Free landlord tool
Work out what a late rent payment owes under your lease's terms, with the grace period and any cap applied, and see how the fee builds day by day.
Counted from the due date: rent due on the 1st and paid on the 6th is 5 days late.
Optional. Leave empty for no cap.
Late fee owed
$110.00
Fee as a share of rent
7.86%
Days past the grace period
7
| Days late | Fee owed |
|---|---|
| 6 | $50.00 |
| 7 | $60.00 |
| 8 | $70.00 |
| 9 | $80.00 |
| 10 | $90.00 |
| 11 | $100.00 |
| 12 | $110.00 |
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A late fee is charged once rent is paid after the due date and any grace period has run out. Most leases use one of four structures: a flat fee, a percentage of the monthly rent, a fee for every day the rent stays unpaid, or a flat fee followed by a daily fee.
Days late are counted from the due date. With rent due on the 1st and a five-day grace period, nothing is owed through the 6th; the fee starts on the 7th, the first day past grace.
A daily fee keeps growing, so many leases cap the total. A cap is also how several states limit late fees, either as a dollar amount or as a percentage of the rent.
Courts generally expect a late fee to reflect the landlord's real cost of late payment rather than to punish the tenant. A fee that is a large share of the rent, or that grows without limit, is the kind most likely to be challenged.
Many states set a maximum fee, a minimum grace period, or both, and some require the fee to be written into the lease before it can be charged. Check the rules where your property is, and state the terms clearly in every lease.
Rent of $1,400 is due on the 1st. The lease allows a five-day grace period, then charges $50 plus $10 for each further day. The tenant pays 12 days late, seven days past the grace period.
The $50 fee applies on the first day past grace and $10 is added on each of the next six days, so the tenant owes $110, which is 7.86% of the rent.
This calculator applies the terms you enter. It is not legal advice: whether a late fee may be charged, and how much, depends on your lease and the law where the property is.
It depends on the state. Some cap late fees at a percentage of the rent, commonly around 5%, or at a fixed amount, and others only require the fee to be reasonable. Check the law where your property is before you set the fee.
It is the number of days after the due date during which rent can be paid without a late fee. Some states require one, often three to five days; elsewhere it is whatever the lease says.
Many leases do, but a daily fee should usually be capped so it cannot grow out of proportion to the rent, and some states restrict daily fees outright.
In most places, yes. A landlord can generally charge only the late fee the lease sets out, so put the amount, the grace period and any daily fee or cap in writing.
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