Pennsylvania late fee laws for rent: no cap in the Act, and the 10-day notice
Pennsylvania's Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 contains no late fee or late charge provision, so the state sets no cap or grace period in it. For unpaid rent, Section 501(b) requires a notice to quit telling the tenant to remove within ten days from the date of service.
What does the Pennsylvania Act say about late fees?
I read the full text of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (Act of Apr. 6, 1951, P.L. 69, No. 20) from the General Assembly's site and searched it for late fee and late charge language. It has none. It covers creating leases, recovery of rent, distress, notice to quit, escrow of funds, and several special topics. The amount and timing of a late fee are left to the lease.
Silence in the Act does not mean any fee will stand. It means the statute gives you neither a safe number nor a required grace period, so the lease clause has to carry the weight. Ask a Pennsylvania attorney how the courts in your county view a late fee clause.
What notice comes before a nonpayment eviction?
Section 501(a) lets a landlord notify the tenant in writing to remove from the property upon the tenant's failure, upon demand, to satisfy any rent reserved and due. Section 501(b) then says that in case of failure of the tenant, upon demand, to satisfy any rent reserved and due, the notice shall specify that the tenant shall remove within ten days from the date of the service thereof.
Notice that the ten days is for failure to pay rent. Other reasons, such as a lease that has expired or a breach, carry fifteen days for leases of a year or less, and thirty days when the lease is for more than one year. Check which reason applies before you pick a notice form.
Example a made-up owner in Pittsburgh rents a unit at $1,350 and the lease has a $65 late fee. The owner serves a notice to quit for unpaid rent on the 14th. The notice must give ten days from service, so it ends on the 24th. The notice is for the rent reserved and due. The Act says nothing about adding the $65 to it, so the owner asks an attorney how to handle the fee.
How should you write the fee into the lease?
- State one flat amount or one percentage, and say on which day it starts.
- Give the same grace period to every tenant in the building.
- Keep the fee modest compared with the rent, since no statute gives you a safe figure.
- Show the fee as its own ledger line, apart from the rent reserved and due.
Separating the two lines matters because the Act's notice rule speaks of rent. When the rent line is clean, the figure on a notice to quit is easy to prove.
What should you keep on file?
A short checklist helps in Pennsylvania: confirm the rent figure on the ledger, confirm the late fee is its own line, serve the notice in the way the lease and the Act allow, write the date of service on your copy, and count ten days from that date before taking any next step.
How DoorKeeping handles it in Pennsylvania
DoorKeeping posts the late fee you approved from your lease, as a line apart 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 notice forms with your own Pennsylvania attorney.
Sources
Questions
- Is there a maximum late fee in Pennsylvania?
- The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 has no late fee provision, so the Act sets no cap. The lease decides the amount.
- How many days of notice for unpaid rent in Pennsylvania?
- Section 501(b) says the notice to quit for failure to satisfy rent reserved and due shall specify removal within ten days from the date of service.
- Does Pennsylvania require a grace period for rent?
- Not in the Act. Any grace period you offer comes from your lease.