Unpaid rent for a student room: what can a landlord do?

Prevent arrears with clear arrangements

Many payment problems start with vague arrangements. Set out in the rental contract how much the student pays, into which account and by when. The Flemish model contract for student rooms, for example, provides that rent must be paid no later than five calendar days after the start of the rental month, by bank transfer with a reference you fill in yourself. What else the contract must contain is explained in our guide on the student room rental contract.

• Fixed due date: one date per month, ideally the same for all rooms, so you can immediately see who is late.
• Fixed payment reference per room and per tenant, so every payment is matched to the right student without doubt.
• Standing order or direct debit: suggest that the student, or whoever pays the rent, sets up a standing order or signs a direct debit mandate (domiciliëring). Payment then no longer depends on an action every month.
• Know who pays: if the parents pay the rent, note which account the payments come from. That avoids confusion, but does not make the parents a party to the contract.
• Follow up in the first days after the due date: the sooner you notice a missed payment, the smaller the arrears and the easier the conversation.
• Calculate correctly: if you adjust the rent through indexation, check the calculation. A disputed amount weakens every reminder. See calculating rent indexation.

Talk to the student first

A missed payment is not always unwillingness. A study grant that is paid out late, a student job that falls away or a problem at home: a short conversation often tells you where you stand. Ask what is going on and when the student can pay. If you agree on a payment plan, put it in writing, for example in an email with the amounts and dates.

Students with financial problems can turn to the social service of their educational institution. At KU Leuven, for example, the student services (Stuvo) offer an advance on the study grant when its payment takes too long, a grant of their own and an interest-free loan. Other universities and university colleges have similar student services. Feel free to point the student to them: it helps them, and it helps you get your rent.

According to vlaanderen.be, tenant and landlord can also try to clear the arrears with help from the public social welfare centre (OCMW). The OCMW can request a contribution from the Fund to combat evictions (Fonds ter bestrijding van de uithuiszettingen) when it supports a tenant in paying off rent arrears. Whether that is possible in a specific case is up to the OCMW.

From reminder to formal notice by registered letter

If payment still does not arrive, build up the follow-up step by step. That gives the student a chance each time and at the same time builds a file that will convince the justice of the peace later. The Flemish government itself points out that a clear system with several warnings before a claim for dissolution leads to a stronger file.

Interest. For late payment of a money debt such as rent, interest at the statutory rate is due from the day of the formal notice, unless the law or the contract makes interest run automatically (Article 5.240 of the Civil Code). Your registered formal notice therefore also starts the interest. You may agree on your own late-payment interest or a fixed damages clause in the contract, but the court can reduce such a clause if it is manifestly unreasonable. It cannot, however, reduce agreed late-payment interest below the statutory interest. FPS Finance publishes the statutory interest rate every year.

• Friendly reminder, shortly after the due date: by email or message, with the amount, the month and the payment reference.
• Formal reminder: if the first has no result, send a second one with a concrete deadline and a statement that you will take further steps otherwise.
• Formal notice by registered letter (ingebrekestelling): a registered letter in which you clearly demand payment, with an overview of the unpaid months, the total amount, a reasonable deadline and the account number. Vlaanderen.be explicitly mentions a registered letter as the way to summon a tenant in case of non-payment, and registered mail gives you proof of sending and of the date.
• Next step: if payment still does not arrive, you can ask for conciliation or start proceedings before the justice of the peace.

What a landlord may not do

However frustrating arrears are, self-help is ruled out. The landlord may not evict the tenant themselves and cannot dissolve the contract on their own either. Moreover, you must give the student quiet enjoyment of the room for as long as the lease runs. That obligation under Article 1719 of the old Civil Code also applies to student leases. A landlord who intervenes anyway breaches the contract themselves and weakens their position before the justice of the peace. So the following is not allowed:

• Changing the locks or denying the student access to the room in any other way.
• Cutting off electricity, heating, water or internet to put on pressure.
• Removing, keeping or putting out the student's belongings.
• Entering the room without permission, except in case of force majeure.
• Treating the contract as terminated, not even on the basis of a clause that would dissolve it automatically on non-payment. Such a clause is not valid.
• Having the student removed from the room without a judgment. An eviction only takes place on the basis of a judgment, enforced by a bailiff (gerechtsdeurwaarder).

Dissolution: only the justice of the peace decides

As a landlord you cannot terminate a student rental agreement early. In case of breach, such as rent arrears, you can however ask the justice of the peace to dissolve the contract. A clause that dissolves the contract automatically on non-payment, an express termination clause, is prohibited by Article 1762bis of the old Civil Code and therefore does not apply. More on the rules for the end of a student room contract in our guide on the student room rental contract.

The decree does not say after how many months of arrears the court dissolves the contract. In principle, the court first gives the tenant a period to meet their obligations after all. According to vlaanderen.be, it is generally accepted that justices of the peace dissolve the lease once there are three months of rent arrears. That is a rule of thumb from practice, not a legal threshold.

If the contract is dissolved through the student's fault, Article 1760 of the old Civil Code requires the student to pay rent for the time needed to re-let the room, on top of the unpaid rent and any damages.

Keep an eye on the end date as well. A student rental agreement ends automatically on the end date in the contract. If the contract ends soon, it is sometimes enough to claim payment of the arrears only. If the student stays in the room after the end date against your will, you still may not remove them yourself.

Proceedings before the justice of the peace

Disputes about a student rental agreement always fall under the justice of the peace of the place where the room is located, regardless of the amount. An arbitration clause in the contract is void. If you use the Flemish model contract, you also agree to first submit a dispute to the housing service of the educational institution before going to court.

Before starting proceedings, you can request amicable conciliation. To do so, you file a simple request at the registry of the justice of the peace court describing the dispute. This conciliation procedure is free of charge, and the parties are not obliged to appear or to reach an agreement. If you do reach an agreement, the court draws up a record of conciliation that has the force of a judgment. In ordinary proceedings, too, the justice of the peace always first tries to reconcile the parties. Only if that fails is the case dealt with on the merits.

You start proceedings with a petition (verzoekschrift) that you file at the registry, yourself or through a lawyer, or with a summons served by a bailiff. On pain of nullity, the petition must contain, among other things, the date, the name, date of birth and place of residence of you and the student, the subject and a short summary of your claim, and your signature. You attach a certificate of residence and date of birth of the student and a certificate of household composition, both issued by the municipality. Because the room is not the student's main residence, their legal residence is usually their parents' address.

In the petition you state what you are asking for: payment of the unpaid rent with interest, if applicable dissolution and eviction, release of the deposit in your favour and an order for the student to pay the legal costs. Proceedings involve costs such as the court registration fee (rolrecht) and a contribution to the budget fund for legal aid; the court decides in the judgment who bears them. The clerk summons the parties by judicial letter to a hearing within fifteen days of the petition being entered in the court register. An eviction can in principle only be carried out one month after the judgment has been served, and the bailiff informs the occupant of the actual date at least seven calendar days in advance.

Bring all your documents to the hearing, numbered and with an inventory. Justice of the peace courts recommend, among other things:

• the rental contract and proof of registration (see registering a lease via MyRent);
• the inspection report and proof of the deposit;
• your reminders and the formal notice by registered letter;
• a chronological overview of the rent that fell due and all (partial) payments.

The deposit, parents and guarantors

The rental deposit secures the student's obligations, including payment of the rent. When you can actually use it depends on where it is held. In a blocked account in the student's name, the bank only releases the money on the basis of a written agreement between both parties, drawn up no earlier than the end of the lease, or a court decision. So you can ask the justice of the peace to release the deposit in your favour. If the deposit is in your own account, you settle unpaid rent at the end of the lease and dispute the return by registered letter within three months after the student leaves. At a maximum of two months' rent, the deposit also rarely covers large arrears. More in our guide on the student room deposit.

Parents are not automatically a party to their child's rental contract, not even when they pay the rent. If you want to be able to claim from them directly, they must have committed themselves, for example by co-signing the contract or acting as guarantor. The Flemish model contract provides that the student's legal representative can be included in the rental agreement. If the student is a minor, they are best represented by their parents or guardian when the contract is signed.

For leases of a main residence, the decree explicitly provides that the deposit can also take the form of a personal guarantee by an individual, with the landlord's consent. The student lease rules do not mention that form: there the deposit is a sum of money or a security interest with a financial institution of at most two months' rent. If you want to include a guarantee by the parents, have the wording checked by a lawyer so that it does not conflict with the mandatory rules for student leases.

Bailiffs, enforcement and limitation period

A bailiff (gerechtsdeurwaarder) comes in at two moments: to summon the student if you do not start proceedings with a petition, and to serve and enforce the judgment. If the student still does not pay after the judgment, the bailiff can enforce it, for example by seizing assets. The bailiff also carries out an eviction order, within the time limits set out above.

Do not wait too long. According to vlaanderen.be, the landlord can no longer claim payment of rent arrears after five years. That period follows from Article 2277 of the old Civil Code, which applies to everything payable yearly or at shorter intervals, such as monthly rent. In practice, small arrears are also much easier to resolve than large ones.

This guide covers student rooms in Flanders. Brussels and Wallonia have their own rules for student leases: Brussels in the Brussels Housing Code, Wallonia in the Walloon decree of 15 March 2018 on residential leases. There too, rent disputes go to the justice of the peace, but the rules on the deposit and the procedure, among other things, differ. If you let in one of those regions, check the local rules separately.

How Kotmaster helps

Kotmaster takes most of the payment follow-up off your hands. Through the bank integration, incoming payments are automatically matched to the right tenant, so you immediately see who has paid and who has not. Payments are followed up automatically with reminders, also via your own WhatsApp Business account to tenants and, where agreed, their parents. You simply ask the built-in AI assistant: “Who hasn't paid November's rent yet?” Contracts are signed digitally with itsme®, and all documents per room are stored in one central place, which helps when you need to put together a file for the justice of the peace. Kotmaster also connects to Odoo, Exact Online, Octopus and Billit for your accounting. See the features or get in touch for a demo.

This guide provides general information about the Flemish rules on unpaid rent for student rooms and is not legal advice. If you are unsure about a specific situation, consult a lawyer or your landlords' association.