These feel like one problem because they are happening to you at the same time. Legally they are two, and the order matters: the arrears demand comes first, and it is what makes everything after it possible. Start with a formal notice in your own name, with the exact months, the exact amount, and a dated deadline.
Serve-ready notice from ₹299, or ₹799 and we post it by Registered Post A.D. — a lawyer charges ₹2,000–5,000 for the same letter.
One or two sentences in your own words. We match them against what each document is for and point you at the right one — nothing is sent anywhere, and nothing is saved.
This is the same checklist we show once you've bought the notice. Nothing here is a test you can fail: it tells you what to gather, not whether you're allowed to act.
Missing one of these does not stop you sending anything. It does mean this is the first thing you will be asked for, so it is the first thing worth chasing.
The rental agreement
It sets the rent, the due date and who owes it. Almost every question about arrears is answered from it.
If you don't have it: An unregistered or expired agreement still helps. No paper at all? Add the messages where the rent was agreed.
A record of what was paid and what was not
The arrears table in your notice is built from this. An unproved figure is the easiest thing for a tenant to dispute.
If you don't have it: A bank statement showing which months came in, or even your own dated notebook, is a real record — add it.
Not strictly required, and the difference between a demand that gets taken seriously and one that gets ignored is usually somewhere in here.
The reminders you sent about the unpaid rent
They show the tenant knew and did nothing, which is the difference between a demand and a surprise.
If you don't have it: One dated WhatsApp message asking for the rent is enough to add here.
Useful context. Skip any of these you do not have — none of them is worth delaying over.
Proof the property is yours
Rarely disputed, but if the tenant does challenge your standing, this ends the argument immediately.
If you don't have it: A tax receipt, EB bill or sale deed in your name all work.
Missing something? Send it anyway. Most people in a genuine dispute have less on paper than they should. The list is here so you know what to chase, not so you're told to wait.
The law gives you a window, not a wall. Here is what it actually says — never a date, because only you know when this started, and never a verdict on your case, because that is a lawyer's judgment, not this page's.
Suit for arrears of rent must generally be filed within 3 years of each instalment falling due
Counted from: each month's rent falling due — separately for each month, so recent arrears can still be live even if the earliest are not
If you think you're already past it: The earliest months may be past the window while the recent ones are not — that is normal, not a reason to drop the claim. A written acknowledgement or a part-payment restarts the clock, and the forum that governs your tenancy may run its own timelines besides.
Limitation Act, 1963 — Schedule, Article 52 (arrears of rent)
Describe what happened
Tell us the facts in plain words — who owes what, and since when. You confirm every detail before anything is final.
Preview your notice free
See the full serve-ready legal notice in your own name — the exact amount, the demand, and a firm deadline — before you pay.
Download, or let us post it
Download the serve-ready PDF for ₹299, or pay ₹799 and we send it by Registered Post A.D. and email you the tracking number.
We post it on Wednesday 2 September. Miss that date and we refund your ₹799 in full — guaranteed.
Should I demand the rent first, or just try to get him out?
Demand the rent first, in writing. It is the cheaper and faster action, it is often what actually ends the standoff, and it builds the dated record — the exact arrears, the exact months, a deadline that passed — that every route after it depends on. Sending an eviction demand while the arrears have never been formally demanded leaves you with the harder case and nothing on paper.
I never registered a rental agreement. Do I still have any rights?
Two different answers, and you need both. For the money: yes — rent owed to you does not stop being owed because nothing was signed. Bank transfers, UPI history, rent receipts and WhatsApp messages where he acknowledges the amount can support the demand. For getting the property back in Tamil Nadu: be careful, because the honest answer is uncomfortable. Without a registered tenancy agreement the Rent Court fast-track is not available to you, and your eviction route is a regular civil suit, which is slower. The Madras High Court has said so more than once. If the tenancy is continuing, getting a registered agreement in place now is what buys you the fast route next time.
The police said they can't help. Is that right?
Largely, yes — unpaid rent and refusal to vacate are civil matters, so the police will usually decline to act, and that is the point at which most landlords give up. It does not mean you have no remedy. It means the remedy is a written demand with a deadline, and then, if that is ignored, a civil route. Cutting off water or power, or removing his belongings, is not a remedy — it is illegal and it will damage your own case.
Will a notice actually make him pay or leave?
Sometimes, and we will not pretend otherwise. A formal notice in your own name, properly served, changes a situation from an argument into a dated record, and for many tenants that is the moment it stops being free to ignore you. It is not a court order and nobody can guarantee he responds. What it does guarantee is that you have taken the recognised first step and can prove it — which is exactly what you need if he does not.
What does this cost compared to a lawyer?
Advocates commonly quote several thousand rupees just to draft and send one notice, and you wait days for it. Here you get the serve-ready notice in minutes for a fraction of that, in your own name — or we print it and post it by Registered Post with Acknowledgment Due and email you the tracking number, so the proof of service is yours. We are a document service, not a law firm, and for a genuinely complex dispute we will tell you when a lawyer is the better call.
Free preview · from ₹299 · ready in minutes
What this costs, and what you get for it
Not ready to send anything yet? Read the free step-by-step guide first
Been sent a notice yourself? Check what it means, free — upload the notice, summons or letter that landed on you and find out what it says and whether it's genuine, in plain English, Tamil, Telugu or Hindi. Nothing to pay, and it's a separate job from sending one of your own.
Agreements.co.in is a document service, not a law firm — we don't give legal advice or guarantee outcomes. You send the notice in your own name and confirm every detail before you pay.