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
- September 29, 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.
Next step: turn these figures into a late rent notice for the tenant.
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 .
Late rent notice builder
Before you send it: this builds a reminder letter about overdue rent and a late charge. It is 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.
[Your name or company]
Date: October 10, 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 September 28, 2026. As of October 10, 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]
How to use the California rent late fee calculator
- Enter the monthly rent and the rent that is overdue.
- Enter the date the rent was due and the date it was paid, or today if it is still unpaid.
- Choose how the lease sets the late fee (percent of rent, flat amount or dollars per day) and type the figure from the lease.
- Enter the grace days written in the lease.
- Read the late fee and the earliest fee date, then copy the figures or print a late rent notice.
Work out interest on an overdue B2B invoice under California law. The legal default rate — what applies when the contract is silent — is 10%, and the statute is quoted verbatim below. All math runs locally in your browser.
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 — it computes the interest and cites California's statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 3289(b); Cal. Const. art. XV, § 1) for you.
Worked example: California invoice interest at 10%
Interest at California's statutory default of 10% a year, worked out with the same formula as the calculator above: amount × (10% ÷ 365) × days. If your contract states its own rate, enter that rate in the calculator instead.
| 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 |
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.
Quoted verbatim from the linked official source — not our paraphrase. How we source and re-check every row is documented in the data methodology.
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.
Legal maximum late fee on California invoices
Conditional cap higher of 10% or FRBSF rate +5 pts (if a 'loan or forbearance').
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 [...]
Basis: Cal. Const. art. XV, § 1; Southwest Concrete Products v. Gosh Construction Corp. (1990) 51 Cal.3d 701; Civ. Code § 3289(b). Compare all 51 jurisdictions in the maximum late fee by state table and cap-regime map.
Rent and invoices follow different laws — consumer debt is not covered
The Invoice tab, the rate card and the statute sections on this page are about business-to-business invoices. Residential rent late fees live in California's landlord-tenant law. 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. Consumer credit has separate, stricter rules. The distinction is explained in B2B invoice late fees vs. residential rent.
Use this data
California's row — rate, cap, citation, verbatim quote, verification date — is part of our open 51-jurisdiction dataset: CSV · JSON (CC BY 4.0, cite myinvoicetemplate.com). Set late-fee terms on your next invoice with the free invoice generator, or state them clearly using the wording guidance in the payment terms guide.
California late fee FAQ
Is there a legal limit on rent late fees in California?
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), checked 2026-09-29. The late fee and grace days in the lease decide.
How do I work out a late fee on rent in California?
Enter the monthly rent, the overdue amount, the date the rent was due and the date it was paid, then the late fee in the lease (a percent of rent, a flat amount or dollars per day) and its grace days. The calculator gives the late fee, the earliest fee date and rent plus fee, and turns them into a late rent notice.
Can I charge late fees on overdue invoices in California?
Yes — on business-to-business invoices. If your contract or invoice states a late-fee rate, that rate governs (subject to the cap rules below). If nothing was agreed: 10%. Default on contract debts after breach when the contract is silent; runs from the date a fixed sum became due. Statute: Cal. Civ. Code § 3289(b); Cal. Const. art. XV, § 1, verified 2026-08-19. Consumer and rent debts follow separate laws.
What is the maximum late fee on a B2B invoice in California?
For a written B2B contract: Cal. Const. art. XV, § 1 limits the rate on a 'loan or forbearance' of money, goods, or things in action: for a use other than personal, family or household purposes, a written rate may not exceed the higher of 10% or the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco advance rate +5 pts, and many classes of lenders are exempt. In Southwest Concrete Products v. Gosh Construction Corp. (1990) 51 Cal.3d 701 the California Supreme Court held that interest on an overdue commercial account was not subject to the usury law, because it was not a payment for a loan or forbearance; a deal that is in substance a loan or forbearance is still covered. Basis: Cal. Const. art. XV, § 1; Southwest Concrete Products v. Gosh Construction Corp. (1990) 51 Cal.3d 701; Civ. Code § 3289(b). The full cap analysis is on the Invoice (B2B) tab; this covers business-to-business deals only — consumer credit has stricter separate caps.
What interest applies if my contract doesn't mention late fees in California?
The statutory default rate of 10%. Default on contract debts after breach when the contract is silent; runs from the date a fixed sum became due. Statute: Cal. Civ. Code § 3289(b); Cal. Const. art. XV, § 1 (verbatim quote on this page, verified 2026-08-19).
What is the late payment penalty on an overdue invoice in California?
If the contract states no rate, Cal. Civ. Code § 3289(b) sets interest at 10 percent per annum after a breach: "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." A fixed late fee written into a business contract is tested under Civil Code § 1671(b): it is valid unless the party challenging it shows it was unreasonable when the contract was made.
Where does this data come from, and when was it verified?
Every invoice-interest figure on this page comes from our 51-jurisdiction dataset: each row researched against the controlling statute or the state's official current-rate page, independently re-checked, and stamped with its own verification date — California's row was last verified 2026-08-19. The operative legal text is quoted verbatim on this page with a link to the official source, the methodology is public, every verification pass is logged in the changelog, and the full dataset is downloadable (CC BY 4.0).
Not legal advice. This page summarizes California's commercial-interest statute for general information, with the verification date shown above — it tells you when we last confirmed the figures, not that they are still current today. Statutes change and courts interpret them; verify the cited statute at the official source, or ask a licensed attorney in your state, before charging a late fee or demanding interest.