Prorated Rent Guide: How to Calculate Prorated Rent

Prorated rent is what a renter pays for a partial month of rent, based on the number of days in a month that they occupy a property. A landlord or property manager might prorate rent for a tenant if they want to move into a rental property earlier than the first of the month or leave before the last day of the month. Rent proration has benefits for both landlords and tenants; it allows landlords to maximize occupancy and cash flow for their rental spaces while saving potential tenants from paying for any time that they don’t occupy a property.

A renter will typically pay a full month’s rent on the first of the month, but there are many cases in which a landlord will prorate rent so that a tenant only pays for the days that they occupy the unit. Here are a few reasons that a landlord may prorate your rent.

• When a tenant moves during the middle of the month: In the event that a tenant cannot move in on the first of the month, prorating rent allows the landlord to coordinate a mutually advantageous deal for both the tenant and themselves. When a tenant moves into a unit during the middle of the month, it benefits them to pay only for the days that they’ve lived in the unit rather than the full month. Simultaneously, a landlord doesn’t lose out on money by waiting to move a tenant into the rental property on the first of the next month. This can also apply to tenants who move out before the end of a month and only want to pay for the days that they have occupied the unit. Prorating rent doesn’t affect a renter's security deposit payment, the payment of the first month’s rent, or the last month’s rent, but it will often be tied in with these payments when a tenant moves into or vacates a property.
• When a lease ends early: There are many reasons why a tenant might need to terminate their lease agreement early, including health reasons. It’s also possible that the property manager wishes to terminate the lease with a tenant early, also known as an eviction. In either case, the landlord can prorate a tenant’s rent if they vacate the real estate partway through the month.
• When a tenant extends their lease: A tenant may wish to stay in a unit slightly longer than their lease term. In this case, the landlord can charge a prorated rent amount for the extra days that the tenant wishes to occupy the rental property. Some landlords will also charge a daily rental amount or a daily rental rate to have the tenant pay for each extra day they stay.

You can find prorated rent calculators online, but landlords and tenants can easily calculate prorated rent with simple math. Here are two common ways that you can calculate prorated rent.

• Using the number of days in a given month: Divide the total monthly rent by the number of days in the specific month to get the daily rent amount. (Some landlords may choose to always use thirty days in a month to calculate the daily rent amount, rather than using the current month’s number of days.) Next, multiply the daily rent by the number of days the tenant will stay in the unit to get the prorated rent.
• Using the number of days in a year: First, multiply an entire month of rent by twelve months in a year to get the yearly rent. Then, divide the yearly rent by 365 days in a year to get the daily rent (unless it’s a leap year, in which case you will use 366 days). Finally, multiply the daily rent by the number of days the tenant will live in the unit to get the prorated rent due.

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