A tenant proposes to repay their confirmed arrears in monthly instalments. You want to examine a viable solution. Before any signatures are discussed, the plan must answer a simple question: Will the old arrears actually decrease under the proposed payments while the ongoing liability remains covered? The following preview is an editorial decision aid with fictitious figures.
Record the starting point together
Start with a definitive balance at a specific date. Separate undisputed past rent, contested items and costs that are still unresolved. A figure that the two parties understand differently is unsuitable as a starting value. A payment plan should not, by repetition, confirm a claim that has not been legally examined.
In addition, set out the continuing payment obligations. Record which ongoing monthly liability is assumed in the preview and which future changes are still open. The arrears instalment needs its own line. It must not at the same time appear as the full ongoing monthly payment.
Run two proposals through the numbers
Fictitiously, a settled arrears of 1.800 euros and a monthly ongoing rent of 900 euros are agreed. Proposal A states a monthly total payment of 1.050 euros: in the simplified model 900 euros cover the ongoing liability and 150 euros go towards the arrears. After one completed full payment 1.650 euros of old arrears remain. With no further items or changes it would be paid off after twelve such payments.
Proposal B, by contrast, specifies 900 euros in total and designates 150 euros of that as an arrears instalment. That simultaneously leaves 150 euros missing for the current month. The old arrears are indeed reduced on paper, but a new arrears arises to the same amount. Overall 1.800 euros remain outstanding. A politely labelled repayment schedule has only moved the problem between columns.
These calculations do not say whether 1.050 euros are available to the household. Do not let an unrealistic promise seem plausible through a longer table. The tenant may use suitable advice to check their own affordability; the landlord side does not require a complete monitoring of private expenditure.
Turn the proposal into a clear review template
Record total payment, ongoing portion, additional repayment portion, dates and planned closing balance. Discuss how identifiable allocation issues should be handled for actual receipts. § 1415 ABGB contains general rules on part payments and on the agreed discharge of different items. No blanket decision about an already received payment follows from that here. [A1415]
Also distinguish later payment from a genuine waiver of the claim. § 1444 ABGB deals with the possible extinguishment of a liability through a rightful waiver. A desired relief should therefore be presented concretely for legal review: Which item remains, which will merely be paid later and which should possibly be cancelled? [A1444]
Review the plan during implementation
Carry forward for each month the due amount, actual receipt and remaining total balance. An announced instalment only counts as a completed payment when it has been duly realised. If the course deviates, document the deviation and seek appropriate advice again.
Before finalisation, in particular costs, interest, authority to represent and consequences for proceedings already underway or declared terminations must be clarified by specialists. This calculation method contains no contractual clauses and no automatic promise to continue the tenancy. Its result is a verifiable basis for decision-making: an understandable starting balance, two separate payment streams and a total arrears that actually decreases under the agreed assumptions.