Louisiana Judicial Interest & 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
Louisiana: La. Civ. Code arts. 2668-2729 (except 2681.1, 2681.2, 2713.1) and R.S. 9:3201-3261.2 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]
Judicial interest, reset each calendar year by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (Fed discount rate on first business day of October +3.25 pts); runs from the time the sum was due.
Late fee breakdown
- Interest owed
- —
- Daily rate
- —
- Total (invoice + interest)
- —
Still unpaid? Generate a formal demand letter
Louisiana judicial interest rate by calendar year (Office of Financial Institutions)
| Period | Rate per year |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 7.50% |
| 2025 | 8.25% |
| 2024 | 8.75% |
| 2023 | 6.50% |
| 2022 | 3.50% |
| 2021 | 3.50% |
| 2020 | 5.75% |
| 2019 | 6.00% |
| 2018 | 5.00% |
| 2017 | 4.25% |
| 2016 | 4.00% |
Source: official rate table · checked .
Maximum late fee in Louisiana — written B2B contracts
No statutory cap
Basis: La. R.S. 9:3500(D), 9:3509.
About this page
Louisiana rent late fee law
Louisiana's Civil Code lease articles (2668 to 2729) and residential lease statutes (R.S. 9:3201 to 9:3261.2) contain no late fee provision in the text we could read, so they neither limit a late rent fee nor give a grace period; three newer lease articles (2681.1, 2681.2 and 2713.1) could not be read.
Read in full for this check: Louisiana Civil Code, articles 2668 to 2729 (Lease), except the newer articles 2681.1, 2681.2 and 2713.1; Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3201 to 9:3261.2 (residential leases); Code of Civil Procedure articles 4701 to 4736 (eviction). Official source, read from the copy archived on 2026-02-18 · 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 Louisiana has its own rules for it. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
What Louisiana law says about invoice interest
[...] The commissioner of financial institutions shall ascertain, on the first business day of October of each year, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors approved "discount rate" published daily in the Wall Street Journal. The effective judicial interest rate for the calendar year following the calculation date shall be three and one-quarter percentage points above the discount rate as ascertained by the commissioner.
12% conventional cap does NOT apply to commercial/business-purpose obligations; B2B parties may agree to any rate in writing.
[La. R.S. 9:3500(D): the 12% ceiling of 9:3500(C)(1) does not apply to] "a loan made for commercial or business purposes or deferring payment of an obligation for commercial or business purposes." [La. R.S. 9:3509(A):] Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law of this state to the contrary, any debtor that is . . . a limited liability company formed pursuant to the laws of this state . . . borrowing funds for commercial, business, or agricultural purposes . . . may agree to pay interest in excess of the maximum rate of conventional interest authorized by the laws of this state . . . and as to any such agreement such debtor shall be prohibited from asserting a claim or defense of usury or the taking of interest in excess of the maximum rate of conventional interest, and any person whatsoever signing as co-maker, guarantor, or endorser for such debtor shall also be prohibited from asserting any such claim or defense.
The 2026 rate (7.50%) applies through December 31, 2026. Under La. R.S. 13:4202(B)(1), quoted on this page, the commissioner ascertains the discount rate on the first business day of October and the rate for the following calendar year is 3.25 points above it; the 2027 rate is added here once OFI publishes it.
Not legal advice. Figures were last verified on the date shown; check the cited statute before charging a late fee.