Tenants not paying rent? Here’s what to do

Owning and renting out a property comes with many perks, but it can become stressful when your tenants miss a few rent payments. 

There are many reasons why this could happen, and sometimes it’s possible to work out a repayment plan with your tenants. This is not always the case, though, and it’s important to know what steps you can take if your tenants are consistently missing payments. 

Step 1: Look at the lease agreement

Take a step back and look at your lease agreement again - specifically the payment and breach clauses together. This will enable you to prove that the tenant is in breach, and give you the first step to take when they are. 

The important thing to remember is that you have the right to take action. The breach clause usually gives you an indication of what action you can take like cancelling the agreement or claiming specific performance. 

Step 2: Take action

Depending on what your lease agreement says, this is the point where you will notify the tenant that the agreement has been cancelled. You will also be able to let the tenant know how much time they have to remedy the breach. 

If the time passes and the breach has not been resolved, then you’ll have a case to take further action. At this point, however, it may be in your best interest to contact a lawyer. 

Step 3: Evict the tenant

In the case that the agreement has been cancelled but the tenant has not vacated the property, you will need to start the process of evicting them. 

Evictions are done in terms of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE). You must give the tenant notice of the eviction in writing and this must be served personally on the unlawful occupier of the property, as well as on the municipality situated in the area of the occupied property.

In addition to serving the tenant with an eviction notice, you will be able to issue summons for any rent payments they have yet to pay.

Eviction is the absolute last step, however, and usually you shouldn’t have to reach this point. The most important thing to remember is that you do have options and a recourse, it might just take some effort to deal with problematic tenants.