Send receipts to your tenants each month when their rent payment comes in, detailing the date the rent was paid, the time period it refers to, the amount paid and the amount outstanding. Remind tenants on a joint tenancy agreement that they are all equally responsible for paying the rent and for clearing any debt owed as a single unit. If you do decide to make an application for possession against a tenant or tenants based on them not paying rent, you will be required to provide a copy of all rent payment transactions.
After several days: send your tenant a formal demand by first class mail. After 14 days : send the tenant's guarantor a letter informing them that the tenant hasn't paid their rent. After 21 days : send a final letter to the tenant and guarantor, confirming your intention to take legal action. Use our letter to demand outstanding rent from a tenant. If rent hasn't been paid after several days start by calling your tenant to ask them what's going on.
If calls don't get through or fall on deaf ears, send your tenant a formal written demand by first class or hand-delivered mail. Your letter should request that the outstanding arrears be paid immediately and ask the tenant to ensure that all future rental payments are made in full and on or by the due date. You should explain that unpaid arrears could result in court action being taken against the tenant and state that you may make an application to the court for possession of the property should more than two months' rent go unpaid.
If you still haven't received outstanding rent 14 days after it is due, send another letter telling the tenant explaining that if they don't pay, you'll take the matter further and seek possession of your property.
If your tenant has provided a guarantor, send the guarantor a letter advising them that the tenant hasn't paid the rent according to the tenancy agreement. Normally the arrears will be paid soon after this letter. This should be the final step before considering further action to reclaim your property. If your tenant has gone a month without paying rent, and another month is now due, you can consider your tenant to be two months in arrears.
At this point you have the right, under the Housing Act , to take action to claim possession of your property. Tenants need to pay the rent, and it is not helpful to let them build up rent arrears.
We encourage you to contact tenants as soon as they fail to pay rent on time, and that you tell them that if they do not pay the rent due you will start action to evict them. If a tenant says they cannot afford to pay the rent, please encourage them to contact our Housing Options team. The Housing Options team will be pleased to contact your tenant to advise them they need to pay the rent.
If the tenant says that Housing Benefit is the problem, the Housing Options team can find out what the problem is and what needs to be resolved. Call during office hours. You will need a deposit slip or LTB trust account numbers.
If the landlord applied to collect the rent you owe Form L9 , you can pay the money you owe to the landlord directly. Make sure you get a receipt from your landlord. Then contact the LTB to see if the hearing has been cancelled. You can contact your landlord to see if they are willing to work out a payment plan. If you reach an agreement, file a copy of the agreement with the LTB before the hearing.
The LTB can issue an order based on the payment plan and, if an order is issued, the hearing will be cancelled. You can also try to work out a payment plan on the day of your hearing with the help of an LTB dispute resolution officer. If a hearing is held, you will have a chance to explain why the landlord should not get what they asked for. For example, if you disagree with the amount of rent the landlord claims you owe or you need more time to pay the rent, you can raise these issues.
There are other issues you can raise too. For example, if you believe that the unit is not being maintained properly, the landlord is harassing you, or the landlord is charging an illegal amount of rent, you can raise these issues at the hearing.
You must provide the landlord and the LTB with your evidence and a list of the issues you plan to raise at least 5 days before the hearing.
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