Renting your property brings a stable income, but there are times when the landlord can face various hurdles such as damage to the property, tenant refusing to evict, or property management issues. However, the most common issue faced by the landlords is the case when tenants refuse to pay rent.
Let us understand different steps one can take for collecting unpaid rent.
Steps:
Step 1: initially start with sending a late rent notice
Give a benefit of the doubt, sometimes the tenant might be withholding rent for genuine reasons. Notifying delay will allow the tenant to provide you with an answer or rent. A notice should mention the late date and due amount that is applicable according to the agreement. However, if the tenant has delayed payment for the first time, you can waive off the late fee on the rent.
But in case it is a repeated occurrence late fee on rent should be implemented.
Step 2: Next, you should follow up
After sending the notice, you should follow up with the tenant, in case they do not respond to the notice. You can call them and confirm if they have received the notice and what is their intention of paying.
The tenant might give you reasons for the delay, for instance, they might say that they are delaying payment since they want a certain thing to be repaired. In such a case you need to go through the agreement to see if it qualifies under your responsibility to repair.
However, sometimes a tenant might say that they lack funds, in such case you have to handle the situation differently.
Step 3: work it out in case of financial crunch
In case the tenant is unable to pay due to a financial crunch you can go two ways, either you can show some compassion and hold the rent for a few months or you can evict them to further use your property.
Compassion can be shown in case the tenant has behaved nicely and has never shown any kind of issues in the past. This could help your tenant and will avoid the hassle of going to court.
Another way to go is by asking the tenant to pay the amount they can afford to pay. In case you feel the problem faced by the tenant is a long term, going for the eviction can be a better way to go since you have to pay your property mortgages.
Step 4: eviction
Unable to pay the rent is a violation which means eviction. In case you feel the tenant is behaving in such a way for a long time and refuses to vacate the property then going for filing an eviction notice should be your next step. You can consult a lawyer to help you drag tenants to court.
In case, the court finds that the tenant has violated the agreement they will rule out the judgment in your favour. Then they will be obligated to leave the property legally.
With various law firms in UAE, consulting a property lawyer in Dubai can be a smart move considering they can help you in filing for notice.
In conclusion with
Eviction can be time-consuming, however, this is the only solution in case the tenant is not ready to corporate and settle down. In case the tenant is responsive, try working out things rather than going the legal way.
It is always advisable to maintain a communicative relationship instead of a soaring and strict one to build a better relationship with the tenant to avoid any hassle in the future.
