Tenant can't pay rent

Worst time to be a landlord right now as global rent strikes are just starting. Good thing I sold my apartment.
 
Aqua_lung said:
Worst time to be a landlord right now as global rent strikes are just starting. Good thing I sold my apartment.
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I have 6 rentals. So far no issue, but I am really glad that I didn’t use leverage to purchase them, so it’s not a big worry for me.
 
I say lend a bit of a helping hand. Give him a reduction in the months rent (discuss a percentage that works for both of you), come up with a payment arrangement to recover the balance of the outstanding rent. Be direct and let your tenant know you are prepared to work with him but ensure he knows that even if he gets a break now, he will still have to pay the money at some point. Don't loose a good tenant over a months rent. Best thing talk to each other, put it in writing problem solved.
 
Personally if they have been perfect payers up until now I would be willing to work with them for a bit but with clear hard guidelines so that they don't think they can get away with it indefinitely.

So personally I would say for the first month I am willing to take it out of their two month deposit, but after that I expect payment in full, or a guarantee they will pay any missed payments off over the next 6 months. One has to be reasonable but at the same time the softest creditor gets paid last in my experience. If 2 months pass without payment begin eviction proceedings ASAP.
 
beefymoocow said:
Credit rating is the ability to pay off your debts. One can argued if you can’t pay off your debt because you didn’t get paid for the month or got retrenched should be reflected in your credit score. Since a high credit score should entails having about 6 month worth of your salary saving as an emergency. I guess it just depends on your view.
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Credit scores don't take into account your salary or bank balance, merely your payment history. You can have a perfect credit score but no margin for emergencies.
 
It's tough times for most people out there.
Now is the time help each other as far as we can.

My sisters child and her boyfriend both worked in the restaurant industry in Ireland for the last 6-9 months.
Both lost their jobs due to Covid 19.
Their landlord reduced their rent by 50% for the next 3 months.

Best is to communicate properly and work out a plan that is suitable for both parties.

Good luck .
 
Just take the April rent out of their deposit. This is one of the reasons why a deposit is paid. Let them know in writing that they will need to top it up again or they will need to leave as soon as the deposit is depleted.

There are a lot of tenants who are going to try to take advantage of this situation. My landlord realizes this as well as she sent me this email a couple days ago. Normally we don't even interact. Have been staying here for 3 years and we've only met once a year since I moved in.

Thank you for your (usual) prompt payment to me. It is much appreciated.

I hope you keep safe during the lockdown. Take care
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IT_Steven said:
I Apologize for the lengthy text - was writing as I was thinking.

So I just received the dreaded "won't be able to pay me rent this month" email from my tenant. :(

They informed me that apparently they are not going to get any of their salary this month. (Although I think they will still get their base pay and is using whatever avenues they can to reduce their expenses for the month - I have a few indicators why I think this might be the case)

The irritating thing is, is that they mentioned in the email that I can apply for a payment holiday from the banks in terms of my bond repayments. Never mind the fact that my bond payments have absolute zero relation to my tenants rental obligations, I don't even know where to start to explain this to them in simple terms - that this holiday is in no way some sort of "free money" I'm receiving that I can just pass on to them. As a matter of fact, seeing as interest is still levied, taking these payment holidays actually results in paying more in the long run seeing as you are just increasing your loan period (whilst not having capital reduction during this "payment holiday"). If anyone here can share with me how I can in simple laymen's terms explain to them the irrelevance of these payment holidays in terms of their obligation to pay rent, please feel free to share.

Anyhow, back to the topic at hand.
The whole situation is rather annoying, seeing as this tenant has been a pleasure to deal with up to date, and I have never had to deal with any payment issues. I would really like to assist them in whichever way I can and help them out during this difficult time, but I also don't want to feel like I'm being taken advantage of because of the lock down.

Ideas currently in order of relieve given:
-Rental for April is not due next month but is spread over the remaining rental term.
-Reduce rental to 70% for 1-3 months as necessary if lock down continues/salary isn't paid.
-Once off waiver for rental for April.

Not sure what else there is to do really.

My biggest worry is if (probably when) this lock down gets extended and the tenant still does not receive a salary - all of the above options fall flat then - and this could be 1-6 months or even more :oops: I mean the virus isn't just suddenly going to pack up and leave in 2 weeks time. What then?

Anyhow, guess I just needed to vent a bit and receive any suggestion, thoughts from any of you out there if possible,
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What is their payment record, and for how long have they been renting?
 
lexor said:
It's tough times for most people out there.
Now is the time help each other as far as we can.

My sisters child and her boyfriend both worked in the restaurant industry in Ireland for the last 6-9 months.
Both lost their jobs due to Covid 19.
Their landlord reduced their rent by 50% for the next 3 months.

Best is to communicate properly and work out a plan that is suitable for both parties.

Good luck .
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The sad thing the landlord can claim it back from the government. There’s soo much money floating around in Europe and us as bail outs.

So it’s quite hard for Sa to do the same.
 
saturnz said:
you just want to cover your bases because the eviction process can take 3 months, you don't want to start next month for example
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Dam, 3 months? How do you do it that quickly? Took me 12 months.
 
In the same boat - 2 tenants cannot pay rent

One lady is a know it all and followed her WhatsApp message telling me she won't be paying rent in April and adding that she won't pay levies and council fees, if I switch off her electricity (she blames load-shedding on me) she will sue, she knows I cannot evict her and I am the shittest landlord she has ever known

In the past year, the hot water is too cold, the electricity fees are too high, the neighbour is noisy, for 3 days the lift was not working and I must send somebody to carry her groceries to the 4th floor, she lost the one gate remote and why did I not give her a spare, the key in the security gate is broken again, the carpet needs cleaning. She phones me at 22h30 at night to say someone is banging about upstairs and another time also late to say the water out the tap looks brown

Her lease is up on 30th June and I told her it won't be renewed. She says she won't leave until I find her an alternative flat. She has been up to 2 weeks late for rent payments in 11 of the 33 months she has been there
 
F1 Fan said:
Dam, 3 months? How do you do it that quickly? Took me 12 months.
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first month is pretty much a write off with not much happening, you issue LOD and cancellation letters and approach an attorney

if the tenant by the end of the month has not vacated the attorney then approaches the court, if for whatever reason nothing is settled on the first court date, then a second court date is arranged, usually two to three weeks after the first court date- a decision generally is made the second date- if the tenant is still in default the judge will set a date for eviction- usually two to three weeks after the court date itself.

my attorney that I used for evictions was pretty cheap, I paid him R4000 for both court appearances but since then he has relocated to Jhb, cheapest eviction lawyer I could find now in CT CBD charges R15 000
 
Coming from a similar situation I had last month or the month before. According to advice given here I contacted the people I rent from and paid what I could.

I was able to settle the due amount as time went on and also received help from someone anonymous.

Point being.
Paying nothing is a huge problem.
Payiing something is better than nothing.

I am fortunate that I could cover rent for April. I am running low on funds in terms of other responsibilities, but I've had it worse before, so I'm not that concerned.

Speak to the tenants and let them pay what they can afford.
 
chrisc said:
Her lease is up on 30th June and I told her it won't be renewed. She says she won't leave until I find her an alternative flat. She has been up to 2 weeks late for rent payments in 11 of the 33 months she has been there
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Finally, the real reason, she is looking for a way to swindle the deposit. Take her to the RHT asap. In the meantime, renovate like crazy.
 
saturnz said:
first month is pretty much a write off with not much happening, you issue LOD and cancellation letters and approach an attorney

if the tenant by the end of the month has not vacated the attorney then approaches the court, if for whatever reason nothing is settled on the first court date, then a second court date is arranged, usually two to three weeks after the first court date- a decision generally is made the second date- if the tenant is still in default the judge will set a date for eviction- usually two to three weeks after the court date itself.

my attorney that I used for evictions was pretty cheap, I paid him R4000 for both court appearances but since then he has relocated to Jhb, cheapest eviction lawyer I could find now in CT CBD charges R15 000
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Yep, so basically our lawyer did the above, but it took 12 months. Would've happily paid the 15k to avoid that crap
 
Did all the eviction trigger happy okes consider where the next tenant is going to be coming from considering there is a national lockdown?
 
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