Rent arrears in Kenya: what a landlord can and cannot do

Start early, and in writing

Arrears are easiest to recover in the first month. Talk to the tenant as soon as a payment is late, and agree a date. If it is missed, send a written demand that states the amount owed, the months it covers and the date by which it must be paid. No law requires a demand letter, but it shows you acted in good faith if the matter reaches court. A short payment plan agreed in writing often recovers more than any of the steps below.

Distress for rent

The Distress for Rent Act lets a landlord recover arrears by seizing and selling the tenant's goods. It must be done through a licensed auctioneer acting on your written instructions, never by you or your caretaker.

• The auctioneer issues a proclamation listing each item seized. Courts have thrown out proclamations that only said "all distrainable goods".
• Distress cannot be levied between sunset and sunrise or on a Sunday.
• After the seizure and a notice on the premises, the tenant has 14 days to pay the rent and costs before the goods can be sold. Any money left over after the sale goes to the tenant.
• Tools of trade, bedding and clothing up to a small value, and things in actual use, cannot be taken.
• Wrongful distress can cost the landlord double the value of the goods in damages.

For homes let at KES 2,500 a month or less, distress needs the Rent Restriction Tribunal's permission first. For business premises under a controlled tenancy, the Business Premises Rent Tribunal can permit it. Courts have ruled differently on whether its permission is needed, so ask an advocate before you act.

Ending the tenancy

For a month-to-month tenancy, the Land Act requires notice of at least one rent period, ending on a rent day. To end a lease early because rent is unpaid, you must first serve at least 30 days' notice naming the breach and asking for it to be put right. The tenant can ask the court for relief. If they stay on, possession comes through a court order. Taking the unit back yourself is only lawful when nobody is living in it.

Different rules apply in two cases:

• Business premises under a controlled tenancy: notice must be on the prescribed form, give at least two months and state the grounds. Two months' arrears is one of them. The tenant can refer it to the Business Premises Rent Tribunal.
• Homes let at KES 2,500 a month or less: at least a month's written notice, and possession only by order of the Rent Restriction Tribunal.

Which court

Most homes have no tribunal of their own, so claims for arrears and possession go to the Magistrates' Court or the Environment and Land Court. If you only want the money, the Small Claims Court hears claims of up to KES 1 million and is quicker, but it cannot order a tenant out.

What not to do

Locking a tenant out, cutting off water or electricity, taking off doors or the roof, or carrying goods away yourself are not lawful ways to recover rent, however much is owed. For low-rent homes, cutting services or harassing a tenant to leave is a criminal offence. For other tenancies, the tenant can get an injunction and damages, and an evicted tenant is released from the rent. Courts and tribunals have said so plainly. In Old Port Hardware Ltd v Patel (2009, KEHC 3617) the High Court found a prima facie case of unlawful eviction where doors were demolished and the roof removed at dawn without a court order. In Mohamed v Barwakko Stores Ltd (2025, KEBPRT 381) the Business Premises Rent Tribunal held that cutting a tenant's electricity without consent or a tribunal order was unlawful. In both kinds of case, the landlord who took the shortcut ends up owing more than the arrears.

Fewer arrears to begin with

Most arrears start as a missed reminder or a payment nobody matched to the right tenant. PropertyView raises the month's invoices on time, sends reminders by email, SMS and the tenant portal, matches M-Pesa payments to their invoices, and keeps an arrears list that updates itself. You see who is late on the first day, not the thirtieth.

Checked against the Land Act 2012, the Distress for Rent Act, the Rent Restriction Act and the Landlord and Tenant (Shops, Hotels and Catering Establishments) Act on 18 October 2026. This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. For a dispute, speak to an advocate.