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Housing & Tenant · Rent Late Fees

Rent Late Fee Limit in New Hampshire

The most a landlord can charge you for paying rent late in New Hampshire, the grace period you may be owed, and what to do about an unfair fee, cited to the statute.

Confirmedno fee-cap statute in gencourt.state.nh.us · checked against a mirror of the official code (Cornell LII / Justia)Reviewed by Cholilurrohman · July 2026
Most a late fee can be · New Hampshire
No cap, and the $15 figure is not a late-fee cap
Reasonable only
New Hampshire sets no cap on late fees. The 15 dollar figure that appears in guides is a ceiling on eviction liquidated damages, not on the lease late fee, which is uncapped.
Maximum late feeNo statutory cap
Grace periodNone set by statute
Must be in the leaseRecommended
StatuteCase law

The cap and the grace period in New Hampshire

The most a late fee can be, when it can be charged, and whether it has to be in your lease.

No statutory cap here

New Hampshire does not set a maximum late fee by statute. A late fee still has to be a reasonable estimate of what the late payment actually costs the landlord; a fee that works like a penalty can be challenged as an unenforceable penalty, even without a fixed percentage in the law.

Maximum late feeNew Hampshire has no late fee provision. Chapters 540 and 540-A were read in full and the word late never appears. There is one fixed dollar figure nearby that must not be mistaken for a cap. Under the cure provision RSA 540:9, a tenant paying off a nonpayment eviction pays the rent, plus other lawful charges in the lease, plus 15 dollars in liquidated damages, plus court costs. The 15 dollars caps only the landlord charge for bringing the action. It does not cap the lease late fee, which is separate and uncapped.
Grace periodNo statutory grace period. A late fee applies according to the lease, subject to the general reasonableness limit.
Must be written in the leaseA late fee is enforceable only if your lease provides for it. Check the lease first.
Local ordinanceThe lease sets the late fee amount. New Hampshire turned its attention to landlord fees in 2024 with an application-fee disclosure rule, but did not touch late fees.
How it is enforcedThere is no cap and no priced penalty for a late fee, so an outsized fee is challenged as an unenforceable penalty. A separate protection at cure: RSA 540:9 lets a tenant defeat a nonpayment eviction by paying what is owed, but no more than three times in a 12-month period. The 15 dollar liquidated-damages figure is the landlord ceiling for bringing the case, not a late-fee cap.
StatuteNo late-fee cap statute; governed by case law

What you can do right now

Concrete, neutral steps if a New Hampshire late fee looks too high or came with no grace period. This is legal information, not legal advice.

  1. Do not read the $15 as a late-fee cap

    The 15 dollars in RSA 540:9 caps the landlord charge for bringing an eviction, not your lease late fee. Guides that call it a New Hampshire late-fee cap have misread the section, so treat the lease fee as uncapped.

  2. Read your lease late-fee clause

    Because there is no statutory cap, the lease is the rule on the amount. Note the fee and whether it repeats.

  3. Know the cure route and its limit

    You can defeat a nonpayment eviction by paying rent, lawful lease charges, 15 dollars, and costs before the hearing, but only three times in 12 months. After that the cure route closes.

  4. Get local help

    A local New Hampshire legal aid office can confirm what a cure requires and challenge an unreasonable fee. Search for legal aid in your area.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. Read your own lease and check for a local ordinance, since either can change the fee that applies to your home.

What New Hampshire renters get wrong

New Hampshire has nothing to say about late fees. Read chapter 540 and chapter 540-A end to end and the word late never appears. There is one dollar figure in the neighborhood and it is worth understanding precisely, because it is easy to mistake for a cap. When a New Hampshire tenant pays off a nonpayment eviction, RSA 540:9 lets the landlord add fifteen dollars in liquidated damages and no more. That fifteen dollars is a ceiling on the landlord's charge for bringing the case. It sits alongside, and does not limit, whatever late fee the lease itself imposes. Any guide that reports fifteen dollars as New Hampshire's late-fee cap has misread the section, and it is exactly the kind of number that gets copied into comparison tables wrongly. So the honest New Hampshire answer is that the lease late fee is uncapped, subject only to the general rule that a fee must be reasonable, while the cure route lets a tenant pay off an eviction up to three times a year.

Common questions

Is the New Hampshire late fee capped at $15?

No. The 15 dollars in RSA 540:9 is a ceiling on the liquidated damages a landlord may add for bringing an eviction, not a cap on your lease late fee. The lease late fee is separate and uncapped, so the 15 dollar figure is often misreported.

Can I stop an eviction by paying what I owe in New Hampshire?

Yes, at cure. RSA 540:9 lets a tenant defeat a nonpayment eviction by paying the rent, other lawful lease charges, 15 dollars in liquidated damages, and court costs before the hearing on the merits.

How many times can I do that in New Hampshire?

No more than three times in a 12-month period. RSA 540:9 limits the cure route so that a tenant cannot repeatedly defeat nonpayment evictions, so after three cures in a year the option closes.

Does New Hampshire regulate any landlord fees?

Some. A 2025 rule requires disclosure of application and renewal fees and a refund of amounts beyond documented cost if the unit is not rented to the applicant. That is an application-fee rule, not a late-fee cap, so late fees remain uncapped.

Primary source
→ N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. ch. 540 and 540-A (no late-fee cap); RSA 540:9 (cure)
New Hampshire Revised Statutes (RSA ch. 540, via Wayback of the official host) · gencourt.state.nh.us
Cholilurrohman
Every figure on this page is checked line-by-line against the current statute. Editorial standards →

Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.

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