Tenancy law: Lagos tasks tenants to challenge unfair rent hike

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.