A well drafted contract costs less than the dispute it prevents. The office drafts and reviews contracts, and handles what goes wrong afterwards: rent that stops coming in, agreements that are not kept, and properties that are not handed back.
How the process runs
- 01
Reading the contract
What was written decides almost everything that follows. The first step is to read the contract, the addenda and the correspondence exchanged.
- 02
Formal demand
A formal notice to the other side with a period to comply. Many cases end here, and it is the step the law requires before the ones that follow.
- 03
Termination or proceedings
Termination of the contract where there are grounds, and then the special eviction procedure or court proceedings, depending on the case.
- 04
Possession and recovery
Getting the property back and enforcing the unpaid rent, which runs separately from the handover.
What is covered
Contracts generally
Drafting and review before signature, with the terms on duration, price, breach and termination written so that they can actually be enforced.
Residential tenancies
Term, renewal, rent increases, deposit and guarantor, and the notices the law requires to be given in writing.
Commercial tenancies
Shops, offices and warehouses, including the transfer of a going concern and assignment of the tenancy.
Rent arrears
Formal demand to the tenant, termination of the tenancy on proper grounds, and recovery of the rent already due.
Eviction
The special eviction procedure at the National Tenancy Desk, or court proceedings where the case does not fit it.
Notice and opposition to renewal
Ending the tenancy at the landlord's or the tenant's initiative, with the notice periods each situation requires.
Common questions
What to bring to the first conversation
None of this is required to book. The more there is in the first conversation, the more concrete the answer.
- The tenancy agreement and every addendum
- Rent receipts and proof of the payments outstanding
- Correspondence between landlord and tenant, with dates
- The property tax record and proof that the contract was reported to the tax authority
This page describes the practice in general terms. Every case turns on its own facts and on the stage it has reached, so nothing here replaces looking at the file itself.