Real Property Law Section 238-a, added by the 2019 HSTPA, caps residential late fees at $50 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is less, and bars any late fee until rent is more than five days overdue. Lease provisions that try to waive these limits are void.
RPL Section 238-a provides that a late fee "shall not exceed fifty dollars or five percent of the monthly rent, whichever is less." No landlord may "demand any payment, fee, or charge for the late payment of rent unless the payment of rent has not been made within five days of the date it was due," creating a mandatory five-day grace period. The statute also restricts application and background-check fees, capping the latter at $20 or actual cost. Critically, "any provision of a lease or contract waiving or limiting the provisions of this section shall be void as against public policy," so landlords cannot contract around the cap or grace period.
Late fees above the cap, or charged before the five-day grace period ends, are unenforceable; waiver clauses are void as against public policy.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Erie County, NY
Animal hoarding in Erie County is investigated by the SPCA Serving Erie County and prosecuted as cruelty by the Erie County District Attorney's Animal Cruelt...
Erie County, NY
The Erie County Department of Health treats improper bird and wildlife feeding as a rodent attractant and public-health nuisance and investigates complaints ...
Erie County, NY
Erie County does not license cats, but New York law requires every cat to be rabies-vaccinated, and the county Health Department runs free rabies clinics for...
Erie County, NY
Erie County sets no numeric limit on household pets. Any cap on the number of dogs or cats comes from a town, city, or village ordinance, while state law req...
Erie County, NY
Erie County imposes no countywide livestock ordinance. Keeping cattle, horses, goats, pigs, or other farm animals is controlled by each town, city, or villag...
Clarence, NY
Clarence Town Code prohibits keeping chickens in the Residential Single-Family (R-SF) zone unless the parcel is at least 5 acres or is located in the Agricul...
See how Clarence's late fees & grace periods rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.