Late fees in Cubby apply automatically when a tenant's balance is past due — no manual action required. Understanding exactly when they fire, whether they repeat, and what happens when you update the configuration helps you set them up correctly and answer tenant questions with confidence.
How late fees are calculated: Late fees are calculated from the tenant's period start date (which resets each billing cycle). Overlock and lien fees, however, are calculated from the paid-through date + 1 day. This distinction matters: if a tenant has a 35+ day late fee rule on a monthly billing cycle, that rule will never fire because the period resets to 0 days at the start of each new month before it can accumulate that far.
In this article
Configuring late fees
When Cubby charges a late fee
Recurring late fees
Late fees during the overlock stage
FAQ
Configuring late fees
Late fees are configured per Lease Configuration. Navigate to Settings → Lease configurations, open the configuration you want to edit, and scroll to the Delinquency section. You'll find the late fee amount and the number of days past the period start date before the fee is charged.
The number of days before a late fee is applied is sometimes called a "grace period." You can configure this in Lease Configurations under the Late Fees settings.
Late fees can be set as a fixed dollar amount or as a percentage of the outstanding balance, depending on how your facility's configuration is set up.
Changes do not apply retroactively. When you save a change to the late fee configuration, Cubby displays a banner confirming that the update will not affect leases already in progress. Only billing cycles that start after you save the change will use the new settings.
When Cubby charges a late fee
Cubby checks each active lease once per day at midnight (facility local time). The check asks one question: is today exactly period start date + days late?
Yes → the late fee is charged immediately.
No → nothing happens. The check runs again tomorrow.
For example: if a lease's billing period starts on June 1 and the late fee is configured for 5 days, Cubby charges the fee on June 6 — and only on June 6. If the tenant was already past due before June 6, no fee is charged early. If June 6 passes without the fee being charged for any reason, no fee is charged retroactively.
There is no backfill or catch-up. If the late fee day passes without the fee being applied — for example, because the lease was exempt at the time — Cubby will not charge a retroactive late fee. The next opportunity is the same day in the following billing cycle.
Recurring late fees
Late fees recur automatically each billing cycle as long as the balance remains past due. When the tenant's next billing period starts and they are still delinquent, the same logic applies: on day period start + days late of the new period, another late fee fires.
A tenant who remains unpaid across multiple months receives one late fee per billing cycle, each charged on the same relative day of their period.
Late fees during the overlock stage
Once a rental enters the overlock stage, the late fee calculation shifts. Instead of counting from the period start date, Cubby counts from the tenant's paid-through date — the last date their account was fully paid up.
This distinction matters in practice: a tenant who entered the overlock stage mid-period may have a different effective late fee date than one who crossed the threshold exactly at their period start. The overlock-stage threshold and its associated fee amounts are configured separately in the Delinquency section of the Lease Configuration.
FAQ
Q. A tenant is clearly past due but no late fee was charged — what happened?
A. Cubby charges the late fee on exactly one day per billing cycle: period start + days late. If that day has already passed for the current period, no fee will be applied until the next cycle begins. Open the tenant's rental record, find their period start date, and count forward by the configured days-late value to confirm when the next late fee is scheduled.
Q. I updated the late fee days — will it affect tenants who are already delinquent?
A. No. Configuration changes are not retroactive. The updated days-late value applies only to billing cycles that start after you save the change. Leases already in progress continue to use the previous configuration for their current period.
Q. Can I remove a late fee that was already charged?
A. Yes. From the tenant's rental record, you can issue a credit to offset the charge. See Give credit to a tenant for the steps. If you want to stop late fees from applying to a specific tenant going forward, consider using a Delinquency Exemption.
Q. Can I prevent late fees for a specific tenant without changing the configuration for everyone?
A. Yes — use a Delinquency Exemption. Exempting a tenant pauses automated delinquency actions, including late fees, for that specific rental without affecting your facility-wide settings.
Related articles
Lease configurations — configure late fee amounts, days late, and overlock thresholds
How to conduct liens and auctions in Cubby — managing the full delinquency process from lien to auction
How to exempt a tenant from the delinquency process — pause automated delinquency actions for a specific rental