Massachusetts Late Fee Calculator

Day 30 first day a late fee may apply
Rent limit
No amount in the quoted law
Earliest fee day
Day 30 after the due date
Statute
M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(c)
Checked
What was not paid on time. Copies the rent until you type here.
How the lease sets the late fee
Massachusetts lets a fee start on day 30, so this box starts at 29 days; typing less will not move that day.

Your late fee

$0.00

Timing rule only

Paid 12 days late but inside the lease's 29-day grace period, so no late fee.

The quoted Massachusetts law sets when a fee may start, not how large it may be.

Days past due
12 days
Grace period ends
November 17, 2026
Earliest fee date
November 18, 2026
Lease late fee
5% of $1,250.00 = $62.50
Rent + late fee
$1,250.00

Massachusetts, earliest legal fee date: November 18, 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).

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]

6% legal default rate (contract silent)
Max written B2B rate
20% criminal-usury ceiling (all-in, including fees) unless the lender notifies the Attorney General; no blanket business exemption.
Cap regime
Hard cap — 20% criminal (all-in)
Statute
MGL c.231 § 6C; c.107 § 3; c.271 § 49
Judgment rate (litigation only)
12% in contract actions — added by the clerk from the date of breach or demand, or the contract rate if established — official page
Verified
— how we verify · changelog

Default legal rate when there is no agreement or provision of law for a different rate; a higher rate is recoverable in a suit only if the agreement to pay it is in writing. Separately, in contract actions the clerk of the court adds prejudgment interest at the contract rate, if established, or at 12% from the date of breach or demand.

Pre-filled with Massachusetts's statutory default (6%), which governs only when the contract names no rate; a rate stated in your contract replaces it.

Interest at 6% a year

Interest owed on an overdue invoice in Massachusetts at 6% per year
Invoice amount30 days late60 days late90 days late
$1,000.00$4.93$9.86$14.79
$5,000.00$24.66$49.32$73.97
$10,000.00$49.32$98.63$147.95

Maximum late fee in Massachusetts — written B2B contracts

Hard cap 20% criminal (all-in).

Basis: MGL c.271 §49; c.107 §3.

About this page

Massachusetts rent late fee law

Massachusetts: no lease or other rental agreement may charge interest or a penalty on unpaid rent before the rent has been due for thirty days.

(c) No lease or other rental agreement shall impose any interest or penalty for failure to pay rent until thirty days after such rent shall have been due.
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15B(1)(c). 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 Massachusetts has its own rules for it. Nothing on this page is legal advice.

What Massachusetts law says about invoice interest

If there is no agreement or provision of law for a different rate, the interest of money shall be at the rate of six dollars on each hundred for a year, but, except as provided in sections seventy-eight, ninety, ninety-two, ninety-six and one hundred of chapter one hundred and forty, it shall be lawful to pay, reserve or contract for any rate of interest or discount. No greater rate than that before mentioned shall be recovered in a suit unless the agreement to pay it is in writing.
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 107, § 3. Read it at the official source · row verified 2026-08-21.

20%/yr criminal-usury ceiling, counting all fees and charges; no blanket business exemption. Exceeding it is lawful only if the lender files notice with the Attorney General.

(a) Whoever in exchange for either a loan of money or other property knowingly contracts for, charges, takes or receives, directly or indirectly, interest and expenses the aggregate of which exceeds an amount greater than twenty per centum per annum upon the sum loaned or the equivalent rate for a longer or shorter period, shall be guilty of criminal usury and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment. [...] (d) The provisions of paragraph (a) to (c), inclusive, shall not apply to any person who notifies the attorney general of his intent to engage in a transaction or transactions which, but for the provisions of this paragraph, would be proscribed under the provisions of paragraph (a) providing any such person maintains records of any such transaction.
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 271, § 49(a), (d), quoted verbatim in Duggan v. Martorello, No. 1:18-cv-12277-JGD, slip op. at 37–38 (D. Mass. Mar. 30, 2022) (govinfo.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office). Read it at the official source · verified .

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