The NLA are urging landlords to maintain friendly relationships with their tenants after 74% of calls to their help line related to landlords concerned that their tenants would not be able to pay their rent.
I have to agree with this sentiment. Over the years I have got on with the majority of my tenants, I like to see myself as a charming, helpful kind of fox who will try to do what I can to help my tenants out.
Each tenant is different and some need more support and guidance than others.
I remember I had one youngish tenant who had been 'infrequent' with his rental payments.
After a number of missed and late payments I thought I better get to the bottom of it before it got out of hand.
I met up with him and put my concerned parent face on, softly, softly with sympathetic eyes tinged with a touch of dissapointment and hurt.
I offered my help and support, if he was having any problems, he opened up, explained he was badly in debt and was struggling to make ends meet each month.
Now as a landlord this isn't great news but there is no point in hitting the roof. The best thing to do is to try and get your tenant back on track before it all ends in court and you are left with an empty property and a repayment scheme of £ 2 a week for the next 10 years.
So I helped him find the number of the local Citizens Advice Bureau, encouraged him to make an appointment and patted him on the back and told him that he could sort it out.
I checked in with him to make sure that he went to the appointment, and checked that he could follow there guidance in getting his finance sorted out.
I also agreed with him some more flexible ways to meet his rental payments.
Six months later he left the flat, having paid all the rent that was owed to me.
He came round to thank me for my help and support, gave me a bottle of wine and told me he'd learned vital lessons in managing his personal finances ( largely to avoid credit cards ).
Sometimes tenants need a little support.
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