With Dayo Benson
It is a known fact that most Nigerians don’t know their rights over certain matters in respect of  the law. I have been following your Counsel Corner for a while and want to give you kudos for  educating Nigerians over their rights as the law demands. I wish to commend you for this  wonderful job you are doing.

Sir, I have this problem at hand which is begging for solution. I am a yearly tenant in rented apartment  which I packed into in February 2010 and I paid two years rent which expired this year February.

But at the expiration of my rent, a strange man walked into the house, claiming that he had purchased the house with a proof from my landlady who resides in United Kingdom (UK).

This new acclaimed owner had given me a month notice  to vacate the house or that  I will be forcefully ejected if I refuse to pack out, which I see as an insult upon my person.

Now, I have tried all effort to reach my landlady to no avail.

Sir, can I challenge this in a law court.

–    Toyin Adeyemi, Idimu

Thanks for the commendation.

Landlord and tenant relationship is recognised by law irrespective of whether there is a written agreement between the parties or not.

The essence of the agreement is to guide the relationship between the landlord and the tenant. Where there is no written agreement for instance,  the Tenancy Law in Lagos requires that a tenant pays only one year rent for accommodation in some parts of the state.

The law further provides that a year tenant requires six months quit notice when the landlord wishes to eject the tenant.

I presume you are  a yearly tenant, but you did not indicate whether your landlord gave you due quit notice before he sold the house. If he failed to do so, his action is a violation of the Tenancy Law. Such as he reserves the right to do whatever he pleases with his property, he ought to have considered his tenants’ collective interest.

Obviously, he could not wait for the due process to take its full course. Most property owners do this and get away with it. Your landlord took it for granted that since the tenancy had been determined by effusion of time, that is, since your rent had expired in February, he could dispose of the house without any legal consequences. Some even sell their houses when tenancy is still subsisting.

My piece of advice is that you should try to enlist the understanding of the new landlord to give reasonable time to look for an alternative accommodation. He may refuse because he does not owe you any obligation. If you wish, you may get a lawyer to file an action against your former landlord in the Rent Tribunal for unlawful termination of the tenancy. You may not know how the case may go until you test the law.

Still on ATM

Is ATM card compulsory because banks now force customers to use it claiming it is CBN order and if one refuses to use it they charge between N100-N105?

— Feyi Onyeaju Kareem

It is the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN’s regulation that customers should use ATM card to withdraw amount below N100,000 (One hundred thousand Naira). If you make a withdrawal below this amount across the counter, your are surcharged.

This does not mean banks are making the use of ATM compulsory. If you are not prepared to use the ATM, then be ready to pay the charge.