Charged late fees on your rent in California? You may be entitled to money back.
California law makes most flat late fees in residential leases void. Empower Law PC is investigating the late-fee practices of major California landlords, including Irvine Company, Essex Property, and AvalonBay communities. Find out in two minutes whether your fees qualify for a free case review.
Free and confidential. No documents are required to begin.
Under California Civil Code § 1671(d), a late fee in a residential lease is treated as “liquidated damages” — and it is void unless the landlord can prove two things: that its actual losses from a late payment were extremely difficult to calculate, and that the fee was a genuine, advance estimate of those losses.
California courts have held that a landlord’s real losses from late rent are usually limited to a few days of interest and minor administrative costs — and they have voided flat $50 late fees on exactly this basis.
If you paid late fees — on rent or on utility bills — to a large California landlord within the last four years, those fees may be refundable, whether you still live there or not, and whether you paid one fee or dozens.
You don’t need documents to start.
But if you have them, these help us evaluate your case quickly:
- Your lease and any addendums — the full PDF or photos of every page, including signature pages.
- Your payment ledger or resident-portal history showing the fees charged.
- Any 3-day or “pay or quit” notices you received.
- Your move-out statement, if your security deposit was reduced.
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Answer a few quick screening questions on our secure NotMe platform. It takes about two minutes — no documents are required to begin.
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