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Interest on unpaid invoices in Rhode Island: 12% a year if no rate was agreed; the most you can set depends on the deal

By Yossi Grunwald, founder of Workeey · Updated

In Rhode Island, 12% a year if no rate was agreed; the most you can set depends on the deal. Read from Rhode Island's own statutes, agencies and courts, checked November 6, 2026, with every answer quoted below, and a late fee calculator.

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Rhode Island's rate when no rate was agreed

12% a year. 12% a year in business transactions where interest is secured or paid, unless a different rate is expressly stipulated; court verdicts for money damages also carry 12% from the date the cause of action accrued.

  • “Post judgment interest on any judgment, and interest in all business transactions where interest is secured or paid, shall be computed at the rate of twelve dollars ($12.00) on one hundred dollars ($100) for one year, unless a different rate is expressly stipulated.” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-26-1, read November 6, 2026
  • “In any civil action in which a verdict is rendered or a decision made for pecuniary damages, there shall be added by the clerk of the court to the amount of damages interest at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum thereon from the date the cause of action accrued, which shall be included in the judgment entered therein.” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-21-10(a), read November 6, 2026

The most you can set in Rhode Island

For a homeowner: 18% simple interest a year on a credit sale of property or services with a finance charge (R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-4(a)); loans: the greater of 21% or WSJ prime + 9% (§ 6-26-2). § 6-27-4(a) binds any 'creditor' — a person who regularly sells property or services on a time, credit or installment basis and requires a finance charge; it does not apply where the finance charge is $10 or less. Revolving/open-end plans for consumer goods or services may charge the rate agreed to.

For a business customer: It depends: see R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 6-27-4 and 6-26-2(e). The loan cap in § 6-26-2 does not apply to loans over $1,000,000 to a commercial entity (not secured by a principal residence).

How the most you can set moves: Loan cap alternate rate = WSJ domestic prime rate (last business day of the prior month) + 9%, if higher than 21% (R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-26-2(b)).

  • “(a) No creditor shall impose a finance charge in excess of an amount equal to eighteen percent (18%) simple interest per annum.” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-4(a), read November 6, 2026
  • “This subsection shall not apply to any transaction in connection with which the finance charge does not exceed ten dollars ($10.00).” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-4, read November 6, 2026
  • “any contract to sell, or sale or contract of sale of property or services either for present or future delivery, under which part or all of the price is payable subsequent to the making of the sale or contract and the creditor imposes a finance charge;” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-3 (definition of "Credit"), read November 6, 2026
  • “"Creditor" means any person engaged in the business of extending credit, including any person who as a regular business practice makes loans or sells or rents property or services on a time, credit, or installment basis, either as principal or as agent, who requires, as an incident to the extension of credit, the payment of a finance charge.” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-3 (definition of "Creditor"), read November 6, 2026
  • “no person, partnership, association, or corporation loaning money to or negotiating the loan of money for another, except duly licensed pawnbrokers, shall, directly or indirectly, reserve, charge, or take interest on a loan, whether before or after maturity, at a rate that shall exceed the greater of twenty-one percent (21%) per annum or the alternate rate specified in subsection (b)” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-26-2(a), read November 6, 2026
  • “The alternate rate means the rate per annum that is equal to nine percentage points (9%) plus an index that is the domestic prime rate as published in the Money Rates section of The Wall Street Journal on the last business day of each month preceding the later of the date of the debtor's agreement or the date on which the interest rate is redetermined in accordance with the terms of the debtor's agreement.” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-26-2(b), read November 6, 2026
  • “the maximum finance charge that may be applied under a revolving or open-end credit plan in connection with a transaction arising out of a retail sale of consumer goods, including the retail sale of gasoline or services, shall not exceed the rate or rates agreed to” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-4, read November 6, 2026
  • “there is no limitation on the rate of interest that may be legally charged for the loan to, or use of money by, a commercial entity, where the amount of money loaned exceeds the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) and where repayment of the loan is not secured by a mortgage against the principal residence of any borrower” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-26-2(e), read November 6, 2026
  • “It is the purpose of this chapter to assure a meaningful disclosure of credit terms so that the consumer will be able to compare more readily the various credit terms available to him or her” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-2, read November 6, 2026

Late fees in Rhode Island

What the text says: Revolving or open-end credit plans: a late fee of up to $12 on a minimum payment not paid in full within 40 days of the billing date. Revolving or open-end credit plans (charge accounts).

  • “Under each revolving or open-end credit plan a late fee not to exceed twelve dollars ($12.00) may be assessed on each minimum payment not paid in full within forty (40) days following the billing date of the statement on which the minimum payment first appears.” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-4(e), read November 6, 2026

Does Rhode Island want it agreed in advance?

Agreed in advance: Rhode Island's text read does not say so in general. The 12% statutory rate applies 'unless a different rate is expressly stipulated'.

  • “Post judgment interest on any judgment, and interest in all business transactions where interest is secured or paid, shall be computed at the rate of twelve dollars ($12.00) on one hundred dollars ($100) for one year, unless a different rate is expressly stipulated.” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-26-1, read November 6, 2026

Homeowners and businesses in Rhode Island

It depends: see R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 6-27-2, 6-27-3. The 18% credit-sale cap sits in a chapter whose purpose is consumer credit disclosure.

  • “the maximum finance charge that may be applied under a revolving or open-end credit plan in connection with a transaction arising out of a retail sale of consumer goods, including the retail sale of gasoline or services, shall not exceed the rate or rates agreed to” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-4, read November 6, 2026
  • “It is the purpose of this chapter to assure a meaningful disclosure of credit terms so that the consumer will be able to compare more readily the various credit terms available to him or her” — R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-2, read November 6, 2026

Prompt payment on private construction in Rhode Island

Not found in our check for Rhode Island.

Work out a late charge in Rhode Island

Starts at Rhode Island's 12%, the rate when none was agreed, not a maximum.

Days since the due date
The rate or fee your terms set

$11.84 late charge

Days late
30
New total
$1,211.84

$1,200.00 × 12% a year × 30 days ÷ 365 = $11.84

What was not checked for Rhode Island

  • No Rhode Island prompt-payment law for private construction was found in the text read, and chapter 42-11.1, on public works, was not read.
  • Rhode Island's text does not settle whether its 18% cap on credit sales (§ 6-27-4(a)) reaches sales to businesses.

Check Rhode Island's own text

Before you charge: read R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-26-1 and the other Rhode Island texts quoted on this page, or ask a lawyer. As of November 6, 2026.

This is a plain-words summary of each state's own laws as of November 6, 2026, not legal advice. Rules have exceptions. Check the state's own text, linked on every state's page, or a lawyer before you charge a late fee or interest.

Compare Rhode Island with every state's answer, or with its neighbours just below.

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