Texas Late Fee Rules: Two-Full-Days Rule, Reasonable Fees (2026)

A Texas landlord may collect a late fee only if notice of the fee is in a written lease, the fee is reasonable, and rent “has remained unpaid two full days after the date the rent was originally due” (Tex. Prop. Code s. 92.019(a)). A fee up to 12 percent of the period’s rent (not more than four units in the structure) or 10 percent (more than four) is “considered reasonable” under s. 92.019(a-1).

The three conditions in s. 92.019(a)

Quoted from the statute: “A landlord may not collect from a tenant a late fee for failing to pay any portion of the tenant's rent unless:”

1. “notice of the fee is included in a written lease;”
2. “the fee is reasonable; and”
3. “any portion of the tenant's rent has remained unpaid two full days after the date the rent was originally due.”

Miss any one and the fee is not collectable. Note “any portion”: a partial payment does not stop the clock.

What is “reasonable”: s. 92.019(a-1)

A late fee “is considered reasonable if” it meets either (1) or (2):

The count is of units in the structure, not units you own. The $1,000 is an invented illustration, not a recommended rent or fee.

Option (2) is quoted: “the late fee is more than the applicable amount under Subdivision (1), but not more than uncertain damages to the landlord related to the late payment of rent, including direct or indirect expenses, direct or indirect costs, or overhead associated with the collection of late payment.” The Property Code does not say how to prove those damages; talk to a Texas attorney before charging above the percentage.

Under s. 92.019(b) a fee “may include an initial fee and a daily fee for each day any portion of the tenant's rent continues to remain unpaid, and the combined fees are considered a single late fee for purposes of this section.” So the total is what gets compared with the cap. Illustration: $1,000 rent, four-unit structure, $50 initial plus $10 a day reaches $120 on the seventh daily fee; an eighth day would exceed the 12 percent figure.

Worked example: the earliest day a fee can be charged

Rent is due Thursday, 1 October 2026. Reading the words literally, the due date is not “after” itself, so the two full days after it are 2 and 3 October.

A lease that charges on the 2nd or 3rd attaches the fee before the statutory point. Section 92.019 does not define “full day” and says nothing about Saturdays, Sundays or holidays. The weekend rule in s. 24.0042 covers only “a period of time prescribed by this chapter” (Chapter 24), so we do not apply it here. Whether a weekend shifts the count is not in the Property Code; ask a Texas attorney if your due date sits next to one.

Statement of late fees: s. 92.0191

Section 92.0191: a tenant “may request that the landlord provide to the tenant a written statement of whether the tenant owes a late fee to the landlord and, if so, the amount of the late fee.” On request the landlord “shall provide the statement to the tenant by any established means regularly used for written communication between the landlord and the tenant.” The section sets no response deadline. A failure to respond “does not affect the tenant's liability for any late fee owed to the landlord.”

Penalty, waiver, other rights: s. 92.019(c)-(e)

• (c): a landlord who violates the section “is liable to the tenant for an amount equal to the sum of $100, three times the amount of the late fee collected in violation of this section, and the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees.” Illustration: a $150 fee collected with no written lease clause is $100 + $450 = $550, plus attorney’s fees.
• (d): a lease provision that “purports to waive a right or exempt a party from a liability or duty under this section is void.”
• (e): the section does not affect the right to terminate the lease or take other action the lease or law allows, and the tenant paying the fee “does not waive the right or remedies provided by this section.”

Common mistakes

• No fee clause in a written lease (an oral lease, or a fee the written lease never mentions). Condition (a)(1) fails.
• Charging on day one or two. Under the two-full-days wording the first possible date in the example is the 4th, not the 2nd or 3rd.
• Ignoring a part payment. “Any portion” unpaid is enough, but the fee still has to be reasonable.
• Letting a daily fee run past the cap. The initial and daily fees are one “single late fee.”
• Applying the percentage to something other than rent. The text names “the amount of rent for the rental period under the lease.”
• Relying on a lease waiver of these rights. Subsection (d) voids it.
• Not answering a tenant’s s. 92.0191 request. Silence does not cancel what is owed, but the statute says the landlord “shall provide” the statement.

Sources

• Tex. Prop. Code s. 92.019 — Texas Legislature, Property Code
• Tex. Prop. Code s. 92.0191 — Texas Legislature, Property Code
• Tex. Prop. Code s. 24.0042 — Texas Legislature, Property Code

Related guides

• Texas Security Deposit Law: The 30-Day Rule and 'Surrender' (2026)
• Texas Forwarding Address Rule: Does the 30-Day Clock Start? (92.107)
• Texas Itemized Deposit List: What to Include and What Not to Deduct
• Texas Bad-Faith Deposit Penalty: $100 + 3x + Fees (s. 92.109)
• Texas Notice to Vacate vs. Notice to Pay Rent or Vacate After SB 38
• How to Count Days for a Texas Eviction Notice (s. 24.0042)
• Delivering a Texas Notice to Vacate in 2026: The Four Methods
• Texas Eviction Steps in 2026: Petition, Hearing, Writ of Possession
• Can a Texas Landlord Change the Locks Over Unpaid Rent? (s. 92.0081)
• Texas Landlord Notices by E-mail: s. 92.113 vs. Notice to Vacate
• Why Texas City Eviction Ordinances Can't Override the Property Code

Informational only, not legal advice. Statute text checked against the Texas Property Code (Chapters 1, 24, 91 and 92) as published by the Texas Legislative Council on October 5, 2026. Statutes change every legislative session and a court may read them differently than a summary does; for a dispute, an eviction or anything expensive to get wrong, talk to a Texas landlord-tenant attorney.