Pennsylvania Late Fee Rules

The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (68 P.S. Sections 250.101 et seq.) sets no dollar or percentage limit on late fees and requires no grace period before one may be charged. Enforceability instead turns on ordinary contract law: a late fee must be authorized in the written lease, must be a reasonable estimate of the landlord's loss, and must not function as a punitive penalty, which courts will not enforce. There is no statutory floor on timing, so a landlord may charge the fee immediately after the due date if the lease allows. Because no statute governs, the lease language and the common-law reasonableness standard control how large a late fee can be and when it applies.

No specific statutory penalty. A late fee that is unreasonable, punitive, or not authorized by the lease is unenforceable as a penalty under contract law, and a court may decline to award it.