California Late Fee Calculator
Your late fee
$62.50
Paid 12 days late; the lease has no grace period.
- Days past due
- 12 days
- Grace period ends
- No grace period
- Earliest fee date
- October 20, 2026
- Lease late fee
- 5% of $1,250.00 = $62.50
- Rent + late fee
- $1,312.50
California: Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1940 to 1954.071 contains no late fee provision, so there is no legal cap or waiting period to apply; only your lease terms count.
Late rent notice builder
[Your name or company]
Date: October 31, 2026
To: [Tenant name]
[Rental property address]
Re: Overdue rent for [Rental property address]
Dear [Tenant name],
This letter is a reminder that the rent of $1,250.00 for [Rental property address] was due on October 19, 2026. As of October 31, 2026, $1,250.00 of it is still unpaid (12 days past due).
Your lease provides for a late charge, which comes to $62.50.
Amount now due
- Unpaid rent
- $1,250.00
- Late charge
- $62.50
- Total
- $1,312.50
Please pay $1,312.50 at your earliest opportunity.
If this letter crossed with your payment, please disregard it.
Regards,
[Your name or company]
Default on contract debts after breach when the contract is silent; runs from the date a fixed sum became due.
Late fee breakdown
- Interest owed
- —
- Daily rate
- —
- Total (invoice + interest)
- —
Still unpaid? Generate a formal demand letter
Interest at 10% a year
| Invoice amount | 30 days late | 60 days late | 90 days late |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000.00 | $8.22 | $16.44 | $24.66 |
| $5,000.00 | $41.10 | $82.19 | $123.29 |
| $10,000.00 | $82.19 | $164.38 | $246.58 |
Legal maximum late fee on California invoices
Conditional cap higher of 10% or FRBSF rate +5 pts (if a 'loan or forbearance').
Basis: Cal. Const. art. XV, § 1; Southwest Concrete Products v. Gosh Construction Corp. (1990) 51 Cal.3d 701; Civ. Code § 3289(b).
About this page
California rent late fee law
California's rental chapter of the Civil Code names no maximum late rent fee and no grace period; the one late fee section in it, 1942.9, applies only to COVID-19 rental debt.
Read in full for this check: California Civil Code, Division 3, Part 4, Title 5, chapter 2 (Hiring of Real Property). Official source · checked .
Before you send the late rent notice: it is a reminder letter about overdue rent and a late charge, not an eviction notice. A notice to pay rent or quit is a separate document, and California has its own rules for it. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
What California law says about invoice interest
(b) If a contract entered into after January 1, 1986, does not stipulate a legal rate of interest, the obligation shall bear interest at a rate of 10 percent per annum after a breach.
The constitutional cap applies to a 'loan or forbearance of any money, goods, or things in action'. For non-household use the written-contract ceiling is the higher of 10% per annum or 5% plus the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco advance rate, and the section exempts several classes of lenders. A late charge on an overdue commercial account is treated differently: in Southwest Concrete Products v. Gosh Construction Corp. (1990) 51 Cal.3d 701 the California Supreme Court held such interest not subject to the usury law, because it was not a payment for a loan or forbearance. The courts draw the line between a loan or forbearance (for example, giving further time for the payment of a debt) and a sale of goods or property.
The rate of interest upon the loan or forbearance of any money, goods, or things in action, or on accounts after demand, shall be 7 percent per annum but it shall be competent for the parties to any loan or forbearance of any money, goods or things in action to contract in writing for a rate of interest: [...] (2) For any loan or forbearance of any money, goods, or things in action for any use other than specified in paragraph (1), at a rate not exceeding the higher of (a) 10 percent per annum or (b) 5 percent per annum plus the rate prevailing on the 25th day of the month preceding the earlier of (i) the date of execution of the contract to make the loan or forbearance, or (ii) the date of making the loan or forbearance established by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on advances to member banks [...]
Late payment penalty vs. interest in California
A contract rate of interest and a fixed late-payment charge are judged under different rules. When the contract states no rate, Civil Code § 3289(b) (quoted above) sets 10% per annum after a breach. A flat or one-time late fee written into the contract is a liquidated-damages clause, and Civil Code § 1671 governs it: in a business-to-business contract it is valid unless the party challenging it shows it was unreasonable under the circumstances when the contract was made. The stricter test in § 1671(d) — the clause is void unless it sets an amount presumed to be the damage in a case where actual damage would be impracticable or extremely difficult to fix — applies only to consumer purchases or rentals for personal, family, or household purposes and to residential leases.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a provision in a contract liquidating the damages for the breach of the contract is valid unless the party seeking to invalidate the provision establishes that the provision was unreasonable under the circumstances existing at the time the contract was made. (c) The validity of a liquidated damages provision shall be determined under subdivision (d) and not under subdivision (b) where the liquidated damages are sought to be recovered from either: (1) A party to a contract for the retail purchase, or rental, by such party of personal property or services, primarily for the party’s personal, family, or household purposes; or (2) A party to a lease of real property for use as a dwelling by the party or those dependent upon the party for support.
Is interest on a late California invoice limited by the usury law?
Cal. Const. art. XV, § 1 (quoted in the cap section below) limits the rate on a "loan or forbearance". In Southwest Concrete Products v. Gosh Construction Corp. (1990) 51 Cal.3d 701, the California Supreme Court held that interest charged on an overdue commercial account was not subject to the usury law, because it was not a payment for a loan or forbearance of money. Federal courts in California apply the decision this way, as in the order quoted below.
The courts distinguish a loan or forbearance from a sale. A forbearance is the giving of further time for the payment of a debt, or an agreement not to enforce a claim at its due date; a sale is the transfer of property for a price. A late charge that is in substance a loan or forbearance is still subject to the constitutional limit.
However, the constitutional limitation is subject to many exceptions, and the Court is satisfied that this case presents an exception. See Southwest Concrete Prods. v. Gosh Constr. Corp., 51 Cal. 3d 701 [...] (holding that interest payments on overdue commercial accounts are not subject to usury laws and affirming damages based on eighteen percent annual interest rate). A crucial distinction is whether the transaction is a "loan or forbearance," or a transfer of goods or property.
Not legal advice. Figures were last verified on the date shown; check the cited statute before charging a late fee.