My commercial tenant owes service charges, what are my options?
Landlords cannot recover non pure rent from their commercial tenants such as service charge and insurance arrears using the terms of the lease as pre 2014*.
Typical service charges vary from property to property, but may include:
- Repairs extending to major structural repairs
- General maintenance services such as cleaning, refuse collection, lighting, heating, air-conditioning, and security
A service charge may also cover:
- Staffing costs – including property management fees
- Insurance costs
Often the landlord wishes to recover commercial rent and service charge arrears at the same time. We are able to offer a one stop solution whereby collection of all non-pure rent arrears due under the lease by way of our pre-legal recovery process. This is a free service to our landlords and their representatives. This end-to-end process will encompass the initial contact with the tenants right through to enforcement as permissible to the type of debt.
* Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR) – replaced the Common Law remedy of distress or distraint on 6th April 2014.
