PURPOSE: Optimum return appears to be a tangible motive of Investors of Real Estate Investments. This motive over the years has been bedeviled with rent arrears or defaults by renters of properties in the property sector. This situation, to Property Managers and their Principals is worrisome. It is on this basis that this study attempts to assess the factors influencing rent arrears in Minna rental market.

DESIGN / METHODS FOLLOWED / APPROACH: The study employs data on various aggregate factors such as selection criteria, management subsystem, economic factors, tenancy arrangement, dwelling unit features and external household attributes influencing rent payments. Simple random sampling was used to administer

questionnaire to renters of residential properties in Minna while simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to administer questionnaires to property managers. Spearman’s rank Correlation and Simple Multiple Regression are statistical tools used.

FINDINGS: Evidence from renters reveals slightly large association between decrepit economic condition, deteriorating dwelling unit features and rent arrears while decrepit economic condition, weak selection criteria and annual tenancy arrangement are correlated with the level of rent defaults from property managers’ percept. The correlation results confirm the regression analysis which reveals significant relationship between predicted variable and explanatory variables in both cases (p-values < 0.01).

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The study recommends that government should create jobs for her citizens and provide enabling environment for entrepreneurs while property managers should pay more attention to selection of tenants and encourage instalmental payments of rents before they are due as well as enforce both landlords and tenants to carry out their tenancy obligations.

ORIGINALITY / VALUE OF WORK: This research unravels the critical factors responsible for rental arrears in an urban settlement in Nigeria.