Late fee rules · Arizona
Arizona late fee rules
Arizona sets no dollar or percentage cap. The statute's only requirement: the fee must be reasonable and set forth in a written rental agreement — an unwritten or unreasonable fee simply isn't collectible.
What this means in practice
Commentators commonly treat ~5% of monthly rent as safe territory. Mobile-home parks are a different act with an actual cap — don't mix the two regimes up.
Whatever your state allows, the fee only works if it's written into the lease and applied every time. Run your numbers through the late fee calculator to see what a flat, percentage, or per-day fee comes to on your rent — and use the late rent notice when it's time to put it in writing.
Read the law yourself
The authority here is A.R.S. § 33-1368(B). It's shorter than you'd think, and knowing the exact wording is worth ten summaries — including this one.
Not legal advice. General information, not legal advice. Cities can be stricter than the state, statutes change, and courts weigh lease language heavily. When real money is in dispute, talk to a local attorney.
Common questions
Do I have to give a grace period?
None by statute — rent is late the day after it's due. (The "5 days" some sites cite is the eviction-notice cure period, not a late-fee grace period.) Even where none is required, many landlords give a short one — it makes the fee feel like a boundary instead of a trap, and it's the pattern courts and tenants both respect.
Can I charge a late fee if it isn't in the lease?
Practically, no. In nearly every state a late fee is a lease term — if the lease is silent, add it at renewal rather than improvising mid-tenancy.
Can I charge daily late fees?
Some leases layer a per-day amount on top of a flat fee. Whether that holds up depends on your state's cap or reasonableness rule — total the worst-case month and ask whether a judge would call it an estimate of damages or a penalty.