RECOVERY OF RENT ARREARS AND
TREATMENT OF DIFFICULT TENANTS IN RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
High demand for
rental accommodation has been experienced as a result of the creation of thirty-six
States and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory because of the need to house
people moving into new States in addition to new ones being employed to fill up
created vacancies in the new State and Local Government Council Departments.
There is bound to be an increasing dependency on the private rental market for
a long time to come in view of the high cost of various building materials,
high interest rates on mortgage loans and the challenges facing applicants for
the certificates of occupancy all these challenges coupled with poverty and
unemployment in Nigeria has made it difficult for some tenants to pay their
rent leading to accumulation of rent arrears. Due to poor enactment of policy
and implementation, some tenants are stubborn and difficult refusing to pay
their rent intentionally with dubious motive to cheat the landlords (Topham,
2012). The absence of many large corporate or institutional investors in the
rental property market has widened the gap.
According to Burke (2000), the relative
poor quality of tenancy management coupled with the polarization of estate
agency practice have led to conflicts and disputes between or among landlords,
estate agents and tenants as a result of refusal of some tenants to pay their
rent areas. Bad tenants can be a real problem for not paying rent on time or
leaving properties in a mess. In advanced countries, lodged information about
bad tenants in tenancy databases assists estate agents and landlords make more
informed decisions before taking in new tenant because some tenant will never
abide by both oral and even written agreement leading to problems between the
landlord and the tenants.
Accordingly,
a landlord who seeks to recover his rent areas from a tenant must strictly
comply with the provisions of the statutes guiding landlord and tenancy
agreements in Nigeria. In other words, the slightest deviation from the
requirements of the law will frustrate an attempt to recover possession of rent
areas and the premises no matter how troublesome and terrible such a tenant may
be. Every State in Nigeria now has its own law on recovery of rents, areas and
premises. The law in Nigeria is Recovery of Premises Act. Cap 544 Laws of the
Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 1990. Section 2, Recovery of Premises Act Cap 544
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 1990 states that a landlord is a
person entitled to immediate reversion of the premises and includes the
attorney or agent of any such landlord or any person receiving (whether in his
own right or as an attorney or agent) any rent from any person for the
occupation of any accommodation in respect of which he claims a right to
receive same. This section further states that a tenant includes any person
occupying premises, whether on payment of rent or otherwise, but does not
include a person occupying premises under a bona fide claim to be the owner of
the premises. It is however imperative that landlord must operate within the
confines of the law in the recovery of areas and treatment of difficult tenants
in both residential and commercial properties which is what this study is
focused on.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Every
day with the increase in population, there is a concurrent need for houses to
accommodate this rising population. As a result, there has always been the need
for individuals, corporations and governments to build and lease or rent houses
to fill this void. These houses could either be for residential or commercial
purposes. This has brought the need to regulate the relationship between
landlords and tenants so as to avoid arbitrary increments in rents, non-payment
of rent areas, wrongful eviction and illegal holding over of premises. The
procedure for recovery of rent areas and premises is largely regulated by
statutes. On any day following the day the rent
was due, when the tenant failed to pay, the landlord can serve a termination
notice to be effective ten days after the date the notice was served. The
tenant may within five days after receipt of the notice pay all rents due and
the notice of termination is then void (University of British Columbia, 2004).
If the tenant refuses to pay or move out, eviction procedure may commence. Rent
arrears are the commonest of all the reasons for tenant eviction and
disagreement between tenants and landlords. (ACN, 2011; Nigeria Property
Centre, 2012; Topham, 2012), the researcher will however examine the process of
rent areas recovery and treatment of difficult tenants in residential and
commercial properties in Nigeria.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
following are the objectives of this study
1. To
examine the process of recovery of rent arrears from difficult tenant in
residential and commercial properties in Nigeria.
2. To
analyze the treatment of difficult tenants in residential and commercial
properties in Nigeria.
3. To
identify the factors that causes disagreement between landlord and tenants in
residential and commercial properties in Nigeria.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What
are the processes of recovery of rent arrears from difficult tenant in
residential and commercial properties in Nigeria?
2. How
can difficult tenants be treatment in residential and commercial properties in
Nigeria?
3. What
are the factors that causes disagreement between landlord and tenants in
residential and commercial properties in Nigeria?
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
following are the significance of this study:
1. Outcome
of this study will educate the landlord on the process of recovery of rent
arrears from the tenants and how difficult tenants can be treated in
residential and commercial properties in Nigeria.
2. It
will also enlighten the tenants on the need to maintain adequate cooperation with the landlord with
respect to prompt payment of rent.
3. The
result will be useful for the government and policy makers on the need to
formulate an effective policy that will solve any problem that may arise
between the landlord and tenant of residential and commercial properties in
Nigeria.
4. This
research will also serve as a resource base to other scholars and researchers
interested in carrying out further research in this field subsequently, if
applied will go to an extent to provide new explanation to the topic.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This
study on the recovery of rent arrears and treatment of difficult tenants in
residential and commercial properties in Nigeria will cover issues related to
non-payment of rents arrears by tenants in Nigeria and how it can be addressed.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the
efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature
or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire
and interview).
Time constraint– The researcher will
simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently
will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
REFERENCES
Burke
DB, Snoe JA (2008). Disturbed Tenant: A Constructive Eviction in Property:
Examples & Explanations – Page 312 – Google Books Aspen Publishers,
Retrieved March 25, 2013, from books.google. com.ng/books?isbn=0735570310.
ACN
(2011). What the New Lagos Tenancy Law Says Accessed on 30/9/2012 at http://actioncongress.org/category/news/article.
Nigeria
Property Centre (2012). How to Recover Residential Premises from Tenants in
Lagos State, Nigeria. Accessed on 30/02/2012 at www.nigeriapropertycentre.com/blog/author/administrator
Topham
AF (2012). Termination of a Lease In “Real Property, An Introductory
Explanation of The Law Relating to Land”, Accessed on 13/01/2013 at
http://www.chestofbooks.com/Real-PropertyLaw/ Section-III-Termination
-of-A-Lease.html.