When dealing with the issue of outstanding Commercial Rent then Landlords should look to instruct a commercial debt collection agency at the earliest possible opportunity, according to the Operations Manager of Federal Management.

Russell Jameson has stated that although the rights a landlord has when it comes to recovering commercial rent arrears have been restricted, it is still the right of the landlord to instruct a debt recovery firm such as Federal Management in order to seize goods from the property to resolve the arrears.

Mr. Jameson confirmed that, at present, you only needs to have commercial rent in arrears of a single day in order to instruct a debt collection agency to recover the amount. However, with recent changes to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (TCE), Landlords will soon be forced to make clear their intentions and provide written notice of their plan to recover the debt.

Mr. Jameson said “Clearly, no business is able to operate without it’s premises but currently many commercial rent agreements are paid on a quarterly basis which means the commercial tenants are more likely to focus on daily, weekly and monthly outgoings first of all.”

“We find that most tenants in arrears find it quite simple to forget about their next quarterly rent payment but this dangerous action can lead to issues for all parties concerned.”

Mr. Jameson did emphasis, however, that although new legislation had removed distress, the rule that permits seizure of a property by landlords, it had not removed the landlord’s right to recover debt through the value of the defaulter’s property.

Continuing, he said, “All that has really changed is that the process now takes a little longer to complete and that the relevant certifications must be acquired in order to act which is even more of a reason to act as early as possible.”

“Clearly, Landlords should not be victimised and be the last to receive what is owed to them, they should be at the head of the queue and should not be made to feel guilty about collecting their outstanding rent.”