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How to get tenants to pay rent on time
Offer tenants alternative ways of paying rent such as mobile money so that they can pay at their convinience. Photo by Abubaker Lubowa
Some landlords go door to door collecting rent on the due date. The challenge is that you may not find all the tenants around and may end up wasting time that you would have used to do other things.
There are several ways to collect rent effectively without hunting the tenants. If you have a streamlined process for collecting rent clearly stated in the tenancy agreement, it will be very easy for you to get your rent paid in time.
Payment methods
Some tenants may complain of not being familiar with a particular means of payment so offering your tenants multiple methods of payment will leave no excuse for any late payments.
According to Noah Kiganda Ssonko, the managing director Ecoland property service, you should be versatile enough to ease your tenants’ payment process.
Hire company
According to Abdu Nasir Mugisha, the director Man Property Service Limited, if your rental property is located far from where you live, hiring a property management company can help in dealing with the many issues that you may not be able to handle from afar. For instance run away tenants.
For a fee, the property management company will handle all the collection, follow-up and other management responsibilities of a landlord depending on what you have agreed upon. Legally, if they are collecting rent, they are required to deposit it within a time frame specified by the landlord and take a percentage they own, if not they are subject to legal action. Not only is the property management company going to collect rent payments for you, but can also deal with tenant complaints, handle maintenance issues and fill vacant tenant units for you.
Send a reminder
Sometimes the tenant may forget and a kind reminder serves well. You may create an automated email to send to everyone a few days before their rent is due. Phone calls and texting may, however, be more effective communication but do what is suitable for your tenants.
Pick it in person
You may choose to personally collect rental payments from all tenants. The advantage is that you will have the payment in your hands immediately but it is time-consuming and frustrating to coordinate pick-up times for all the tenants.
A little mercy
If your tenant has a history of timely payments and very responsible use of property, you should try to understand their situation. Kiganda says, “If a tenant is going through a genuine financial crisis you should not be too harsh to push them to the wall. Offer to work out an alternate arrangement as agreed in the tenancy agreement.”
Punishment for late fees
Some landlords, to ensure that your tenants pay on time, choose to list the consequences for late rent payments in the tenancy agreement. Kiganda says: “A tenant has a responsibility to pay their rent on time and you need something to ensure that there are no delays.
