Free landlord tool

Late rent fee calculator

Enter the monthly rent, the due date, the date the rent was paid and the late fee your lease sets: a flat fee, a percentage of the rent, a daily fee, or a flat fee plus a daily fee. The calculator works out the fee on that day and checks it against the limit and grace period in your U.S. state or Canadian province.

Late fee rules by province and state

Canada

  • Alberta: Allowed only if it is in the tenancy agreement. There is no fixed cap, but a fee that doesn't reflect your actual loss can be waived by the RTDRS or a court.
  • British Columbia: Up to $25, once, and only if your tenancy agreement includes it (Residential Tenancy Regulation s.7).
  • Manitoba: Up to $10, plus $2 for each extra day late, to a maximum of $100, and only if the tenant was told in writing first (lease or house rules).
  • New Brunswick: No general late fee. If the lease allows it, you can recover only the NSF charge your bank actually charged for a bounced rent cheque.
  • Newfoundland and Labrador: $5 for the first day rent is late plus $2 for each additional day, up to $75 in total.
  • Northwest Territories: A penalty of up to $5 plus $1 for each day rent is late ($6 on the first day), up to $65.
  • Nova Scotia: Only if the lease provides for it, and no more than 1% of the monthly rent for each month the rent is late.
  • Nunavut: A small daily penalty tied to the Bank of Canada deposit rate (rent owed × rate ÷ 365 per day), in effect interest. Confirm with the Nunavut Rental Office.
  • Ontario: Late fees are not allowed in Ontario. For a bounced payment you can charge only the bank's NSF fee plus up to $20 admin per cheque.
  • Prince Edward Island: PEI's Residential Tenancy Act doesn't authorize late fees. For a bounced cheque you can charge the bank's fee plus up to $25 admin.
  • Quebec: No late fees. A landlord can claim only the unpaid rent plus interest (and costs) through the Tribunal administratif du logement.
  • Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan's Act doesn't address late fees or set a cap. Any fee would need to be in the lease and could be challenged at the Office of Residential Tenancies.
  • Yukon: Late fees aren't allowed under Yukon's Residential Tenancies Act (in force September 2025). If the lease says so, a bounced cheque can cost the bank fee plus up to $25.

United States

  • Alaska: No statutory cap or grace period. The fee must be agreed in advance and reasonably match your actual costs.
  • Arizona: No numeric cap or grace period. The fee must be reasonable and set out in a written rental agreement (A.R.S. 33-1368).
  • California: No statutory cap or grace period, but the fee must be a reasonable estimate of your actual damages (Civil Code 1671) or it is an unenforceable penalty.
  • Colorado: The greater of $50 or 5% of the past-due rent, only once rent is 7 or more days late, and it must be in the lease (C.R.S. 38-12-105).
  • Connecticut: The lesser of $5 a day (max $50) or 5% of the late payment, only after a 9-day grace period; one fee per late payment (C.G.S. 47a-15a).
  • Delaware: Up to 5% of the monthly rent, not within 5 days of the due date (longer if you have no payment office in the county) (25 Del. C. 5501).
  • District of Columbia: Up to 5% of the rent due, only once rent is 5 or more days late, and the written lease must state the maximum fee (D.C. Code 42-3505.31).
  • Hawaii: Up to 8% of the rent due, if the rental agreement provides for a late charge (HRS 521-21).
  • Iowa: Rent of $700 or less: up to $12 a day and $60 a month. Rent over $700: up to $20 a day and $100 a month (Iowa Code 562A.9).
  • Illinois: No statewide cap. Chicago caps late fees at $10 plus 5% of rent over $500; suburban Cook County at $10 plus 5% of rent over $1,000.
  • Massachusetts: No late fee or interest may be charged until rent is 30 days overdue (M.G.L. c.186 §15B). No numeric cap after that.
  • Maryland: Up to 5% of the unpaid rent for the late period (Md. Real Prop. 8-208).
  • Maine: Up to 4% of one month's rent, only when rent is more than 15 days late, with written notice of the fee at the start of the tenancy (14 M.R.S. 6028).
  • Minnesota: Up to 8% of the overdue rent, and the fee and when it applies must be agreed in writing (Minn. Stat. 504B.177).
  • North Carolina: The greater of $15 or 5% of the monthly rent, only once rent is 5 or more days late, once per late payment (G.S. 42-46).
  • New Jersey: No numeric cap. Senior pensioners and SSDI, SSI or Work First NJ recipients get a 5-business-day grace period on rent due the 1st (N.J.S.A. 2A:42-6.1).
  • New Mexico: Up to 5% of the rent for each rental period in default (cut from 10% in June 2025), if the rental agreement provides for it (NMSA 47-8-15).
  • Nevada: Up to 5% of the periodic rent, not until 3 days after the due date, and it must be in the rental agreement (NRS 118A.210).
  • New York: The lesser of $50 or 5% of the monthly rent, only if rent isn't paid within 5 days of the due date (Real Property Law 238-a).
  • Oregon: Only once rent is unpaid by the 4th day of the period, and the written lease must set the fee: a reasonable flat fee, a daily fee up to 6% of it, or 5% of rent per 5 days (ORS 90.260).
  • Rhode Island: No statutory late-fee cap or grace period; the fee should be reasonable and in the lease.
  • Tennessee: Up to 10% of the past-due rent after a 5-day grace period. Applies in counties over 75,000 people (2010 census); elsewhere there is no statutory cap.
  • Texas: Only after rent is unpaid 2 full days, with notice in a written lease. Presumed reasonable up to 12% of rent (4 or fewer units) or 10% (5+ units) (Prop. Code 92.019).
  • Utah: Up to the greater of 10% of the monthly rent or $75, and it must be in the rental agreement (Utah Code 57-22-4).
  • Virginia: The lesser of 10% of the periodic rent or 10% of the balance owed, and only if the written rental agreement provides for it (Va. Code 55.1-1204).
  • Washington: No late fee if rent is paid within 5 days of the due date (RCW 59.18.170). No statewide cap; Seattle caps late fees at $10 a month.

States not listed have no statewide numeric limit in our records; the fee should still be written in the lease and reasonable. Checked 2026-09-26 against official sources. General information, not legal advice.

Also try the rent calculator, or start free to track rent and overdue balances in RentMouse.