HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST ABUSIVE LANDLORD

One day, I walked into my office something around noon, after a tedious round of inspections, and found a troubled woman with luggages waiting for me at the reception. My secretary informed that she had been wait for a while before I came in. She appeared very distressed. I asked her in and she then went ahead to explain to me that her landlord had entered her flat and threw out her belongings with the aid of some hired thugs while she was at work. She was alerted to the incident by a good samaritan.

Apparently, the landlord waited for her tenancy to expire and then imposed a rent increase on her without prior notice. Naturally, she protested the increment and insisted on negotiating the increase and urged for time to come to terms with the new condition. After about 7-8weeks without any resolution, the landlord lost his patience, took matters into his own hands and unlawfully ejected the woman from the property.

She was put in a desperate position. That condition lead to her losing a lot of her belongings in the confusion. The actions of the landlord really disoriented her and left her feeling very sad. She was really traumatized.
I offered her my office as a place to store what was left of her belongings while we searched for an alternative accommodation.

This is a common occurrence in the real estate ecosystem of Enugu. It is therefore advisable for both tenants and landlords to know their rights and what is legally expected of them in order avoid unlawful actions. There are rules guiding tenancy. Said rules are enforced by the "rent control and recovery of premises edict" of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Even though I went ahead and found an alternative accommodation for the aggrieved lady, I also encouraged her to pursue legal action against the malicious landlord and she agreed to sue him to court for damages to the tune of N2m. After all, she had a compelling case against her former landlord and was most likely going to win the case.

The cases that she had against the landlord were as follows;

- the landlord neglected to give formal notice of his intention to review rent upwards.

- tenants have the right to reject an increase in rent without negotiation. Tenants also have the right to review rent downwards as landlords have the right to review rent upwards pending on the agreement reached by both parties.
The landlord denied her the right to reach an agreement on either the upward or downward review of rent.

- the landlord did not follow the lawful process of recovery of premises which is as follows-

Here's a brief summary of this process;

1. The landlord was to serve the tenant with a 6mths quit-notice required for yearly tenants.

2. After the 6mths quit-notice expires, the landlord was to serve the tenant with another 7days notice to vacate the premises.

3. If the tenant refuses to pack out, the landlord is to proceed to court and acquire a writ of summons.

4. Both parties will have their day in court and be presented with the opportunity to air their problems.

5. After the court hears both parties, judgment will be delivered.

6. After the judgment, if in favor of the landlord, the court will serve the tenant with an order to pack out.

7. If the tenant then refuses to pack out, the landlord is to apply for a warrant of possession.

8. With the warrant granted, an officer of the court will be mandated by the court to eject said tenant on behalf of the landlord.

9. 6 months imprisonment is the penalty for assaulting or resisting the officer of the court who has come to execute warrant of possession.

This entire process should take at least a couple of weeks.

- the landlord wasn't able to prove that the woman, his tenant, was a bad tenant neither did his tenant owe him any arrears in rent exceeding 3mths.

- the landlord resulted to self-help and hired thugs to break into the tenants rented apartment in her absence, threw out her belongings and changed the locks. That was a serious offense called trespass to land and chattel.

The litigation was in court for several months but as soon as the landlord realized that he was going to lose the case, he decided to settle the matter out of court. He ended up agreeing to a N750k settlement payable to his former tenant which was N1.25m cheaper than the damages that the client sued him for.
In conclusion, I urge both tenants and landlords to know their rights in order to protect themselves from unlawful acts.

Its wise to insist on tenancy agreements. Examine such agreements with the aid of your agent. Be sure to put in clauses in the agreement that will see to the following-

- with respect to the tenant

1. Rent review

2. Rent renewal

3. Rights of the tenants

Note: If you suspect that your landlord intends to evict you unlawfully, consult your agent to apply for an order from the court to avert such action from the landlord.

- with respect to the landlord

1. Within the tenancy agreements, Establish grounds and reasons for recovery of property from tenants in order to avoid acting unlawfully and avoiding tenancy at sufferance.

Thank you for your attention, for more information regarding the rent control and recovery of property edict in Enugu, please feel free to contact Fedenni Homes.

Do have a nice day