Rent in Arrears: A Hong Kong Landlord's Guide

When a tenant stops paying rent, a landlord's first question is usually: how much can I actually get back? It looks like a simple question, but getting it wrong is easy — claim too much, and the adjudicator will question your calculation; claim too little, and you've simply given away money that was owed to you. This article isn't about the sequencing question — what to do first, in what order (that's covered in Dealing with a Rent Defaulter in Hong Kong: What to Do, in Order) — it's focused on one thing: working out a claim figure that holds up, and filing it correctly.

How much can you actually claim

Many landlords start with "the tenant owes me three months' rent," but the Small Claims Tribunal looks for a full calculation, not just that number.

The first layer is the unpaid rent itself — counted month by month from the first missed payment through to termination or the date of filing. The second layer is whatever the tenancy agreement makes the tenant liable for, most commonly rates and government rent: according to CLIC, in the absence of any express provision, "rent" is generally understood to already cover such ongoing expenses — meaning a tenant does not automatically owe them on top. But regardless of what the agreement says, the landlord, as the registered owner, remains primarily liable to the Government for rates and government rent, and that doesn't change just because the tenancy shifts the cost to the tenant. In other words, whether the tenant owes this money depends on whether the agreement says so in writing — don't assume it if it doesn't. The third layer is late-payment interest — if the tenancy agreement expressly provides for it, an interest clause on late rent or other sums due is generally enforceable, but only because the agreement says so — it is not a right the law grants automatically. If there's no interest clause, don't include it in the claim.

Get all three layers right, and you have a figure you can actually stand behind — not a rough estimate.

Handling the deposit honestly

Once you've worked out what's owed, the next step is one many landlords skip: the deposit should be applied before filing, not worked out afterwards.

The logic is simple — you're already holding money (the deposit), and using it to offset part of the loss is only fair. An adjudicator reading a claim that already accounts for the deposit sees something very different from one that never mentions it — the first reads as a clean, honest number; the second invites the question of whether you're claiming more than you're owed.

Worth noting: according to CLIC, whether a landlord who has forfeited the deposit can still separately claim losses beyond it — such as rent lost while unable to find a replacement tenant — is case-specific and depends heavily on how the tenancy agreement is worded; there's no single standard answer. The safest approach is to check the agreement's own terms before filing, to work out exactly what the deposit covers and what's still owed after it's applied. For more on handling deposit issues specifically, see Rental Deposit Dispute: How to Recover Your Money in Hong Kong.

Over HK$75,000 — which way to go

If the figure comes to HK$75,000 or under, the Small Claims Tribunal is the most direct route: filing fees range from $20 to $120 across four bands (up to $5,000 = $20; over $5,000 to $25,000 = $40; over $25,000 to $50,000 = $70; over $50,000 to $75,000 = $120). If a landlord only wants the unpaid rent back — not possession — that's a straightforward money claim for the arrears.

But if the figure runs slightly over $75,000, there are two routes: abandon the excess and keep the claim under $75,000, staying in the simpler, lawyer-free Small Claims Tribunal — or take the full amount to the District Court. According to CLIC, where a landlord is only recovering rent, the District Court handles claims over $75,000 but not exceeding $3,000,000. Staying in the Small Claims Tribunal costs you the abandoned excess permanently; moving to the District Court means a more complex procedure and greater costs exposure. Which one fits depends on how much you'd be giving up and how much you value the simpler, cheaper process. For the full Small Claims Tribunal filing process, see Small Claims Tribunal Guide: Claim Limits, Fees, Procedure.

The evidence that actually wins

Once the figure and the route are settled, the next job is building the case. These are the core pieces of evidence in a rent-arrears claim:

• A stamped tenancy agreement, plus the stamping record. According to the Inland Revenue Department, an unstamped tenancy agreement cannot be received in evidence in civil court proceedings, and cannot be acted upon, filed or registered by a public officer or body corporate; a tenancy agreement must be stamped within 30 days of execution, with liability for stamp duty shared by the parties who signed it. If your agreement was never stamped, deal with that first — without it, the agreement itself cannot serve as your evidence.
• Bank-in and transfer records. Bank deposit slips and FPS transfer records show exactly how much rent was received and when payments stopped — far more persuasive than a verbal account of what the tenant said.
• Demand letters and message trails. A formal demand letter, WhatsApp and email exchanges — together these build a timeline showing you made a reasonable effort to resolve things. For how to write one that holds up, see How to Write a Demand Letter Before Going to Small Claims Tribunal in Hong Kong.
• The tenant's identifying details. The tenant's Hong Kong ID number, or the company name and business registration details, as recorded on the tenancy agreement — these decide exactly how the "defendant" field on your claim form should read, which the next section explains.

For how to organise and present this evidence, see How to Prepare Evidence for Small Claims Tribunal.

Suing the individual or the company

This step is easy to overlook, but getting it wrong is costly: the name on your claim form must match the party who actually signed the tenancy agreement.

If the agreement was signed by the tenant personally (using their Hong Kong ID), the defendant should be that individual; if it was signed in the name of a limited company (company chop, signed by a director as representative), the defendant should be the company — not the individual director who signed on its behalf, unless a guarantor clause separately makes them personally liable. Naming the wrong defendant can, at best, mean amending documents and delaying the case, and at worst, lead the adjudicator to question the basis of the whole claim, forcing a fresh filing. Checking the signature block on the tenancy agreement and, where relevant, the company's registration details, before completing Form 1 and Form 2, is the last — and most easily overlooked — step before filing. For how to fill in the forms and the common mistakes to avoid, see How to Fill In a Small Claims Tribunal Claim Form.

The tenant has already moved out — can you still claim

If the tenant has surrendered the flat, or you can no longer reach them, does that mean the money is gone? Not necessarily.

The tenant moving out doesn't erase the arrears, rates or interest you've already calculated — you can still pursue the claim through the Small Claims Tribunal; it just means service of the summons (Form 3) needs to follow the Tribunal's procedure, and if the tenant's known address is no longer valid, confirming a service address may take an extra step. For how to handle belongings a tenant left behind, and how re-letting affects what you can ultimately recover, Dealing with a Rent Defaulter in Hong Kong: What to Do, in Order covers the full sequence — not repeated here. For a fuller picture of where your case fits, see Rent Arrears Recovery; if you'd like someone to check your figures and paperwork with you from calculation through to filing, our filing support service covers exactly that.