Is commercial property rent collection as simple as the sentence above?
Paul Stewart, Deputy Managing Director of South Coast commercial and residential property agents Goadsby offers the following tips:
Send an invoice a month before the due date. Communicate verbally with a tenant ahead of the due date if there has been any historic late payment problems – remind them it’s due.
Encourage a tenant to tell you if there are cash flow issues.
Check the lease if your efforts are met with silence and no payment is made. Look for the clauses which spell out the ability to charge interest on late payment.
Give everyone a chance – a tenant could be a victim of a late payer themselves. Working with them in their hour of need helps build a strong landlord/tenant relationship.
Perhaps agree an instalment plan so that the debt reduces immediately and diarise the proposed follow up payments.
Drastic steps to consider :
Consider forfeiture (taking possession of the property) by reviewing the relevant lease clause for peaceable re-entry.
Issue a winding up order/statutory demand.
Employ a certified bailiff to employ CRAR rent recovery method.
Obtain a charge against any other assets owned by the tenant.
Hopefully, through the tips section you will never find yourself having to take the drastic steps.
