Chasing a late payer
What to send, in what order, and what the tenant sees at each step.
Arrears are mostly an administration problem before they are a legal one. The aim is a record that is accurate, a tenant who cannot claim they did not know, and interest that is correct rather than punitive.
Check your own records first
Before contacting anybody, confirm the balance is real.
- Has a recent payment arrived but not been matched? Check the bank file — a payment without the payment reference has to be placed by hand.
- Is the interest figure right? An overstated balance is worse than no letter at all, because it hands the tenant the argument.
Never chase a figure you have not checked. The one time it is wrong is the time it is quoted back at you, and every subsequent letter is weaker for it.
Send the statement, not a demand
Issue the tenant statement. It shows what was charged, what was paid, and what is left — the history rather than an assertion.
A statement is also the document that survives scrutiny later. A WhatsApp saying “you owe R8,000” is not.
Sending locks that period’s interest. Check and, where appropriate, adjust or waive it before you send, not after.
Put the message on the document
Rather than a separate email, attach a note to the statement. It prints on the document the tenant actually reads, and the text is frozen onto the copy they receive — so there is no dispute about what was said or when.
Write it once as a template and reuse it: a reminder of the banking details and reference, the amount outstanding, and what happens next.
Interest
Interest accrues on what is genuinely overdue and unpaid, from the due date plus your grace days. The in duplum rule caps accumulated interest at the outstanding capital, and Domi Vera applies it for you.
If you reach an arrangement, honour it in the records: waive what you agreed to waive rather than leaving it to accrue and arguing about it later. A waiver is recorded, not deleted, so the account still shows what happened.
What the tenant sees
Their portal shows the same invoices, payments, balance and interest lines that you see. There is no hidden ledger, and nothing arrives as a surprise if they have been looking.
That is worth saying to them: the figures are the ones on their own screen.
If it does not resolve
At some point this stops being an administration task. Domi Vera gives you the documentation — dated invoices, a payment history, statements the tenant received, and a guarantor on record if there is one — which is what any next step needs. What that step is, is a decision for you and your attorney, not for this guide.
Related
- How late-payment interest worksInterest is worked out automatically, stays editable while it is provisional, and locks in when you send the statement.
- StatementsA running account over time — everything charged, everything paid, and the balance. An invoice is one entry on it.
- Payments and allocationRecording what came in, and what it settles. A payment reduces a balance — it is not attached to one invoice.
- Notes and note templatesText that rides on a statement or invoice. Write it once and reuse it, or write it for one document only.