Renting out your property can be extremely lucrative. With several people preferring to rent rather than invest, you’re never short of potential tenants to occupy your property. Renting out your property can result in tax deductions, long-term security, and investment control. For most people who own more than one property, renting one out is a no-brainer.
Despite the numerous benefits, renting your property isn’t always smooth sailing. When renting out your property, you’re entrusting someone to meet certain requirements. These requirements can span from keeping the property clean to paying the rent on time. When you still have mortgage payments to pay, the latter can be an extremely pressing matter.
Whilst tenants who don’t pay their rent on time are far from ideal; there are measures you can take to resolve this issue. Here are the simple steps you can take if you’re having trouble with tenants not paying rent on time.
Keep A Record Of Rent Payments
As a landlord, you should be keeping track of the rent your tenants are paying. You can download rental property management software to help you keep track of your tenant’s payments. Using software like this means one easy-to-use platform stores all your important information. This can be especially useful if you own several properties or you rent your property on the side of working a full-time job.
Communicate Your Concerns
After making a note of the missed rent, you need to communicate your concerns. Approach your tenants and make them aware of the implications of not receiving their rent on time causes. Make sure you’re polite and sincere. Approaching them with aggression will likely cause them to retaliate and may cause further implications regarding receiving the rent. Show them your recordings of the payments they’ve missed and request they amend the issue as soon as possible. Remind them that if they don’t pay the rent, further action will have to be taken immediately.
Contact the Guarantor
After approaching your tenants with evidence of their missed payments, if they still haven’t paid the rent, you need to contact the Guarantor. The guarantor has signed a contract stating they will take joint responsibility for the rent if the tenant fails to pay. Therefore, they are required to pay any rent arrears if the tenants fail to. You need to contact the guarantor, make them aware of the situation, and request they provide the missing rent payments.
Discuss With the Letting Agent
If you rent via a letting agent, you can contact them and discuss the issue. The role of your agent is to ensure your tenants meet their legal responsibilities. Your letting agent has a contractual obligation to ensure you receive your payment. In addition to this, your tenants might have an existing relationship with the letting agent and would prefer to communicate through them.
Begin Eviction Proceedings
If you’re still not receiving your rent on time, or at all, you can begin eviction proceedings to reclaim possession of your property. As they have broken the tenancy rules by failing to provide the rent on the agreed terms, you can proceed with eviction proceedings and re-obtain your property. Firstly, you need to give them a Section 8 notice. Under usual circumstances, this would provide them with two months’ notice to leave. Now, due to coronavirus, most cases require a longer notice period.
Following on from this, if your tenants still owe you rent, you need to ask for a standard possession order from the court. You will be charged £325 when filling this form out online. Alternatively, you fill out the form and return it to your local courthouse. This costs £355.
Following this, if they are still refusing to move, you need to apply for a warrant for possession, which means a bailiff can forcibly remove the tenants.
The most important thing to do if you’re noticing that your tenants are failing to pay their rent on time is to track their payments. These recordings provide you with evidence to refer to if things escalate. These are trying times, and your tenants may be struggling. Make sure you communicate your concerns before taking physical action. Approaching your tenants kindly and compassionately and simply making them aware of your concerns is likely to be the most effective way to receive your payment. If this fails, you can take further action and potentially work towards evicting your tenants. Either way, make sure you record all transactions and communications with your tenants and store these interactions in a secure place.
