Maine Late Fee Calculator
Your late fee
$0.00
At the legal limit
Paid 12 days late but inside the lease's 15-day grace period, so no late fee.
The lease asks for $50.00, exactly the most 14 M.R.S. § 6028 permits on these figures.
- Days past due
- 12 days
- Grace period ends
- October 13, 2026
- Earliest fee date
- October 14, 2026
- Lease late fee
- 4% of $1,250.00 = $50.00
- Legal maximum
- $50.00
- Rent + late fee
- $1,250.00
Limit set by Maine (4% of the monthly rent): $50.00
4% × $1,250.00 monthly rent = $50.00
Maine, earliest legal fee date: October 14, 2026
Next step: turn these figures into a late rent notice for the tenant.
Maine rent late fee law
Maine: rent counts as late only after 15 days from its due date, the landlord must have disclosed the penalty in writing at the start of the rental agreement, and the penalty can be at most 4% of one month's amount due.
A landlord may assess a penalty against a residential tenant for late payment of rent for a residential dwelling unit according to this section. [...] 1. Late payment. A payment of rent is late if it is not made within 15 days from the time the payment is due. [...] 2. Maximum penalty. A landlord may not assess a penalty for the late payment of rent which exceeds 4% of the amount due for one month. [...] 3. Notice in writing. A landlord may not assess a penalty for the late payment of rent unless the landlord gave the tenant written notice at the time they entered into the rental agreement that a penalty, up to 4% of one month's rent, may be charged for the late payment of rent.
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 Maine 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).
Amount now due
- Unpaid rent
- $1,250.00
- Late charge
- $0.00
- Total
- $1,250.00
Please pay $1,250.00 at your earliest opportunity.
If this letter crossed with your payment, please disregard it.
Regards,
[Your name or company]
How to use the Maine 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, the earliest fee date and the most 14 M.R.S. § 6028 allows, then copy the figures or print a late rent notice.
Work out interest on an overdue B2B invoice under Maine law. When the contract is silent, the default is variable — the currently published figure, the official page that sets it, the written-contract cap, and the statute are all on this page.
When the contract is silent: 1-year U.S. Treasury bill rate +3 pts (prejudgment; T-bill +6 pts after judgment). The rate is fixed for the whole year at the Fed's weekly average 1-year constant maturity Treasury yield for the last full week of the PRIOR calendar year (not the current week's H.15 figure). For 2026 the anchor is the week ending December 26, 2025, whose weekly average was 3.51%, so the 2026 figures are 6.51% before judgment and 9.51% after.
Late fee breakdown
- Interest owed
- —
- Daily rate
- —
- Total (invoice + interest)
- —
Still unpaid? Generate a formal demand letter — it computes the interest and cites Maine's statute (14 M.R.S. §§ 1602-B, 1602-C; 9-A M.R.S. § 1-202(1)) for you.
What Maine law says about invoice interest
prejudgment interest is allowed at the one-year United States Treasury bill rate plus 3%. [...] the weekly average one-year constant maturity Treasury yield, as published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, for the last full week of the calendar year immediately prior to the year in which prejudgment interest begins to accrue.
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 Maine — written B2B contracts
No statutory cap
No general cap on business/commercial credit; the Consumer Credit Code excludes business-purpose extensions and the old usury statute is repealed. Set the rate in writing.
Basis: 9-A M.R.S. § 1-202(1). 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 Maine's landlord-tenant law. On the Rent tab, 14 M.R.S. § 6028 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
Maine'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.
Maine late fee FAQ
Is there a legal limit on rent late fees in Maine?
Maine: rent counts as late only after 15 days from its due date, the landlord must have disclosed the penalty in writing at the start of the rental agreement, and the penalty can be at most 4% of one month's amount due. Source: 14 M.R.S. § 6028, checked 2026-10-03; the Rent tab quotes it word for word.
When can a landlord charge a late fee in Maine?
Not before day 16 after the rent was due (14 M.R.S. § 6028). 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 Maine?
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 14 M.R.S. § 6028 allows and rent plus fee, and turns them into a late rent notice.
Can I charge late fees on overdue invoices in Maine?
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: Variable; currently published figure: 6.51% (2026). When the contract is silent: 1-year U.S. Treasury bill rate +3 pts (prejudgment; T-bill +6 pts after judgment). The rate is fixed for the whole year at the Fed's weekly average 1-year constant maturity Treasury yield for the last full week of the PRIOR calendar year (not the current week's H.15 figure). For 2026 the anchor is the week ending December 26, 2025, whose weekly average was 3.51%, so the 2026 figures are 6.51% before judgment and 9.51% after. Statute: 14 M.R.S. §§ 1602-B, 1602-C; 9-A M.R.S. § 1-202(1), verified 2026-08-19. Consumer and rent debts follow separate laws.
What is the maximum late fee on a B2B invoice in Maine?
For a written B2B contract: No general cap for business/commercial credit — Maine's Consumer Credit Code excludes business-purpose extensions of credit. Basis: 9-A M.R.S. § 1-202(1). 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 Maine?
Variable — When the contract is silent: 1-year U.S. Treasury bill rate +3 pts (prejudgment; T-bill +6 pts after judgment). The rate is fixed for the whole year at the Fed's weekly average 1-year constant maturity Treasury yield for the last full week of the PRIOR calendar year (not the current week's H.15 figure). For 2026 the anchor is the week ending December 26, 2025, whose weekly average was 3.51%, so the 2026 figures are 6.51% before judgment and 9.51% after. Currently published figure: 6.51% (2026). Confirm the applicable figure via the official page linked on this page before relying on it. Statute: 14 M.R.S. §§ 1602-B, 1602-C; 9-A M.R.S. § 1-202(1).
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 — Maine'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 14 M.R.S. § 6028 word for word, links its source and gives the date it was checked (2026-10-03).
Not legal advice. This page summarizes 14 M.R.S. § 6028 and Maine'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.