Georgia late fee calculator

16 percent a year, simple interest. O.C.G.A. section 7-4-2(a)(2) says that where the principal is $3,000 or less, the rate shall not exceed 16 percent a year simple interest. 1.5 percent a month is 18 percent a year, so it is over that cap on a $2,000 invoice. Use 16 percent or less, and do not compound it. If the unpaid total later grows past $3,000 because of new work, do not pretend the old invoice changed brackets. The cap is about the amount of that obligation. Write a lower rate on small bills.

You can set a written simple interest rate. Section 7-4-2(a)(1)(A) allows any rate expressed as simple interest when the amount is more than $3,000 and less than $250,000. 1.5 percent a month, stated as simple interest, fits. You still have section 7-4-18, which treats interest above 5 percent a month as a criminal offense. 1.5 percent is under that line. At $250,000 or more, subsection (a)(1)(B) also allows a rate that is not expressed as simple interest. Most freelance invoices are in the middle band. Write 'simple interest' in the sentence so you match the statute.

7 percent a year, simple interest. Section 7-4-2 says that is the legal rate where the rate percent is not established by written contract. A handshake, a text, or an invoice that never mentions interest does not establish a rate. You get 7 percent, not 1.5 percent a month, and not the 16 percent small balance cap. The cap limits what you may charge. It does not hand you the maximum when you forgot to write anything. Calculate 7 percent for the days past due and put a real rate on the next written invoice.

Yes. A simple contract in writing is 6 years under O.C.G.A. section 9-3-24. An open account is 4 years under section 9-3-25. If you invoice each project as its own written bill, you are usually on the 6 year statute. If you have been running a tab and sending statements, you may be on the 4 year statute. I would not guess when the account 'started.' Pick the date of the last invoice or the last item, and ask a Georgia lawyer if the balance is old. Missing this by two years is a complete defense for the client.

Fifteen thousand dollars for a civil claim in magistrate court, under O.C.G.A. section 15-10-2. Eviction cases are treated differently and are not this invoice. If the unpaid bill plus the interest you are allowed to charge is over $15,000, magistrate court is the wrong door. File in the court that has the amount. Magistrate court is faster and less formal, which is useful when the facts are a contract and a missed date. It is a bad place to test a novel usury theory. Bring the invoice, the terms, and the arithmetic.

No. The Prompt Pay Act, O.C.G.A. section 13-11-1 and the sections after it, is a construction statute. It deals with owners, contractors, and subcontractors on construction contracts. A design invoice, a marketing retainer, or a consulting bill is not that contract unless it is actually part of a construction agreement covered by the act. Do not cite it in a demand to an ordinary client. Your rate comes from section 7-4-2 and from whatever you wrote. If you are a subcontractor on a building, read chapter 11 before you use this calculator's generic note.

Only at the legal rate, which is 7 percent, if no written contract set a rate. You cannot announce 1.5 percent a month on a bill that was silent and call it the contract rate. Section 7-4-2 is explicit that the higher rates have to be established by written contract. Send the 7 percent math if you need a number now. For work that has not started, write the rate into the proposal and do not start until they have it.

No. O.C.G.A. section 7-4-18 is aimed at interest above 5 percent a month, which is 60 percent a year. 1.5 percent a month is far under that. It can still be unlawful civilly on an invoice of $3,000 or less, because section 7-4-2(a)(2) caps those at 16 percent a year. Criminal and civil are different tests. Stay under 5 percent a month always, and stay at or under 16 percent a year when the bill is small. Do not let someone tell you that 1.5 percent is 'criminal usury' in Georgia. That sentence is about a different number.

No. Residential late fee limits are landlord tenant law. They do not migrate onto a business invoice because the client happens to be in Georgia. Your statute is section 7-4-2, with section 7-4-18 as the outer criminal line. If you are billing rent, use the landlord tenant statute and do not use this calculator. If you are billing services, ignore the rent cap even if a blog put it in a table labeled 'Georgia late fees.' The heading is not the statute. The section number is.