Unfortunately, this is a commonly asked question in our line of work. When someone living in a rented property stops paying rent, the situation can quickly get frustrating and in some cases, hostile.

To prevent any unnecessary friction while you’re trying to rectify the matter, it’s vital to understand what the recommended course of action is and what your legal rights as a landlord are. We’ve laid out some important thinking points when starting the process:

Contact your tenant

The first step you can take is to reach out to your tenant. Assuming you have their phone number or email, it’s perfectly reasonable to open up a calm dialogue with them. If you are able to get in touch with your tenant, make enquiries as to whether their financial circumstance have changed, or if any other factors are affecting them paying the rent on time. This may provide an understanding of why the situation has arisen and if there are any ways of resolving the matter privately. It may also be best to explore other ways of clearing the rental arrears at this time, (E.g. a repayment plan). This option is worth exploring, as it can save all parties involved costs on legal fees.

Put your intentions in writing

In the case that contacting your tenant is unsuccessful, or if you have not been able to reach an agreement with your tenant, the next step to take would be to professionally and politely outline your intentions to the tenant in writing. It’s important to keep the tone of your communication professional, without anything that could be deemed threatening or argumentative. Be sure to include what you expect from the tenant, as well as a reasonable timeframe for your expectations to be met. Then, outline what you intend to do if the tenant fails to meet these requests, such as pursuing legal action.

When sending your communication, it’s best to keep a record of when and how this was done. If you posted a letter, be sure to keep a “proof of postage” receipt from the post office or take a photograph of you putting the letter through the tenant’s door if you hand deliver it. If you email your tenant, take a screenshot of the email you send with all the relevant information visible (date, time, content, etc.) While this step sounds unnecessary if previous contact with the tenant has been unsuccessful, sending written intentions can sometimes bear fruit, as it shows you are serious about pursuing the arrears.

Start legal proceedings

If the previous steps are unsuccessful in resolving the issue, it may be time to commence legal action. There are a few factors to consider if you decide to go down this route, such as whether you wish to solely reclaim the arrears, or if you wish to regain possession of the property as well.

If you just want to pursue the arrears:

If you’re happy for the tenant to remain in the property, but want a Court Order to reclaim the unpaid rent, submitting a money claim may be the best course of action for you. A money claim is submitted to the court and if successful will legally bind the tenant into paying you the arrears. This may be in a lump sum, or in a repayment plan depending on the specifics of the circumstance, or the tenant’s financial position. This claim will allow the tenant to remain in the property.

If you want to pursue arrears and possession of your property:

If you wish to reclaim the unpaid rent from your tenant and you no longer wish them to remain in your property, you will need to formally serve a notice on your tenant. A notice seeking both possession of your property as well as rental arrears is known as a “Section 8 Notice”. As with all notices, an expiry date must be present on the document. This is the date by which the tenant must repay the outstanding arrears to prevent further legal action. If the notice expires without the arrears being paid, a claim can then be submitted to court. The expiry date on a Section 8 Notice must be at least fourteen days after the date it arrived with the tenant.

It’s vital to keep a record of when and how the notice was served. Again, with “proof of postage” receipts or photographs of the document being posted to the property. If you wish to serve the notice by email, you need to ensure your Tenancy Agreement explicitly states this is acceptable.

If the notice expires and the tenant has not responded or paid the arrears, you can then proceed with submitting a claim to the county courts. By submitting the Claim for Possession to court under a Section 8 Notice, you would most likely be seeking a judgement that dictates the tenant pay the arrears and vacate the property.

The process of recovering unpaid rent may seem daunting, lengthy and arduous, but if done correctly it can yield satisfying results. That’s why it’s absolutely vital to know and understand the process prior to taking action. How you as a landlord goes about recovering arrears before making a claim to court can have significant affects on legal proceedings further down the line.

If you’re unsure on any of the information above, or would like help with recovering rental arrears, feel free to give us a call on 0330 043 6162 for a free initial advice.