Judiciary
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The Lagos State Tenancy law has not been able to protect the interest of tenants four years after it was enacted because of noncompliance on the part of landlords and tenants who are afraid to take them to court
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Oct. 27, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT |
THE Lagos State government tenancy law which was signed in August 5, 2011, is not achieving the desired result. The law, which is meant to protect the interest of prospective tenants from greedy landlords who increase rent astronomically and collect two or three years advance payment before letting out their houses, is not serving their interest. Four years after the law was passed, landlords are still increasing rent astronomically and collecting advance payment for years before letting their houses out. Hence, some people are questioning the potency of the law due to the astronomical increase of rent in the state and its inability to make landlords not to increase the rent.
Investigations have showed that some landlords still insist on collecting two-year rent from new tenants instead of the one-year rent prescribed by the law, and they go scot-free. Realnews finding revealed that Landlords are taking advantage of the fact that the demand for houses outweighs supply. And since the state government does not make available affordable accommodation to the residents, many of them who do not have houses of their own are at the mercy of the landlords. The law gives the landlords the leeway to fix whatever amount they wish on their property, since it does not specify the amount to be paid for various categories of accommodation unlike in developed countries, where there are standards and specified payments for certain houses.
Realnews investigations revealed that no prospective tenant has been courageous enough to put the law to test in the court because he or she is likely not to be given accommodation by any landlord. Also, some agents are helping the landlords to circumvent the law by collecting one and a half years rent directly from prospective tenants. According to an estate agent, what they do is to give prospective tenants two or one and half years rent option, neither of which is really favourable to the tenant. For instance, he said some of them may offer N180,000 for one and half years and N200,000 for a year. Whichever way it goes, the smart landlord or agent wins, he said, adding that he has discovered that some prospective tenants now resist the two-year rent.
Ikechukwu Ogana, a resident of Ojo, Lagos, said the law is not effective and the state government is doing nothing to arrest erring landlords. “These laws are just in black and white without any serious implications for erring landlords. With price of building materials increasing on a daily basis, I don’t think the government should dictate to landlords how much they should collect on their houses. But they should also be brought to check. How can a landlord charge three years in advance for a one-bedroom apartment? I don’t think it’s fair,” he said.
Chidimma Okolo, who lives in Ajuwon area of Lagos, pointed out that though the law is good, the government still needs to do more to enforce it. “I believe there should be a regulatory body mandated to enforce the tenancy law. If the government can successfully ban okada (commercial motorcyles), then I believe they can do this,” she said.
But the estate agent acknowledged that the law has engendered some improvement in rent regime in the state. “The law has led to some improvements. Some landlords now face resistance from tenants when they demand a two-year rent from a new tenant. Their property doesn’t get occupied on time,” he said.
Ironically, although the Lagos State Government – both through the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation and the Ministry of Housing – has intensified estate development, the amount at which its buildings or apartments are being sold shows that low and even many mid-income earners are excluded.
Section 4 of the Lagos tenancy law has the following provisions, among others. “It shall be unlawful for a landlord or his agent to demand or receive from a sitting tenant rent in excess of six months from a monthly tenant and one year from a yearly tenant in respect of any premises without prejudice to the nature of tenancy held at the commencement of the tenancy. It shall be unlawful for a sitting tenant to offer or pay rent in excess of one year for a yearly tenant and six months for a monthly tenant in respect of any premises.
“It shall be unlawful for a new or would-be tenant to offer or pay rent in excess of one year in respect of any premises. Any person who receives or pays rent in excess of what is prescribed in this Section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of one hundred thousand naira or up to three months imprisonment.”
Recently, the state government urged sitting tenants whose landlords unreasonably increase their rents after the expiration of their advance payment to seek redress in the law court. Ade Ipaye, attorney-general and commissioner for justice, who gave the advice pointed out that the right of tenants 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.
He pointed out that 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 a N100, 000 fine or three months for violators which also includes 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 per cent or more. 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 as 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.”
However, the state encourages tenants to go to mediation courts as a way of seeking redress, the question of timing comes to the fore. Most mediation cases take a minimum of three months to be resolved thereby leaving the tenant at the mercy of the landlord. Some tenants get so frustrated by the system that they opt to move out on their own thereby having to face another barrage of high rent from another landlord.
Prior to the enactment of the law, there had been attempts in Lagos State to regulate rent, but it has always been difficult to enforce such laws. Mobolaji Johnson, first military administrator of Lagos State, introduced the Rent Control Edict, but its operation did not last. Also, Mohammed Buba Marwa, another military administrator, introduced the Rent Edict of 1997, which went the way of the first.
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