Massachusetts Late Fee Calculator
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
- October 27, 2026
- Earliest fee date
- October 28, 2026
- Lease late fee
- 5% of $1,250.00 = $62.50
- Rent + late fee
- $1,250.00
Massachusetts, earliest legal fee date: October 28, 2026
Next step: turn these figures into a late rent notice for the tenant.
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.
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 Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts 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 and the earliest fee date, then copy the figures or print a late rent notice.
Work out interest on an overdue B2B invoice under Massachusetts law. The legal default rate — what applies when the contract is silent — is 6%, and the statute is quoted verbatim below. All math runs locally in your browser.
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.
Late fee breakdown
- Interest owed
- —
- Daily rate
- —
- Total (invoice + interest)
- —
Still unpaid? Generate a formal demand letter — it computes the interest and cites Massachusetts's statute (MGL c.231 § 6C; c.107 § 3; c.271 § 49) for you.
Worked example: Massachusetts invoice interest at 6%
Interest at Massachusetts's statutory default of 6% a year, worked out with the same formula as the calculator above: amount × (6% ÷ 365) × days. If your contract states its own rate, enter that rate in the calculator instead.
| Invoice amount | 30 days late | 60 days late | 90 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 |
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.
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 Massachusetts — written B2B contracts
Hard cap 20% criminal (all-in).
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.
Basis: MGL c.271 §49; c.107 §3. 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 Massachusetts's landlord-tenant law. On the Rent tab, M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(c) is checked against your lease figures and quoted in full. Consumer credit has separate, stricter rules. For the rent rule, see Massachusetts rent late fee law; the general distinction is explained in B2B invoice late fees vs. residential rent.
Use this data
Massachusetts'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.
Massachusetts late fee FAQ
Is there a legal limit on rent late fees in Massachusetts?
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. Source: M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(c), checked 2026-09-25; the Rent tab quotes it word for word. Massachusetts rent late fee law →
When can a landlord charge a late fee in Massachusetts?
Not before day 30 after the rent was due (M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(c)). 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 Massachusetts?
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 and rent plus fee, and turns them into a late rent notice.
Can I charge late fees on overdue invoices in Massachusetts?
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: 6%. 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. Statute: MGL c.231 § 6C; c.107 § 3; c.271 § 49, verified 2026-08-21. Consumer and rent debts follow separate laws.
What is the maximum late fee on a B2B invoice in Massachusetts?
For a written B2B contract: 20% criminal-usury ceiling (all-in, including fees) unless the lender notifies the Attorney General; no blanket business exemption. Basis: MGL c.271 §49; c.107 §3. 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 Massachusetts?
The statutory default rate of 6%. 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. Statute: MGL c.231 § 6C; c.107 § 3; c.271 § 49 (verbatim quote on this page, verified 2026-08-21).
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 — Massachusetts's row was last verified 2026-08-21. 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 M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(c) word for word, links its source and gives the date it was checked (2026-09-25).
Not legal advice. This page summarizes M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(c) and Massachusetts'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.