When a tenant stops paying rent, one of the first things the landlord can do is send a burofax to claim the debt. Now, is it required by law to do so? What are the advantages and disadvantages of sending it? And finally, what should this burofax include? Below we explain what the landlord can do against a delinquent tenant and we show you a rental income claim model.
The owner of the property can send the rent claim letter to the tenant from the first month of non-payment. In general, it is sent after having sent one or several reminders by phone to the tenant and it is advisable to send it by burofax. This burofax will serve as an ultimatum before the landlord files the complaint for non-payment and will also serve as proof of debt if it is finally necessary to go to trial.
The letter to claim rental income must contain the data of the sender (owner or landlord) and recipient (tenant), with their respective postal addresses as they appear in the rental contract.
In the rental income claim letter, the owner must state the amounts or months owed by the tenant, also indicating the total amount of the debt that is required.
In addition, it is advisable to indicate a maximum payment term of between 7 and 10 days, as well as to warn the tenant of the legal consequences if he does not pay before the date indicated in the notice.
This is a standard rental claim form that can be used in the event of non-payment of rent by the tenant:
A/A D. ............ (tenant name)
C/ ............................. (tenant address)
Dear Sir / Dear Madam:
Regarding the lease dated…. of …........... of 20.... that you have signed with this part, related to the lease of the property that I own, located in the city of .......... ........., C/ ..................., I inform you that as of today you owe me a total of …..... ......... euros (…...€) corresponding to the months of …............................ .. this year, at the rate of …......... euros (…..€) for each of these monthly installments.
As you well know, the payment of the rent must be made, according to the contract, in advance monthly payments within the ...... first days of each month.
As you have been doing previously, you can proceed to pay the amount owed to the current account ….................................. .......
If within a maximum period of .......... days you do not make the payment of these amounts, an eviction claim will be filed for non-payment of rents and the amounts owed will be claimed.
A cordial greeting. D. ........................................
In ...................., on .... of ............ of 20......
The main reason why a burofax is usually sent to the delinquent tenant is specifically to avoid the enervation of the eviction. The enervation is the legal mechanism that grants the tenant a period of 10 days to pay what he owes and stop the eviction in order to continue living in the house.
However, if the landlord sends a reliable request, that is, a certified burofax following the rental income claim model, the tenant will not be able to prevent the eviction. However, for this to happen, more than 30 days must elapse between the date of receipt of the burofax and the date of presentation of the claim.
This means that the tenant has 30 more days to occupy the home without paying the rent, so some tenants prefer to file an eviction claim as soon as possible without first sending the rent claim letter. After all, the sooner you file, the sooner the court will set a date for the eviction of the tenant.
