on its notice before you send it a file.

What habits keep the fee clean?

• Write the amount in the lease and keep it at or below $35.
• Charge it once for each returned item. A second presentment is the same debt.
• Keep the bank's return notice with the ledger entry, since it names the reason.
• Tell the tenant the same day, in writing, and offer a way to pay that clears.
• Do not mix the processing fee into the rent line. Auditors, courts and tenants all read a separate line more easily.

How DoorKeeping fits in North Carolina

A returned rent payment appears in your bank feed and DoorKeeping can pair it with the tenant's rent charge. Any fee you want to add is a money step, so it waits for your one-tap approval. Rent and payments stay in your own bank accounts. These are general bad check statutes. Most do not name rent, so a tenant's rent check is covered only to the extent the text reaches it. This is general information, not legal advice. Check your lease and your own state's landlord-tenant act, and ask your own attorney before you demand money.

Sources

1. N.C. Gen. Stat. 25-3-506, Collection of processing fee for returned checks (North Carolina General Assembly), read Oct 30, 2026

Questions

What is the maximum returned check fee in North Carolina?

$35 under G.S. 25-3-506, for a check the payor bank refuses because of insufficient funds or because the drawer had no account there.

Can a North Carolina landlord charge a returned check fee if the tenant stopped payment?

The statute names only insufficient funds and no account at the bank as reasons, so a stop payment return is not clearly covered. Read the bank's return reason first.

Can a collection agency add its own fee to a returned rent check in North Carolina?

Under the statute the agency may seek only the actual check amount and the specified processing fee, and the fee must be stated separately on the notice.