5 Tips For Successful Tenancy Debt Collection

Always rent to someone who has the best merit out of the pool of applicants for your property.  Property investment is a business and you want to be doing business with the best possible person who can help you realise your investment potentials.  Call it tenancy due diligence if you like.  Put in the hard yard at the very beginning, interview your tenants, reference and credit check them to find out what they are like as tenants and debtors, find out if they had ever been involved in a Tenancy Tribunal case, get an understanding of the tenant’s way of life, all these information can help you pick the best possible tenant to work with.  

Information gathering is most effective at the very start of the tenancy when parties are still enjoying a good relationship.  This is the time when your tenant is willing to give you more personal information.  Treat this as a window of opportunity and ask for as much information as you can think of, photo IDs, alternative addresses for service, phone numbers for family members, next of kins, work numbers and other contact details.  Should the tenancy deteriorate and debt collection process kicks in, the debt collectors can serve you better if you can supply them with more means to contact the tenant.  

Additionally, always make sure that your tenancy agreement contains a debt collection clause making the tenant responsible for debt enforcement charges relating to the tenancy.  

Here are some standard questions you should always ask...