Late Rent and NSF Fees in New Brunswick

Section 19.1 of the Residential Tenancies Act allows a late payment fee only if the lease provides that the landlord may require one in that circumstance, and the fee is the one set by the regulations. The General Regulation then sets one amount: where the rent was paid by cheque or other negotiable instrument that was dishonoured, the fee is the NSF (not sufficient funds) charges the financial institution charged you. You must prove it with a receipt or statement from the institution.

The mandatory Standard Form of Lease mirrors this. In section 4(B) you tick option 1 (no fee) or option 2 (you may charge the fee), and the lease says the amount is the NSF charges you paid. If you want to recover bank charges on a bounced cheque, you must have ticked option 2 before the tenancy began.

The Act on laws.gnb.ca was consolidated only to February 1, 2025, and Housing NB says a rewrite is targeted for fall 2026. Check the current version before you rely on a section number or a figure. No government page reviewed states a bank-charge dollar amount, because the fee is whatever your institution actually charged.

The sources reviewed contain no flat, daily or percentage late fee for ordinary late rent. That is a reading of the absence, not a quoted rule, but it is consistent with two other parts of the Act. Section 8(4) says no person may require a tenant, under a lease, to pay any amount other than rent, a security deposit or a reasonable amount for a service provided for the tenancy, and an agreement that does so is void. Breaking section 8(4) is a category E offence.

Section 8(4.1) also bars requiring a prepayment of the last month's rent, a single rental payment that is greater than any other regular rental payment, or a security deposit above the maximum the Act permits.

In practice, a lease clause that says "$25 per day late" or "5 per cent after the fifth" is not supported by the Act, the Regulation or the standard lease form as reviewed. Before you charge such an amount, ask the Tenant and Landlord Relations Office. The guide to raising rent covers the separate rules for rent increases.

If your lease opts in and a cheque bounces, keep the bank's receipt or statement showing the NSF charge. Then:

1. Ask the tenant in writing to pay the charge. The request must be dated and signed by you or your agent.
2. Keep proof of what you asked for and when.
3. Consider the deposit. Section 8(2)(c) lets you apply the security deposit to an unpaid late fee, but only after the tenant failed to pay following that written request.

Do not deduct an NSF fee from the deposit without the written request. The landlord security deposit guide explains the claim steps and the province's Security Deposit Claim form.

Also remember that any payment of rent is applied first to arrears of rent under section 19(7), so a partial payment will not clear a fee until the rent owing is covered.

Late rent is a separate matter from a fee. Under section 19, a landlord serves a Notice to Vacate. It must be on a form provided by an officer, and the move-out day must be at least 15 days after the day the notice is served. If the tenant pays all the rent due within 7 days after being served, the notice is cancelled and the tenancy continues.

If the tenant does not pay and does not leave, the province's evictions page says you apply on a Landlord Application for Assistance, with a copy of the notice to vacate. An officer may then issue an eviction order (Form 9), which the sheriff enforces. The unpaid rent guide and the unpaid rent Ask page cover the process in more detail.

You may not seize a tenant's belongings for unpaid rent, because section 14 bars distraint for default in payment of rent. You also may not change the locks. See the locks guide.

The sources reviewed did not find a separate "persistent late payment" ground with its own test. What the Act does have is the section 19(6) repeat notice. If you earlier served a notice to vacate, you may serve a later one that says any payment of rent will not continue the tenancy. The province's evictions page calls this a Final Notice to Vacate and says the notice no longer offers the chance to pay within 7 days. The move-out date must still be at least 15 days after service.

The Act does not use the name "Final Notice to Vacate"; that is the province's plain-language label for the section 19(6) notice. The conditions are that a previous notice to vacate was served and that the new notice states the payment rule. Anything beyond those conditions, such as how many late payments are enough, is not stated, so ask the office before you rely on a pattern of lateness.

Keep a simple ledger showing the due date, the date each payment arrived and how it was applied. A clear record helps an officer follow the history. See the eviction process guide for what follows.

Because the fee depends on the lease, the practical step is to complete section 4(B) of the standard form on purpose. Tick option 2 if you want to recover NSF charges. Tell the tenant what it means in plain words: the amount is the bank's charge to you, supported by a receipt or statement. Avoid adding extra late charges to the lease, since an agreement to pay an amount other than rent, a deposit or a reasonable service amount is void.

This guide explains the rules in general terms; for a specific case, ask the tribunal or a licensed legal professional.