Delaware Late Fee Calculator

5% most a lease may charge as a late fee
Rent limit
5% of the monthly rent
Earliest fee day
Day 6 after the due date
Statute
25 Del. C. § 5501(d)
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 Delaware limit; type the figure from your lease.
Delaware lets a fee start on day 6, so this box starts at 5 days; typing less will not move that day.

Your late fee

$62.50

At the legal limit

Paid 12 days late, after the 5-day grace period.

The lease asks for $62.50, exactly the most 25 Del. C. § 5501(d) permits on these figures.

Days past due
12 days
Grace period ends
October 24, 2026
Earliest fee date
October 25, 2026
Lease late fee
5% of $1,250.00 = $62.50
Legal maximum
$62.50
Rent + late fee
$1,312.50

Limit set by Delaware (5% of the monthly rent): $62.50

5% × $1,250.00 monthly rent = $62.50

Delaware, earliest legal fee date: October 25, 2026

Late rent notice builder

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 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]

9.00% since Sep 17, 2026 — resets periodically
Max written B2B rate
Business entities cannot plead usury at all (§ 2306 bars any corporation, LLC, LP, statutory trust or business trust from interposing the defense), and loans over $100,000 not secured by a mortgage on a principal residence are expressly uncapped (§ 2301(c)); the discount rate +5 pts written ceiling in § 2301(a) reaches only deals outside those two carve-outs.
Cap regime
No statutory cap
Statute
6 Del. C. §§ 2301, 2306
Current rate source
official current-rate page
Verified
— how we verify · changelog

Fed discount rate +5 pts, fixed as of when interest became due; simple interest on invoice debts.

Delaware's default (contract silent): variable. Published figure: 9.00% (since Sep 17, 2026) — see the note above for when it applies, confirm it on the official page, then enter the rate that applies (or your contract's rate).

Maximum late fee in Delaware — written B2B contracts

No statutory cap

Basis: 6 Del. C. §§ 2301(c), 2306.

About this page

Delaware rent late fee law

Delaware: a late charge written into the rental agreement is limited to 5% of the monthly rent and cannot be imposed during the first 5 days after rent is due; a landlord with no office or other permanent place for payments in the county gets the due date pushed 3 days later.

(d) Where the rental agreement provides for a late charge payable to the landlord for rent not paid at the agreed time, such late charge shall not exceed 5 percent of the monthly rent. A late charge is considered as additional rent for the purposes of this Code. The late charge shall not be imposed within 5 days of the agreed time for payment of rent. The landlord shall, in the county in which the rental unit is located, maintain an office or other permanent place for receipt of payments, where rent may be timely paid. Failure to maintain such an office, or other permanent place of payment where rent may be timely paid, shall extend the agreed on time for payment of rent by 3 days beyond the due date.
— 25 Del. C. § 5501(d). Read it at the 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 Delaware has its own rules for it. Nothing on this page is legal advice.

What Delaware law says about invoice interest

Any lender may charge and collect from a borrower interest at any rate agreed upon in writing not in excess of 5% over the Federal Reserve discount rate including any surcharge thereon. Where there is no expressed contract rate, the legal rate of interest shall be 5% over the Federal Reserve discount rate [...] as of the time from which interest is due
— 6 Del. C. § 2301(a). Read it at the official source · row verified 2026-10-01.

6 Del. C. § 2306 bars any corporation, limited partnership, statutory trust, business trust or LLC from interposing the defense of usury in any action, so an entity debtor has no usury argument to make. Separately, § 2301(c) removes any rate limitation where the amount loaned or used exceeds $100,000 and repayment is not secured by a mortgage against a borrower's principal residence — that exemption turns on amount and collateral only, not on entity type. Note that § 2306's list does not name individuals or general partnerships; the section itself contrasts entities having 'powers and privileges of corporations not possessed by individuals or partnerships', so a sole-proprietor customer is not covered by that bar.

Not legal advice. Figures were last verified on the date shown; check the cited statute before charging a late fee.