When should you chase a late lessee?

As early as possible, but in a graduated way. On virement.tn, a reminder goes out three days before the due date, then follow-ups at 1, 7 and 15 days late, each step being sent only once.

Which indicators should you track to steer collections?

The collection rate, the average delay weighted by amounts, the number of overdue contracts and the list of the most at-risk contracts.

Should a penalty be applied for every delay?

It is a commercial and contractual decision. A tool should above all let you apply it consistently, with a daily rate or a fixed amount defined in advance.

Leasing rent collection in Tunisia: the method

Collecting leasing rent does not start on the day of the delay: it starts at the creation of the contract, when the schedule, the follow-up rules and the thresholds are set. Here is a six-step method, whatever your tool.

1. Start from a reliable schedule

Each contract must have a dated, quantified schedule: amount of each installment, frequency, number of installments. If the schedule is approximate, all the monitoring will be too. A schedule entered once and then applied automatically avoids recalculating by hand every month.

2. Remind before the due date

A large number of delays are not refusals to pay: they are oversights. A reminder sent a few days before the due date — on virement.tn, three days before — costs almost nothing and avoids part of the delays.

3. Detect the delay the very next day

Don't discover a delay at month end. The delay must be calculated every day, per installment, in number of days. It is this figure that drives the follow-up, the penalty and the contract's status.

4. Follow up in steps

A single follow-up on day 1 and then silence is not a method. A graduated follow-up — for example at 1, 7 and then 15 days — gives the lessee time to catch up while showing that the delay is being tracked. The important point: a follow-up must not be sent twice for the same step.

5. Frame it with penalties and a default threshold

The late-payment penalty, if your contract provides for one, must be applied consistently: a daily rate or a fixed amount, defined in advance.
The default threshold: after how many days late does a contract move “into default”? Set contract by contract, this threshold triggers the appropriate handling (commercial contact, restructuring, proceedings).
Flexibility: postponing an installment or revising its amount can be more profitable than going to litigation, provided it remains documented.

6. Steer with four indicators

Indicator	Question it answers
Collection rate	What share of what is due has been collected?
Weighted average delay	What is the average age of delays, taking amounts into account?
Overdue installments	How many, and for what amounts?
At-risk contracts	Which ones should be handled first?

The average delay weighted by amount prevents a small, very late rent installment from masking a large, slightly late one.

What this looks like with virement.tn

This is exactly the mechanism of virement.tn for leasing: a schedule per contract, a reminder three days before, delay recalculated every night, graduated follow-ups, penalties, default threshold, indicators and CSV export of the portfolio. The lessee pays each rent installment by bank transfer from their bank: there is no direct debit.

Want to understand the logic of installments themselves? See the installment payments page.