Etchells and Young Blog | The Unpaid Landlord

You rely on the monthly rental to gear yourself and to allow you to bask in the glory of the eventual post bond annuity income and the concomitant “capital appreciation”, to allow you to grow your property portfolio and to strive to become a property doyen… or something like that.

But the tenant does not pay the deposit on time or at all, he pays the rent late or not at all, he loses his job, his new job pays less than his old one, he splits from his partner, his cousin needs to move in, he has alleged “squatter rights”, he is going to the rental or consumer tribunal (whichever is closer), he has nowhere else to move to! You can’t get hold of him on the phone because every time you pick up the phone to call, you end up placating a disgruntled bank manager as to the short bond payments on the property that was supposed to make you money, not cost you!

Okay, a bit melodramatic, but a lot of truth lies in the fact that a non-paying tenant is very dangerous.

A few inescapable points of warning which might help:

Screen your tenant; be merciless in your criteria. After all, this is a business decision.
Have a decent legal compliant lease in place.
Have a respected managing agent to assist you, if you are happy to pay for this service.
Be vigilant with incoming inspections, snag lists – these will bite you come the expiration of the lease and outgoing inspection, if not done correctly.
Get the deposit upfront to cover potential damages or get a deposit guarantee or deposit insurance and make sure that if it needs to be utilised during the currency of the lease that the tenant replenishes it.
Remind the tenants about imminent rental payment, belated payments and always draw the tenant back to the lease terms and consequences of not paying; Having a rental guarantee or rental insurance will be of great help.
Have a decent attorney on standby in case points 1 -6 don’t work out

Article written by Marlon Shevelew

More about Marlon

Marlon Shevelew and Associates Incorporated is a Law Firm comprising four lawyers, a consultant, a paralegal and supporting administrative staff.