A new article to help you help tenants in arrears of rent

Tenants falling into rent arrears is something all landlords dread.  It could put you in financial difficulties.  It could make your rented property unviable (as, after all, YOU have to carry on paying YOUR outgoings).

To many landlords, it may also mean that you will have to navigate the dreaded court eviction procedure – as you can’t allow tenants to remain if they’re not paying rent.  Or can you?

With the forthcoming Renters Rights Bill, which will abolish the no-fault section 21 procedure, eviction will become more difficult.

• You will have to attend a court hearing and
• Your tenant may raise suprious defences.
• You will have to wait until your tenant is in arrears of three months as opposed to two months at present before you can start the process, and
• It will take many months before you will be entitled to recover vacant possession (possibly up to a year or more).

But what if there was another way?

Helping tenants to remain

Frequently, the tenants in question will be ‘can’t pay’ tenants rather than ‘won’t pay’.  They will have fallen on hard times –

• Maybe they have lost their job, or
• Have fallen ill, or
• Have split up with their partner (who paid half the rent)

Is there any way you can help them rather than evict them?

The answer to this is ‘yes’.

Kits and courses

You may remember that about four years ago I developed a special kit with Julie Ford following on from her fascinating training talk earlier that year.

A couple of months ago Julie told me she wanted to discontinue that kit as she was developing a new and more detailed kit/training course. So the original kit is no longer available.

Julie’s course is now available for sale, and anyone who is interested can purchase it here.  However, this course is aimed more at letting agencies.

I would recommend that all agencies work towards providing a service for their landlords to help tenants pay (which can be chargeable to their landlords).  If you run a letting agency and want to offer this service, Julie’s course is ideal for you.

However it is probably a bit too detailed for what most landlords will want or need.

A new article

I have now, therefore, written a new article for members, which just sets out the basics.  Enough to help you help your tenants sort out their finances and apply for funding.

So, if your tenants fall into arrears of rent, you have another option open to you.  A nicer option!

It won’t be able to help in all circumstances (sometimes there will be no option but to evict), but hopefully it can help in most cases.

Landlord Law members will find it here.

Or if you want the full-blown training, go here for Julie’s course.