If you live in Lagos or any other urban arrangement in Nigeria, you would have probably had to deal with a dubious landlord or agent or (if you are a landlord) treacherous or nonchalant tenant. By signing a tenancy agreement, a tenant is subject to the terms of the lease which were set forth by the landlord which essentially means the landlord will take commensurate action if the tenant is deemed to default.
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The tenant, in turn, is well protected by extant laws against the excesses of dubious landlords and their agents. In this piece, we will be helping you understand how to undertake legal action if you happen to be on either side of the landlord/tenant divide.
Landlord
A tenancy agreement is as important a document as any a tenant will sign and is, in fact, the very basis of the relationship between the landlord and his tenant. A tenancy agreement is an agreement between a landlord and tenant which states the terms which both parties agreed. It must be in written form if it is to be valid legally. As a landlord, you must resist the temptation to forcefully remove or evict a tenant from the property as the court would view it as tantamount to harassment if the tenant happens to sue no matter what how troublesome he/she might be deemed by the landlord.
According to the Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011, a landlord can begin the eviction process if:
- The tenant is in arrears of rent.
- The tenant has been in breach of any provisions in the tenancy agreement.
- If the landlord required, the premises for other use(s)
- The property is being used illegally.
- The property has been abandoned.
- The property is unfit for human habitation.
- The tenant constitutes by conduct, an act of intolerable nuisance or induces a breach of a tenancy agreement.
In pursuing a complaint against the tenant, the landlord must first determine that the tenant is in arrears of rent after which, he can then apply for his/her eviction from the property and repossess it and also that they pay the said arrears.
If the tenant is not in fact in arrears of rent, then the landlord is to issue a notice to quit – a period of notice which the landlord must give before the eviction process can be completed – and according to the law, the period of validity of tenancy determines the duration of the said quit notice thus:
One month’s notice if the tenant is on a monthly rent
Three months’ notice if the tenant is on a three-month tenancy.
Three months’ notice if the tenant is on a six-month tenancy
Six months’ notice if the tenant is on a one-year rental period.
Once the quit notice expires, the landlord is to serve the tenant a seven-day notice of the intent to go to court. There is a special form which is used for this. If the time elapses and the tenant refuses to vacate, then the landlord can then pursue the matter in court formally.
Tenant
To protect yourself as a tenant, you must know your rights in full. Interestingly, the tenancy agreement will tend to be the tenant’s most important right and weapon. Do understand that you are better protected if its terms are put down in writing no matter the duration of your tenancy. The law requires that all agreements over three years must be put into writing. Among other things the tenant has i) the right of receipt of payment ii) right to exclusive possession iii) right to habitable premises iv) right to notice to quit before eviction v) right to seven days’ notice before repossession
In the event that any of these is violated, the tenant can seek redress in court through a lawyer by suing for trespass, wrongful eviction, assault, battery, slander, libel and the intentional infliction of emotional distress among other things in much the same way a landlord could file for a seven-day notice of eviction.
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- Such matters are usually filed at the state high court wherever you are as it is a property issue and naturally, you must enlist the services of a lawyer in a matter this complex. Pay the requisite filing fees. Once this is done, the case will be filed with the court registry and then the defendant (landlord) will be served with a court notice with all the documents and processes filed by the claimant.
- The defendant will be expected to respond with a statement of defence with a list of witnesses, the written statements under oath and copies of documents to back their defence during the trial.
- A suit may be scheduled at the behest of the court when it has observed proof and satisfied that the defendant has been served the claimant’s case or where it is that both parties have joined issues. The Court then gets to consider the claims and proof before it in deciding the case.
Note that the court will most likely decide in favour of the party with the strongest evidence so you must carefully consider your claims with your lawyer as well as other options beyond a court case which are visibly faster, cheaper and less time-consuming.
Sources:
Mondaq
Law Padi
Featured Image Source: PropertyPro
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Good evening, i just read your blog post and would like to share my current experience at the hand pf a con man, I saw an apart in Feb 2021 and paid to move in and it has been a series of one torment or another by the landlord.
First of all, the landlord works alone, gets tenants in his property and after their first tenancy elapse he start a series of tasks to get you out of the house.
He makes decisions unrealistic demands from the tenants and if you dare counter those demands, you are the next victim for a quit notice.
So back to my story, i paid for the apartment in Feb 12 2021, and i didn’t get to move in because the apartment was occupied and the person there had assured he’d leave by month ending, now this man, the landlord after i made payments on the 12th of Feb, called me that night with some excuse and then increased the rent by 50k(Fifty thousand naira) extra, seeing i may have to engage a long conversation about getting my money back i paid cos the rent still fell within my initial plan.
One week later he sent me a message that the tank in his own house fell and that all tenants are to pay 5k for him to fix it, i told him i haven’t moved in your house and i am incurring a bill, it’s not even in the house i am staying and his reply sounded like a threat and i ignored him.
Fast forward two weeks later he was asking me for an advance to make my rent two years, and i told him even if i wanted to pay the advance it was before he reneged and increased the rent after we had an agreement for a certain amount since then he constantly comes to harrass me and ask for the advance and money for the tank and i kept ignoring.
He came back in September last, after 6 months of staying in the house with some flimsy excuse that i didn’t paint my bedroom doors and that i must pay him the 6months advance that we agreed that i’d pay 2yrs straight after a long warying conversation i needed him out of my space i sent him the money for the water tank that fell and broke before i entered the house just to get rid of him.
In December he sent a message demanding for the 6 months advance and i have had it with him and told him plainly, i don’t have any money to give him and I, have already told him i’d renew my rent once it elapse, that how this man felt his ego has been bruised and decided to hatch a plan to deal with me.
He brought a quit notice April 2nd, giving me 6 months to leave his house, mind you i had about 6months in my FIRST tenancy left, so i approached him a few days towards the expiration of my first tenancy and he refused to collect the renewal.
It’s been one act of abuse and harassment after my rent expired, he never brought the seven day possession order from the court, he disconnected power, water and even block the toilet chambers so I can’t use the toilet. It’s been a month without light, water and toilet utilities, i have been through so much psychological and mental trauma because of this man.
Please i’d need to know my next move
i have been a good resident for four years,
We have new ownership so rent was $865 now $1200. I get it, but the lease sent to me
also includes a $1200 deposit.(i have not signed) So. i cannot afford this and i do not think its ok to charge $1200 deposit when i had paid $400 deposit four years ago. I can pay the $1200 per month but not this deposit and the owners do not want to work with me on this at all.
Good Afternoon Me and my family has been residing in this apartment for 3 years now. I haven’t had a lease with these people for 2 years and I was told if I don’t have a lease then I’m just a month to month tenant which I asked for one and I was told to wait after the pandemic. I have been experiencing mold in my bathroom, water leaking in my bedroom and living room ceiling smh, my heat has been off and on. When it’s below zero degrees outside my heat isn’t on but then when it’s 60 to 70 degrees outside they turn the heat on and the heat is unbearable sometimes to the point I have to go outside just to get some air. I have mold growing all around the edges of my bathtub I can’t scrub the bathtub anymore because the paint is chipping and maintenance refused to fix it. They told me it will be addressed after I move out. I paid my bills on time since moving here and it’s not until the maintenance request started to become unbearable and nothing will still be done about it that’s when I stopped paying rent. I have had three inspections done in my apartment they have got fined for those violations as well and now it’s a new year and it’s still the same thing. Now I have called for another inspection and I have called the state inspection out to test out the mold in my bathroom to even see if my apartment is still livable because right now it’s labeled non safety. My landlord has summons me to court on October 16th and then I will still paying rent which he was still accepting and I missed one payment and made up for it as well and now I went to go and put in a maintenance request and I saw that an eviction fee and attorney fees was added to my rent balance. Nothing is being done with these people in my apartment but yet I’m still required to stay pay these people their rent. Is there anybody out there that can help me with my next step dealing with this. I know the only best thing to do is move but I am not in a predicament where I could move but I feel like staying here and fighting them in court would cost me more money in the long run.