By A landlord messaged us this week in a panic: their tenant had missed rent for the second month running, and they wanted to know how fast they could get them out. Our answer surprised them, because it had nothing to do with notices or courts.
Before you think about notices or courts, talk to your tenant. Most arrears start with a genuine problem, not a refusal to pay, and understanding it early is what actually protects your income.
The best first move isn't legal, it's a conversation
Most tenants who fall behind aren't trying to avoid paying. They've hit a genuine bump, a job loss, reduced hours, an unexpected bill, and they're often too embarrassed to bring it up first. A quick call to find out what's actually going on changes everything about how you handle what comes next.
A short payment plan, a revised date, a bit of breathing room. Working through it together solves the situation faster than any formal notice, and keeps a good tenant in place rather than starting the whole process of re-letting from scratch.
When a tenant goes quiet
That approach only works if the tenant engages. If they stop responding to calls or messages, that's when we step in. We'll arrange a rental appointment at the tenant's home to sit down with them directly, understand what's going on, and work through their finances and budget with them to get things back on track.
It's only when communication has genuinely broken down that the formal legal process becomes the right next step, and by then we've already got a clear, documented picture of everything that's been tried.
That's the difference a hands-on managing agent makes: most arrears situations never need to become legal ones at all.