How to assess late fees without breaking state law

You set the policy once; every assessment — manual or automated — is clamped to the property state's statutory limit before it posts. You cannot accidentally charge an illegal fee.

Set the policy (once)

1. Set your late-fee policy for the organization: flat dollar amount or a percentage of rent.

Assess (Core — manual)

1. Under Financials, open Billing and run the late-fee assessment.
2. Stonerow finds overdue leases and posts at most one fee per lease per month, clamping each to the state limit: in Connecticut, the lesser of $50 or 5% of the overdue amount; in Massachusetts, no fee until rent is 30 days late.
3. Each fee posts as a typed late fee ledger entry — separate from rent on every report and statement.

On Standard — automatic

The automation pack runs the same assessment nightly. Same caps, same once-per-month rule — no memory required.

Statutory limits summarized here are general information, not legal advice. See the CT, RI, and MA compliance guides.

What the fee is calculated on

Delinquent rent only. Never the security deposit, and never previously assessed fees. Fee-on-fee compounding is how a modest late charge turns into a number no judge will enforce, so Stonerow computes against the overdue rent alone before the statutory clamp is applied.

Common questions

Can I charge more if the lease says so?

No. The clamp is applied when the fee posts, regardless of what the lease document says. A lease term that exceeds the statutory limit does not make the fee collectible — it makes it a liability, and in a deposit dispute it undermines the charges that were lawful.

What about grace periods?

Connecticut runs a nine-day grace before a late fee applies, and Massachusetts permits no late fee at all until rent is 30 days overdue. Both follow from the property's state, so a mixed CT and MA portfolio behaves correctly on one login without you tracking which is which.

Can two fees hit the same month?

No. At most one fee per lease per month, whether you run the assessment by hand on Core or the automation runs it on Standard.

Can I waive a fee I already assessed?

Reverse it. The reversal is visible on the ledger, so the goodwill is documented rather than invisible — useful the next time the same tenant asks.