[size=13pt]Tenancy law: Lagos tasks tenants to challenge unfair rent hike[/size]

By Monsur Olowoopejo
Lagos State Government has urged sitting tenants whose landlords unreasonably increase their rents after the expiration of their advance payment to seek redress in the law court.

Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, gave the advice at a one-day day sensitisation programme held, last week, in Ikeja for stakeholders on the essence and workability of the new tenancy law.

According to him: “The right was provided for in the new law to check landlords who use   arbitrary rent increases to unlawfully eject sitting tenants who in most cases could not afford such increases.”

The tenancy law bans landlords from collecting advanced rents in excess of one year in respect of new tenants and six months for sitting tenants. It prescribes N100, 000 fine or three months for violators which also include tenants who offer to pay more than what is prescribed by the law.

“We are aware that some landlords deliberately increase rents after the expiration of their initial contracts with their tenants as a way of ejecting them and get new tenants who would pay them in advance. Most times, these increases are as high as 100 percent or more.

The government   believes this is exploitative and so we made a provision in the new tenancy law giving tenants   the power to challenge such unreasonable increases in court.

The courts would now determine whether such increases are right based on some considerations and if not justified, the landlords would be asked to review such downwards,” he said.

Ipaye further noted that the state has, in the alternative, established mediation centres across the state to intervene in conflicts arising from rent increases with a view to achieving amicable settlements.

On why the state exempted some highbrow areas in some aspects of the law, the commissioner said the government based the exemption on the peculiarities of the areas as well the status of tenants. The government had said the ban on advance payment of rents in excess of one year did not apply in Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Ikeja GRA and Apapa.

“Most of the tenants in these areas are companies who as a matter of convenience prefer to pay in advance, sometimes ten years. We don’t want to discourage them and we don’t want to discourage investments in real estate in those areas,” he said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/tenancy-law-lagos-tasks-tenants-to-challenge-unfair-rent-hike/

Sounds sweet, but poverty n non availabilty of affordable house has turned many tenants to cowards.

Double standard on rent edict. Why exempting landlords in Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Ikeja GRA and some other highbrow areas from the rent edict? This is bound to fail. Since the law is for Lagos State landlords, it must be made to apply to all.



Highbrow areas exempted from Lagos tenancy law

On September 19, 2011 · In Law & Human Rights
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By Yinka Kolawole

Property located in highbrow areas and those occupied by some commercial outfits are exempted from the operations of the recently enacted Lagos tenancy law.

Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, gave reasons for this at a business luncheon recently organised by the Lagos chapter of the Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors & Valuers (NIESV) in Ikeja.

According to him, government deliberately exempted certain class of property, especially those occupied by banks and other commercial outfits from the tenancy law, as well as those in Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki, Apapa and Ikeja GRA, because it is believed that those living in such areas have higher bargaining power than those in other areas of the state.

He said the law was made to safeguard the interests of both the tenants and landlords in the state, and is not rent control legislation, adding that government is open to amending appropriate areas of the law where such can impact positively on the larger society. He noted that government will soon issue an executive order to address conflicting areas like fixed term lease, renting of warehouses and other commercial properties in the law.

The commissioner said that the tenancy law was government’s way of striking a balance between the interests of the landlords and tenants in the state, noting that abound of landlords suffering in the hands of tenants, who exploit the loopholes in the existing laws to live in a house without paying for it.

“Government is duty bound to protect the life and property of every citizen because we cannot encourage a situation where people take laws into their hands. I quarrel with that line of thinking that seems to suggest that we are not matured for that kind of legislation. It is like saying the government should create an ideal situation before the citizenry starts abiding by certain standards of behaviour. Even in advanced countries, they don’t get it right at first before they enact a law.

“The law protects the landlord against troublesome, sit-tight tenants. It also protests the tenant from unreasonable demands of some landlords. “The essence of the law is to ensure that all citizens are protected by the state,” he said.

Ipaye cited a case where a tenant stayed in a particular house for 15 years without paying to his landlord, exploiting the lapses in the judicial system due to stay of execution which deprived the landlord the use of his property. He argued that when a prospective tenant is seeking accommodation and he is made to pay advance rent, he would squeeze his family and acquaintances to raise the initial sum and, henceforth, may not be able to pay leading to altercation between the parties.

“If you can build a house with N50 million, is it the two years rent that will enable you offset the cost of your building? People are ready to pay the initial sum and then go to court afterwards; this enables tenants stay on a property though they are in default because they exploit the various loopholes in law.”

The commissioner emphasized that the law is not about rent control. “It must be noted that the law is not rent control legislation. The law however controls indiscriminate rent increase. A sitting tenant may apply to the court for an order declaring that the increase in rent payable under his tenancy agreement is unreasonable.

“However, in coming to a determination as to what is reasonable, the court will consider, among other things, the general level of rent for comparable premises in the locality.

The provision, therefore, protects the interest of both the landlord and the tenant. This is the aspect of the law that has arguably generated the most commentary. To start with, it must be made clear that the law is not rent control legislation.

Unlike its predecessors, it does not stipulate what should be the rent to respect of transaction. That is subject to the agreement of the parties. What the law does is to prohibit the demand of more than six months rents from monthly tenant and one year rent from a sitting yearly tenant. In respect of new tenancy, one-year rent is the maximum allowed to be demanded or received under the law,” he stated.

A good move in the right direction.
BUT, they must follow it to the latter

i believe the people who are shouting and making noise about this law are mostly real estate agents who have been driving the real estate market into chaos prior to now and getting the most money into their pockets

now that the govt is bringing sanity, they are making noise, i hope the lagos state govt stays determined and makes enforcement possible by properly manning and expediting cases that will come initially, hopefully after a year or two tenants and landlords will see the gains and push the agents out of the way

should we challenge poor infrastructure in Lagos?
should we challenge bad/poor/non-existent governance?
should we challenge tolling of uncompleted roads?
should we challenge the Agbero menace on our streets?
should we challenge the government backed Omo Oniles (olumegbon and co)?
should we challenge insecurity in our land?
should we challenge those who pay our tax(common welath) to one man in the name of tax consultancy?
should the we challenge Godfatherism in Lagos?

Finally those who advise us to challenge a Landlord over his property, can they please advice Mr. Fashola to be a man and stand up to TINUBU over Lagos issues after we elected Fashola not Tinubu?[color=#990000][/color]

^^^^^^^^
don't go there o!!
all fingers are not equal.
just do as you are told.

basic principles of economics, provide simple and cheap housing for citizens.
cheap available mortgage for employed individuals with steady income
these are common basic steps to tackle housing issues.
a steady employed individual or married couple have no business paying rent, what they should be paying is mortgage.
all these will reduce house rent,
i see people pay up to between 600,000 to 1,000,000.00 as rent, if you buy a house on mortgage and pay 1m per yr for 20 yrs, that is 20m and the house is yours'
no matter the policies, the situation is just going to get worse,
demand exceed supply, landlord are thin gods in Lagos, u dare not question your landlord, over a hundred tenants to be are queuing up to inspect your house before you move out

I dont seem to understand this rent control law in Lagos. Is it only the tenant that has rights? What of the Landlord? What happens if a tenant refuses to pay his rent after the expiration of the advance? Some wicked tenants will refuse to pay waiting for the landlord to take him to court knowing that court case in Nigeria can linger for years. Remember he will not pay rent while the case is ongoing. At the conclusion of the case the tenant will only be asked to vacate the house. Has the landlord not become the loser? What protection does the landlord have in the law against wicked tenants?

The tenancy law will not work.

The landlords in other areas have the same fundamental rigts as those in highbrow areas.

@Mr. Ipaye, Lagos Attornet general and Comm. for Justice:

What the law does is to prohibit the demand of more than six months rents from monthly tenant and one year rent from a sitting yearly tenant. In respect of new tenancy, one-year rent is the maximum allowed to be demanded or received under the law,” he stated.

From my understanding, "a monthly Tenant" is one whose tenancy is determined on a month-by-month basis i.e he pays monthly!
So, if a tenant is a monthly Tenant, how can or how possible is it for a landlord to ask him to pay for six months in one go?
What is the commissioner saying/implying above?

Again,
a "sitting yearly Tenant" is one whose tenancy is determined on a "Yearly basis i.e he pays yearly or once a year!
So, if a tenant is a "Yearly Tenant", how can or how possible is it for a landlord to ask him to pay for "more than one year" in one go

What is the commissioner saying/implying above? Abi Oga don dey smoke weed on duty?

Instead of all these "noise", l was expecting that he would come out with step-by-step guidelines on:

1.) what a Tenant should do if Landlord demands more than the stipulated advance rent e.g. call this number, fill this affidavit form and govt will take such landlord up in court.
Legal fees are not for 'Mama Risikat the Tomato seller' naah?

2.) If a tenant refuses to pay his "legal rent" and therefore deprives the landlord of his property. e.g, we have this body in place with xyz phone numbers where we would have an "accelerated court hearing" and such tenant can be booted out ASAP so the landlord can have use of his property.

But what we get are all these rantings and political maneuverings!
Abegii joor!

lastpage: @Mr. Ipaye, Lagos Attornet general and Comm. for Justice:

From my understanding, "a monthly Tenant" is one whose tenancy is determined on a month-by-month basis i.e he pays monthly!
So, if a tenant is a monthly Tenant, how can or how possible is it for a landlord to ask him to pay for six months in one go?
What is the commissioner saying/implying above?

Again,
a "sitting yearly Tenant" is one whose tenancy is determined on a "Yearly basis i.e he pays yearly or once a year!
So, if a tenant is a "Yearly Tenant", how can or how possible is it for a landlord to ask him to pay for "more than one year" in one go

What is the commissioner saying/implying above? Abi Oga don dey smoke weed on duty?

Instead of all these "noise", l was expecting that he would come out with step-by-step guidelines on:
2.) If a tenant refuses to pay his "legal rent" and therefore deprives the landlord of his property. e.g, we have this body in place with xyz phone numbers where we would have an "accelerated court hearing" and such tenant can be booted out ASAP so the landlord can have use of his property.

But what we get are all these rantings and political maneuverings!
Abegii joor!

i wish that daft man came up with this. i'm facing something similar here...

loganx: basic principles of economics, provide simple and cheap housing for citizens.
cheap available mortgage for employed individuals with steady income
these are common basic steps to tackle housing issues.
a steady employed individual or married couple have no business paying rent, what they should be paying is mortgage.
all these will reduce house rent,
i see people pay up to between 600,000 to 1,000,000.00 as rent, if you buy a house on mortgage and pay 1m per yr for 20 yrs, that is 20m and the house is yours'
no matter the policies, the situation is just going to get worse,
demand exceed supply, landlord are thin gods in Lagos, u dare not question your landlord, over a hundred tenants to be are queuing up to inspect your house before you move out

Very good point.