Tenant not paying rent: what to do right away, when to give notice and how an eviction order works

A first missed payment can mean a transfer error, temporary difficulties or the start of a longer dispute. First find out what happened, and get the payment overview and the lease ready. If the tenant needs time, agree on a specific amount and date. Without an agreement and further steps, the debt may keep growing every month.

Treat debt recovery, ending the tenancy and getting the flat back as separate matters. Starting one of these processes does not automatically resolve the others. An eviction order serves to recover the flat, not to recover the debt. Equally, paying off the debt does not mean the flat has been handed back.

Quick answer: tenant not paying rent

When a tenant fails to pay, verify the debt and contact them in writing promptly. A specific agreement may solve the problem; if it fails, prepare the documents for recovery. Notice without a notice period requires a particularly serious breach of obligations and other statutory conditions. The law gives as an example non-payment of rent and services for at least three months. A prior request to remedy the breach, proper delivery and information on objections and judicial review are essential. Once the tenancy has ended, an eviction order can be used if § 175a of the Civil Procedure Code is met. The debt and getting the flat back are separate tasks.

Never change the locks, cut off utilities or clear out belongings yourself.

Timeline: what to do when

The first deadlines in the table are a recommended working procedure, not statutory waiting periods. You don’t have to wait a full month before suing for an overdue debt, and the number of unpaid months alone is no substitute for assessing the conditions for notice. Before sending notice, have the current debt, the prior request, delivery and the information on rights checked. The point of the timeline is to react in time, not to send out the next document automatically by the calendar.

First step: check the due date and payments received

Before sending a reminder, check the due date in the lease, the payments received and how they were matched. Has the rent been changed by an amendment? Did the money arrive under a different variable symbol? Did you verbally agree to a later date that you don’t have in writing?

Keep a simple month-by-month record: rent, service charge advances, any shortfall from the annual statement and other claims listed separately. For each item, note the amount, reason, due date and any partial payments. The same overview will come in handy later for an agreement, a pre-action letter and in court.

Then contact the tenant. State which payment is missing and ask for an explanation and a specific payment date. A phone call can help uncover the cause, such as job loss, illness, divorce or a bank error. Confirm any important agreements in writing afterwards, at least by e-mail.

For the budget of a single flat, the size of the actual shortfall matters more than the national percentage of non-payers. With rent of 25,000 Kč and advances of 5,000 Kč, three completely unpaid months come to 90,000 Kč in this example. On top of that come the costs of dealing with it. That’s why it makes sense to react to the first missed payment rather than waiting for the debt to reach a certain amount.

An agreement needs a date, an amount and a checkpoint

In an instalment agreement, set specific amounts and dates. A vague promise like “I’ll sort it out somehow next week” isn’t enough for ongoing monitoring. Also agree how the tenant will pay current rent in the meantime. Otherwise they may be paying off old debt while building up new debt, and even after six months the total owed may not have gone down.

Put the instalment agreement in writing. Specify the debt by reason and amount, the instalment dates and payment of new rent. A valid acknowledgement of debt matters for evidence and the limitation period (§ 2053 and § 639 of the Civil Code). You can also agree on loss of the instalment benefit, but the right to demand the full debt must be exercised in time under § 1931 of the Civil Code. The agreement on its own is not yet an enforceable title.

Also consider whether the agreement matches the tenant’s real means. For both sides, an ending and handover agreed in good time is often better than continuing a tenancy that is no longer financially manageable. An agreement to end the tenancy with a handover date and a repayment schedule for the debt is often the fastest route to an empty flat.

Reminder and pre-action letter

A reminder flags a missing payment. A pre-action letter also matters for recovering legal costs. Under § 142a of the Civil Procedure Code, a successful claimant should send it at least seven days before filing suit to the address for service or the last known address. The law allows an exception for reasons deserving special consideration. A missing letter therefore doesn’t mean automatically losing the case, but it may jeopardise recovery of costs.

In the pre-action letter, specify the debt (lease, period and amounts), the account number and a specific payment deadline. As a practical deadline you can set, for example, 7 days from delivery; this is not the same rule as the § 142a requirement to send the letter at least 7 days before filing suit. Also warn of further steps, such as a lawsuit, default interest and legal costs. Send the letter by registered post to the address for service in the lease and also by e-mail. If the tenant has a data box, you can also send it that way, provided the lease allows for it (§ 2239(2) of the Civil Code).

Statutory default interest is based on the CNB repo rate on the first day of the calendar half-year in which the default occurred, plus eight percentage points (§ 2 of Government Regulation No. 351/2013 Coll.). Example: if the relevant repo rate is 3.75%, the interest comes to 11.75% per year. On a debt of 75,000 Kč, that’s roughly 24 Kč a day based on a 365-day year. For each late payment, check the relevant date, not just today’s rate.

You don’t have to wait for three unpaid months to act

You often hear that “nothing can be done for three months” with a non-paying tenant. That’s misleading. Reminders, an agreement and a lawsuit for payment can all start as soon as the payment is overdue. The three months relate to one thing only: notice without a notice period.

Two types of notice

Notice with a three-month notice period (§ 2288(1)(a) of the Civil Code) can be given for a gross breach of obligations, which includes repeated late payment of rent for less than three months. The notice period runs from the first day of the month following delivery.

Notice without a notice period (§ 2291 of the Civil Code) is an option for a particularly serious breach, notably where the tenant has not paid rent and service charges for at least three months. The tenant must hand over the flat without undue delay, at the latest within one month.

What a notice must include

• Written form and delivery (§ 2286(1) of the Civil Code). By registered post to the address for service, ideally also via data box or in person against signature.
• Stated grounds (§ 2288(3), § 2291(3) of the Civil Code).
• Information on the right to object and to seek judicial review (§ 2286(2) of the Civil Code). Without it, the notice is invalid.
• For notice without a notice period, a prior request to remedy the breach within a reasonable time (§ 2291(3) of the Civil Code). Without the request, the notice is disregarded as if it didn’t exist.

Within two months of delivery, the tenant may ask the court to review whether the notice was justified (§ 2290 of the Civil Code). A mistake in the notice or the procedure can drag things out by months, even if the debt itself is undisputed. So have a lawyer check the notice before you send it.

Eviction order from 2026: conditions and procedure

Until the end of 2025, court eviction of a non-paying tenant often took a year or more in practice. From 1 January 2026, Act No. 176/2025 Coll. introduced into the Civil Procedure Code the eviction order (§ 175a of the Civil Procedure Code) and special rules for disputes arising from the end of a tenancy (§ 196 of the Civil Procedure Code).

What this means in practice: the order is a powerful tool against a passive tenant who ignores demands. If the tenant files an objection, the case returns to the normal track, albeit sped up by the six-month target. Three unpaid months are not a condition for the order; what matters is that the tenancy has ended, whether by notice or by expiry of a fixed term, and a documented demand to vacate. The order doesn’t deal with the debt; that is sued for separately, for example through an electronic payment order (§ 174a of the Civil Procedure Code).

If the former tenant doesn’t comply with an enforceable decision voluntarily, enforcement of the decision or eviction through a bailiff is needed. Only then can you physically get the flat back. The time from the first debt to taking back the flat can’t be expressed as a universal number of months: it depends on delivery, the tenant’s defence and how the proceedings unfold. A promise of “guaranteed eviction within six months” has no basis in law.

A notarial deed can help, but the wording is key

A notarial deed with consent to enforceability (§ 71b of the Notarial Code) allows you, if the conditions are met, to skip the trial stage and go straight to enforcing eviction through a bailiff. The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court confirmed in decision 31 Cdo 225/2024 that the deed can serve as an enforceable title for vacating a flat if the obligation to vacate arises from the tenancy and the time for performance is precisely defined.

The catch lies precisely in defining the time for performance. The deed is typically tied to the end of a fixed term (“vacate within 5 days after 31 December 2026”). If the tenancy ends earlier through notice for non-payment, the date in the deed doesn’t move automatically and the deed only becomes enforceable after the original date. So it won’t help with a non-payer in the third month of a one-year lease. It will help with a tenant who simply won’t leave after the lease ends.

The deed requires both parties to cooperate at the notary and to meet precise enforceability conditions; it costs several thousand koruna depending on the value of performance. Check with a notary or lawyer in advance whether it suits your specific lease.

What never to do

Even as the owner of the flat, you cannot bypass the legal process because of a debt. On top of the unpaid rent, the following steps can lead to further disputes and claims against you:

• Changing the locks or blocking access. Interference with possession; the tenant can defend themselves with a lawsuit (§ 1003 et seq. of the Civil Code), and the matter may also have a criminal dimension (unlawful interference with the right to a house, flat or non-residential premises, § 208 of the Criminal Code).
• Cutting off electricity, water or heating. The same, plus liability for damages.
• Entering the flat unannounced and removing belongings. A breach of § 2219 of the Civil Code and a risk of criminal complaint.
• Publicising the debt or applying pressure through neighbours and employers. A breach of personality rights and GDPR.
• Holding on to the tenant’s belongings “until they pay”. The right of retention (§ 1395 of the Civil Code) has strict conditions, and exercising it over movable items in the tenant’s flat is risky.

The legal process protects you too. Alongside going to court, an agreement to end the tenancy and hand over the flat voluntarily remains possible; pressure is no substitute for it.

Problems other than non-payment

Non-payment is the most common ground for notice, but not the only one. A gross breach (§ 2288(1)(a) of the Civil Code) may include repeatedly disturbing the night-time quiet, subletting without consent (§ 2276 of the Civil Code), failing to report additional occupants (§ 2272 of the Civil Code) or refusing access for necessary repairs. A particularly serious breach (§ 2291(2) of the Civil Code) includes damaging the flat seriously or irreparably, causing serious damage or nuisance to the landlord or neighbours, or using the flat for purposes other than housing.

Prepare concrete evidence: a dated record describing the situation, photos, written complaints from neighbours or the owners’ association committee, or a police report. A complaint that the tenant is simply “causing problems” doesn’t say what happened, when or how often. Keep only evidence appropriate to the purpose and don’t collect private information unnecessarily.

Prevention before signing and during the tenancy

Some risks can be spotted before signing. Verify identity, a documented ability to cover total housing costs and relevant public registers, such as the insolvency register and the Central Register of Enforcements. A clean record is no guarantee of being debt-free; conversely, an entry is a reason to find out the circumstances and assess whether future payments are affordable. Members-only credit registers are not publicly accessible to ordinary landlords. You’ll also find a practical procedure in the guide how to rent out a flat and a document check in the article lease agreement.

After move-in, a clear due date, checking payments on that date and a quick response to the first delay all help. Don’t wait until the end of the month to check. Timely, factual communication gives the tenant room to deal with the problem before the debt grows.

And consider who will bear the shortfall. With standard management, the manager can organise debt recovery, but the financial risk itself stays with the owner. Partner+ adds contractual cover with a limit and conditions, while with Garant we become your tenant and pay the agreed amount under the contract. Neither option means automatically taking over all old debts or every conceivable risk. You’ll find the differences in the service comparison.

FAQ

Is the debt automatically paid from the security deposit?

Not automatically, and often not in full. The security deposit is at most three times the monthly rent, and a debt after three months of non-payment including services usually exceeds it. Make the set-off in writing when the tenancy ends (§ 2254(2) of the Civil Code) and pursue the rest.

Can I give notice after the first missed payment?

A single late payment usually doesn’t justify notice without a notice period. The severity of the breach and any other circumstances must be assessed case by case. First verify the debt and contact the tenant. If the problem recurs or is more serious, have a lawyer assess the appropriate type of notice.

Does an eviction order guarantee an empty flat within six months?

No. The six-month period (§ 196(3) of the Civil Procedure Code) applies to the court’s decision on the merits, not to physical eviction. The decision may be followed by an appeal and then eviction through a bailiff. The order speeds up proceedings considerably, but doesn’t guarantee a date.

What if the tenant disappears and leaves belongings in the flat?

If the tenant has clearly abandoned the flat, it is deemed handed over (§ 2292 of the Civil Code). You must not throw away belongings left in the flat; follow § 2296 of the Civil Code (request to collect, safekeeping, sale after the deadline). Document the situation and have a lawyer assess it.

Can I hand over management once a problem has already arisen?

Yes, but first we’ll review the lease and the steps taken so far. Neither new management nor a guarantee automatically takes over old debts. We’ll propose next steps based on the current situation.

This legal information is general and verified as of 12 September 2026. Have a lawyer review any specific demand, notice or court filing.

Legal sources: Civil Code, § 2286 to 2291, Civil Procedure Code, § 142a and § 175a, amendment No. 176/2025 Coll. and Supreme Court decision 31 Cdo 225/2024. The recommended reminder dates are not a statutory waiting period.