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How do I evict tenant who is not paying rent?
Every month I have to hound by phone, text and mail my tenant to pay the rent. Usually half of it will arrive a week late and I then have to start chasing him for the other half. I asked him to set up a standing order - no response to that. I don't live in Belgium anymore and have never been in this position before. Where do I stand legally? He paid the rental guarantee to the last tenant who is a friend of his.
So you have no deposit in a locked account in the bank in his name only in the previous guys name? How do you intend to unlock it at any point? Also do you have late clauses? Has he actually failed to pay rent or just not by the due date? Is this rental registered?
What type of rental contract is it? How long until the next renewal date? If less than a year, it might just be easiest to let it be and to make sure that you follow the legal requirements about the notice period when you inform the tenant that you do not wish to continue renting to them.
Given that you don't live in Belgium, the alternative (going to court) is likely to be time-consuming and costly. Also, given that the tenant has (so far..) actually paid all his rent will work in his favour should you go to court. Belgian laws are quite tenant-friendly and normally landlords only go to court when they have received no rent at all for two-three months minimum.
Slowly and by the book. An illegal eviction will cost you (iirc) 6 to 9 months rent, and possibly costs.
Given that your tenant does actually seem to be paying and not in serious arrears, you may find him very difficult to get rid of.
Last time it happed to me I simply had two very large and ugly blokes throw them out, they were too scared to do anything at all about it. Of course, this is totally reprehensible and I should have spent thousands to get them out while they took the piss living rent free just as they did with their last landlord.
Bottomline, how many months has he not paid any rent at all? I know my colleague just started the process of trying to evict his tenant and he could only do that after 3 months of rent weren't paid. He tried to do it after the 2nd month, but whatever reason, he couldn't. So yea, laws favor the tenant in Belgium. Maybe mikek1300GT can provide info to the two ugly blokes cause that's a service that many landlords would probably frequently use in Belgium.
I had a similar problem a few years ago. I consulted a lawyer who began by writing the tenant a letter. It turned out that the tenant owed a number of people money. He had taken out a loan to buy a motorcycle, had large credit card debts, had not paid the electric bill etc. The lawyer handled everything. He went to the courts and the court put a garnishee order on the tenant’s salary. His salary was divided up by the court so that each creditor got a small percentage of what was owed each month. I eventually got all of the money owing. It ended up costing me a few hundred euros. Since there was a previous tenant involved you should ensure that all utility bills are in the tenant’s name. If there are separate meters for each utility and the tenant has not completed the transfer of documents from the previous tenant to the current one you may be responsible. In the case of the water bill you may be responsible anyway even if the account is in the tenant’s name and he has not paid the bill. For some reason the owner is responsible for unpaid water bills. The lawyer handled the whole process and it did not involve much of my time, and, as mentioned, I did get the money except for the lawyer’s fees which I had to absorb.
Bruce, your lawyer sounds great. Would you mind sharing his name and address?
Mr. Horion. 02 653-3081. He speaks only French. He works full time at another job so it is easiest to contact him between 5 and 6 p.m.
I had a tenant who did not pay rent for several months, so I sent registered mail stating that I wanted to end the rental contract December 31, 2015. He received the mail and immediately paid all the backed rent. Now he is paying the rent in full, but a week late. He is completely caught up on backed rent, but I'm sick of chasing him all week to get my rent. I agreed after he paid the backed rent that he could remain living there assuming he paid every month on time. Can I still expect him to move out December 31, as I stated in my letter even though he is all caught up on rent, and paying every month albeit late?
Does any of you know an English speaking lawyer who can handle the same situation?
