Colorado Late Fee Calculator

$50 / 5% most a lease may charge as a late fee
Rent limit
the larger of $50 and 5% of the overdue rent
Earliest fee day
Day 7 after the due date
Statute
C.R.S. § 38-12-105(1)(a)-(b)
Checked
What was not paid on time. Copies the rent until you type here.
How the lease sets the late fee
Pre-filled with the Colorado limit; type the figure from your lease.
Colorado lets a fee start on day 7, so this box starts at 6 days; typing less will not move that day.

Your late fee

$62.50

At the legal limit

Paid 12 days late, after the 6-day grace period.

The lease asks for $62.50, exactly the most C.R.S. § 38-12-105(1)(a)-(b) permits on these figures.

Days past due
12 days
Grace period ends
October 4, 2026
Earliest fee date
October 5, 2026
Lease late fee
5% of $1,250.00 = $62.50
Legal maximum
$62.50
Rent + late fee
$1,312.50

Limit set by Colorado (the larger of $50 and 5% of the overdue rent): $62.50

max($50.00, 5% × $1,250.00 overdue rent) = $62.50

Colorado, earliest legal fee date: October 5, 2026

Next step: turn these figures into a late rent notice for the tenant.

Colorado rent late fee law

Colorado: a late fee can be charged only when a rent payment is seven or more calendar days late, and it can be no higher than $50 or 5% of the past-due payment, whichever is more.

(1) A LANDLORD SHALL NOT TAKE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS [...]: (a) CHARGE A TENANT OR HOME OWNER A LATE FEE UNLESS A RENT PAYMENT IS LATE BY AT LEAST SEVEN CALENDAR DAYS; (b) CHARGE A TENANT OR HOME OWNER A LATE FEE IN AN AMOUNT THAT EXCEEDS THE GREATER OF: (I) FIFTY DOLLARS; OR (II) FIVE PERCENT OF THE AMOUNT OF THE PAST DUE RENT PAYMENT;
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-105(1)(a)-(b) (2021 Colo. Sess. Laws ch. 349, § 8). Read it at the 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 Colorado has its own rules for it. Nothing on this page is legal advice.

Who it is from and to
Amounts
Taken from the calculator. Set 0 if the rent itself is paid.
Taken from the result; you may change it.
Adds the two above until you type your own figure.
Blank: the letter asks for payment at the earliest opportunity.
Payment and contact
Where and how the tenant can pay.
Late rent notice

[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 Colorado rent late fee calculator

  1. Enter the monthly rent and the rent that is overdue.
  2. Enter the date the rent was due and the date it was paid, or today if it is still unpaid.
  3. Choose how the lease sets the late fee (percent of rent, flat amount or dollars per day) and type the figure from the lease.
  4. Enter the grace days written in the lease.
  5. Read the late fee, the earliest fee date and the most C.R.S. § 38-12-105(1)(a)-(b) allows, then copy the figures or print a late rent notice.

Work out interest on an overdue B2B invoice under Colorado law. The legal default rate — what applies when the contract is silent — is 8%, and the statute is quoted verbatim below. All math runs locally in your browser.

8% legal default rate (contract silent)
Max written B2B rate
Up to 45% per year may be stipulated in writing — the cap applies to business deals too.
Cap regime
Hard cap — 45%
Statute
C.R.S. §§ 5-12-101 to -103
Verified
— how we verify · changelog

Compounded annually; runs from when the money became due on instruments, settled accounts, and money due on account.

Pre-filled with Colorado's statutory default (8%), which governs only when the contract names no rate; a rate stated in your contract replaces it.
Compounding only changes the result once the debt is more than a year overdue. Untick it if your contract sets simple interest.

Worked example: Colorado invoice interest at 8%

Interest at Colorado's statutory default of 8% a year, worked out with the same formula as the calculator above: amount × (8% ÷ 365) × days. None of these periods reaches a full year, so annual compounding does not change the figures. If your contract states its own rate, enter that rate in the calculator instead.

Interest owed on an overdue invoice in Colorado at 8% per year
Invoice amount30 days late60 days late90 days late
$1,000.00$6.58$13.15$19.73
$5,000.00$32.88$65.75$98.63
$10,000.00$65.75$131.51$197.26

What Colorado law says about invoice interest

When there is no agreement as to the rate thereof, creditors shall be allowed to receive interest at the rate of eight percent per annum compounded annually for all moneys after they become due on any bill, bond, promissory note, or other instrument of writing [...] but not exceeding forty-five percent per annum
— C.R.S. §§ 5-12-102(2), 5-12-103(1) (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 5, official OLLS printout, pp. 121-122). Read it at the official source · row verified 2026-08-19.

Quoted verbatim from the linked official source — not our paraphrase. How we source and re-check every row is documented in the data methodology.

Maximum late fee in Colorado — written B2B contracts

Hard cap 45%.

Up to 45%/yr may be stipulated in writing; the cap binds business deals too and 45% is also the criminal-usury line. Narrow 'commercial credit plan' carve-out exists.

Basis: C.R.S. §§ 5-12-103, 18-15-104. 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 Colorado's landlord-tenant law. On the Rent tab, C.R.S. § 38-12-105(1)(a)-(b) is checked against your lease figures and quoted in full. Consumer credit has separate, stricter rules. The distinction is explained in B2B invoice late fees vs. residential rent.

Use this data

Colorado'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.

Colorado late fee FAQ

Is there a legal limit on rent late fees in Colorado?

Colorado: a late fee can be charged only when a rent payment is seven or more calendar days late, and it can be no higher than $50 or 5% of the past-due payment, whichever is more. Source: C.R.S. § 38-12-105(1)(a)-(b), checked 2026-09-29; the Rent tab quotes it word for word.

When can a landlord charge a late fee in Colorado?

Not before day 7 after the rent was due (C.R.S. § 38-12-105(1)(a)-(b)). Enter the due date and the lease's grace days in the calculator to get the earliest date a fee may be charged.

How do I work out a late fee on rent in Colorado?

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, the most C.R.S. § 38-12-105(1)(a)-(b) allows and rent plus fee, and turns them into a late rent notice.

Can I charge late fees on overdue invoices in Colorado?

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: 8%. Compounded annually; runs from when the money became due on instruments, settled accounts, and money due on account. Statute: C.R.S. §§ 5-12-101 to -103, verified 2026-08-19. Consumer and rent debts follow separate laws.

What is the maximum late fee on a B2B invoice in Colorado?

For a written B2B contract: Up to 45% per year may be stipulated in writing — the cap applies to business deals too. Basis: C.R.S. §§ 5-12-103, 18-15-104. 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 Colorado?

The statutory default rate of 8%. Compounded annually; runs from when the money became due on instruments, settled accounts, and money due on account. Statute: C.R.S. §§ 5-12-101 to -103 (verbatim quote on this page, verified 2026-08-19).

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 — Colorado'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). For rent, the Rent tab quotes C.R.S. § 38-12-105(1)(a)-(b) word for word, links its source and gives the date it was checked (2026-09-29).

Not legal advice. This page summarizes C.R.S. § 38-12-105(1)(a)-(b) and Colorado'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.