When a commercial tenant stops paying their rent it can cause significant problems for the landlord. There are options available to you if you’re looking to recover commercial tenant rent arrears.
Help with commercial tenant rent arrears for landlords
Where you have a tenant with rent arrears, it’s important to assess whether it’s a short or long term problem. If it’s a temporary cash flow issue then it’s unlikely that you want to evict the tenant from the premises.
It may be a better option to do a free commercial rent arrears recovery. This will ensure you get the money back quickly and don’t have to re-let the property.
Recover outstanding commercial rent
The commercial rent arrears recovery (CRAR) scheme is a quick and effective means of getting back your unpaid rent. You can only use this to recover actual rent – not for additional insurance, utilities etc. This service is provided free to landlords.
It’s also important to remember that this system can only be used for completely commercial premises. If there are any residential elements to the lease then you can’t recover the rent through this process.
The rent must be late by at least seven days before you can begin the recovery process and you need to give the tenant seven clear days’ notice. In order to carry out a CRAR a landlord must use a certified enforcement agent (bailiff).
Where the tenant can’t or won’t pay the rent when an enforcement agent arrives at the premises, certain goods can be seized to the value of the debt. These have to be owned by the tenant and tools of the trade are exempt. The enforcement agent takes control of the goods and they can be put up for sale if the debt isn’t cleared.
At CEA Limited, we take you through each step of the process when you have commercial tenant rent arrears problems. We have a network of enforcement agents across the country who will attend at the premises if the rent is still not paid after the notice of enforcement.
Are there any other options to a CRAR?
If you’ve already tried to recover outstanding commercial rent or you believe it to be a long-term issue, there is also the option to forfeit the lease. For commercial premises this allows you to evict the tenant for a breach of the lease, such as unpaid rent.
You can find out more about how to forfeit a commercial lease here.
Contact CEA Ltd to recover commercial tenant rent arrears
We will start working for you immediately if you have unpaid commercial rent that you need collecting. All you need to do to instruct us is contact 0113 418 2817 or email office@cealimited.co.uk.