Collecting debt for renting premises

Rent debt collection is a hot topic these days. Due to the closure of a large number of commercial facilities, a crisis of non-payment in the rental sector is growing. Often, tenants neglect the opportunity to part in a civilized way, paying the resulting rent arrears. And this happens even when the landlord goes to a meeting, agreeing to terminate the fixed-term lease agreement ahead of schedule. Sometimes the tenant not only does not want to pay the rent, but is also not going to vacate the occupied premises (take away his property). A separate publication is devoted to the issue of "eviction" of the former tenant on our website.

The non-payment crisis in the rental industry is growing. Should we put up with this state of affairs landlords? Of course not. Contact, innovations of the Belarusian legislation allow for the collection of arrears of rent in the shortest possible time. See contact details at the end of the publication.

Cost of rent debt collection service
Debt collection	From 200 USD ($)

 

Legal relations between the parties arise directly from the real estate lease agreement (hereinafter referred to as the lease agreement). An essential condition of the real estate lease agreement, as well as any agreement, is the subject of the agreement. In the subject of the lease agreement, the parties should correctly indicate which real estate is to be transferred, as well as the conditions under which it is transferred for temporary possession and (or) use. If the parties do not agree on the subject, the contract will be considered not concluded. Before concluding a lease agreement, the tenant needs to find out on what rights this property belongs to the landlord and whether he has the right to lease this property. So, when a tenant leases real estate under a sublease agreement without the consent of the property owner, the sublease agreement will be considered void.

Currently, there is often a reorganization or liquidation of commercial organizations. What should I pay attention to when collecting debt on rent. So with the reorganization of the company (lessor), his rights and obligations are transferred to the legal successor in accordance with Art. 53,54 GK of the Republic of Belarus. If a business entity (lessor) has decided to liquidate, respectively, the lease agreement is terminated in accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 57, Art. 389 GK of the Republic of Belarus. The rent from the liquidated tenant can be recovered only by presenting a creditor’s claim to the liquidator; judicial recovery becomes impossible (except when the liquidator refuses to accept the legal claim).

The tenant and the landlord should pay attention that the tenant is obliged to pay the rent, and the landlord has the right to demand its payment from the moment of the actual transfer of the leased object. When fixing the provision on rent in the contract, it is advisable to specify the condition on whether VAT is included in the rent or not. The rent can be paid by a third party, if the contract does not provide for payment by the tenant personally. By virtue of paragraph 1 of Art. 294 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus, the landlord does not have the right to refuse to accept rent from a third party. The condition on imposing payment on a third party may not be provided for by the lease agreement. However, the parties have the right to additionally agree on this condition.

Responsibility for improper fulfillment of the obligation to pay rent must be provided for by the lease agreement, otherwise the collection of debt on rent will be carried out only on the basis of legislation. In particular, the parties should prescribe the amount of the penalty for late payment, and, if possible, prescribe increased interest for the use of other people's money. It should be noted that during the period of termination of the lease agreement until the return of the property to the landlord, interest can be collected from the tenant for the use of other people's funds, but there is no possibility to collect a penalty during this period, unless otherwise expressly provided by the lease agreement. If liability is not established in the lease agreement, the lessor is entitled, in accordance with Articles 14 and 364 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus, to demand compensation for losses, as well as in accordance with Article 366 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus, payment of interest for the use of other people's funds. The penalty in this case is collected if it is provided for by law in accordance with Article 311 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus.

The collection of debt on rent in part of the amount of the principal debt is carried out by the lessor by making an executive inscription of a notary. In this case, the landlord saves time and money. Moreover, it is not only a right, but also a mandatory method of recovery. So, if in the lease agreement the amount of rent is defined as a fixed amount of money (for example, 500 rubles per month), then the court will refuse to accept the statement of claim (application for the initiation of writ proceedings) on the grounds that this case is not subject to consideration in the economic court . In this situation, the court will proceed to consider the case only if the notary public refuses to issue an executive inscription. The amount of the penalty can be recovered in court by using the mechanisms of writ or claim proceedings in any case.

Contact details of the responsible person: Skobey Andrey Nikolaevich, lawyer, you can contact him by phone (+37529 110 23 88) or by e-mail (info@legaltime.by).