If as a landlord you have found yourself in a situation where the tenant of your flat has stopped paying rent, it will be useful to know the following key steps and options that you have in terms of the law as a landlord. The following article will give you detailed guidance on how to deal with a non-paying tenant, what you can and cannot do as a landlord and how to prevent a rent default situation.
If the tenant does not pay, proceed systematically: first send a written demand for payment. If the debt persists, you can give notice – even without notice if the breach is serious (typically 3 months of non-payment). But you must never evict the tenant yourself or disconnect their services. If they don’t leave, an eviction action follows. Proper documentation and following the legal process is key.
Need to deal with a non-paying tenant quickly? We can help you with a notice, a notice and a lawsuit – within a few days.
The very first step you should take as a landlord of a flat or house to live in is to send a written reminder to the tenant. In this reminder, state that the tenant is not paying rent and how long this situation has been going on. Emphasise that if the situation does not change, you can refer the matter to legal action. The written reminder in this case serves as an official document that can be used later in court proceedings if necessary.
What should be included in the written notice:
If the tenant fails to fulfil his or her obligations under the lease, the landlord can give the tenant three months’ notice. Typically, this will be in situations where the tenant, for example, repeatedly pays rent late, owes small sums of money, breaks the house rules or otherwise breaches their obligations in the long term.
The notice of termination of tenancy must include:
Notice without notice comes into play when the tenant is in really serious breach of their obligations. A typical example is when they fail to pay rent and utility bills for at least three months.
However, there may be other serious cases, for example, when the tenant damages the apartment significantly, uses it in breach of contract or seriously disrupts cohabitation.
The landlord must first ask the tenant to remedy their behaviour and give them a reasonable period of time to do so, before proceeding with an immediate notice. Only if the tenant fails to remedy the situation can the eviction itself follow.
The notice must be in writing, served on the tenant and state the specific reason for the notice. The landlord must also inform the tenant of their right to object and to take legal action.
Enter into a fixed-term lease with the new tenant. You never know if a seemingly solid person will eventually become a defaulter. After 1 year at most, you will be able to evict the tenant from your property.
As a landlord , you must not forcibly evict a tenant. You are putting yourself at risk of committing a crime and breaching your home’s freedom if you resort to changing the locks or tampering with the tenant’s personal belongings before taking prior precautions. Forcible eviction is therefore unacceptable and may have legal consequences for you as a landlord. If you are unsure how to proceed in a particular situation, please contact our legal advice service.
As a landlord, you must also not disconnect a tenant’s electricity or other services as a means of enforcing payment of rent. In such a situation, the tenant would be entitled to take legal action against you, as disconnecting the tenant’s electricity is considered unjustified in this case. Therefore, such practices often lead to fines and other legal disputes.
Are you fighting with a tenant and no longer know how to proceed? Have you tried all available options but the non-paying tenant is still occupying your property and not paying? We’ll go through the whole thing with you, explore your options and help you get the non-paying tenant to move out or pay for the damages.
If the notice period has expired and the tenant still refuses to leave the apartment or house where they live, you can take legal action against them to evict them. This process can be time-consuming and can take several months or even years. So if your situation reaches this point, be patient, as the court proceedings involve high financial and time costs.
Court proceedings include:
Mrs Málková rented her flat to a young couple who stopped paying rent after losing their jobs. Initially, she believed their repeated promises that they would soon pay the debt and did not want to escalate the situation unnecessarily. However, the debt had gradually accumulated to more than four months of unpaid rent and it was clear that nothing could be resolved without legal intervention.
We therefore first prepared a formal demand for payment of the outstanding rent. When even this did not lead to a remedy, an immediate termination of the lease followed. As the tenants did not leave the apartment even after that, we brought an action for eviction on behalf of our client. Thanks to the right procedure and well-prepared documents, the court ruled in favor of Mrs. Málková and the tenants were obliged to leave the apartment.
Learn when it is possible to evict an apartment and how to do it properly.
This probably won’t please you as a landlord, but unfortunately it is true. The law protects tenants and even in the event of non-payment of rent they can extend their stay in the rented property. Tenant protection is enshrined in the Civil Code. It is primarily intended to protect tenants from unjustified evictions and to ensure that they are treated fairly.
The tenant has the possibility to ask the court to postpone the eviction if he/she proves that he/she is in a difficult living situation. The court may, on the basis of such an application, decide to extend the time limit for eviction to give the tenant more time to find new accommodation.
If you want to avoid problems with non-payment of rent, check out a potential candidate for your property before signing a contract. For example, you can check their financial stability, ask for references from previous landlords or check their employment. Some landlords even use the services of agencies or estate agents to check whether the person is on a database of debtors or foreclosures.
A well-drafted lease agreement the most important step ever when you want to avoid problems with a potential defaulter. Use an attorney who knows what needs to be addressed in the contract so that you are protected if necessary. In the lease agreement , specify the amount of rent and due dates, the terms for late payment and penalties for late payment, what the options are for extending and terminating the lease, and also have the rights and responsibilities of both parties spelled out.
Non-payment of rent is a situation that needs to be addressed quickly and systematically. The basis is a written notice, followed by a properly worded notice and, if necessary, court proceedings. The landlord must always act lawfully – any “shortcut” can backfire. We know from experience that the key is not only reacting to the problem, but mainly prevention in the form of a good contract and tenant screening.
Usually after 3 months of debt you can give immediate notice.
No. You must always follow the law or risk being prosecuted.
Yes, otherwise it’s invalid.
Don’t wait – take action. The debt is growing unnecessarily.
No, it’s illegal coercion.
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Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 10 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
The rent should be specified in the lease agreement. We also recommend that you specify directly in the contract how it will be increased, for example, by linking it to the inflation rate. However, it is most advantageous for the landlord not to deal with rent increases in a complex contract, but to negotiate a contract for relatively short periods of time for a fixed term.
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