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I live in UK and have recently bought flat in Netherlands, found agent to rent it out and yesterday they told that they have found a tenant and sent me a contract to sign.

Turns out that 'tenant' that my agent has found is a company and not a person (which already feels dodgy since we agreed with agent that it will be a person), so I started doing some research. It turns out that this company ('Company X') is company that helps asylum seekers with getting accommodation (which I am happy with as long as I don't have problems to deal with).

However having done some (bad) enterprises to day, I got a bit more thorough (paranoid) and one potential possibility I see is that 'Company X' which has very little assets can sign hundreds of lease contracts with lenders like myself. This company places hundreds of asylum seeker families into flats with intention to pay their rents, but with no monetary 'buffer' or due to bad management (or many other potential reasons) fails to make payments. After it fails to make payments in around 2-3 months of non payments this goes to court, then 'Company X' goes bankrupt and gets liquidated in another 3-6 months all the while flat is occupied by non paying tenants that do not have direct obligation to myself but rather to the company that is going bankrupt.

Netherlands is a very pro-tenant country so question is: if payments by 'Company X' fail can I start eviction process immediately (like I would normally do with tenants) or do I need to wait for company to get liquidated and only then can start eviction process?

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  • I'm not in the Netherlands, but in most places you would be able to start the process immediately. Companies generally have the same or fewer rights then individuals. Maybe the solution is to insist that the director of the company sign as guarantor ? – davidgo Sep 18 '16 at 3:26
  • On the whole, asylum seekers appear to be no major financial risk as they can generally file for unemployment benefits and rent subsidies. And if your tenant doesn't pay you, you can garnish any rent subsidy. Still, as with any group there are exceptions to the general rule. – MSalters Sep 29 '16 at 0:16
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I got and answer from lawyer in Netherlands.

To rent out to the company is not without risks. You rent out to the company and the company rents out to the actual user of the apartment. That is subletting. The sub-lessee is protected by law. So when the company fails to pay, you can end the contract with the company (you have to go to court for this), but then you will become the lessor to the actual user (=sub-lessee) then. If you feel that that is against your interests, you have to start a court procedure within half a year to end the contract with the actual user.

Also note: it is forbidden to rent out to people that don't have a legal status. So you make sure you trust the company very well if you are going to rent out to them. I recommend to seek help from a real estate agent that is well known and member of NVM or other trustworthy organisation.

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