By Jude Njoku

DOes a landlord, his agents or caretaker have the legal right to lock out a tenant who has duly paid his rent on the ground that the tenant is yet to pay the service charge on the property? This is the issue agitating the mind of a Lagos-based Pentecostal Pastor whose church in a rented building, was sealed off last week by the landlord’s agent because it (church) has not yet paid the service charge.

The young cleric who oversees a branch of his church in the highbrow Lekki Peninsula area, told Vanguard Homes& Property that members of the church came for midweek service only to discover that a lady who claims to be the caretaker of the property, had locked them out. Her grouse was that they were yet to remit the service charge due for the year to her.

Provision of services
The aggrieved pastor explained that since they moved into the property, they have not defaulted in the payment of rent. According to him, although the woman is not providing any services, the church still went ahead to pay her part of the service charge last month. He lamented that all efforts to talk sense into the caretaker was arrogantly rebuffed.

Against this backdrop, Vanguard Homes & Property sought the views of frontline Estate Surveyors and Valuers on the legality of the action of the caretaker. Those who spoke were unanimous in condemning the action of the agent, describing it as one of those “jankara” practices in real estate transactions by unqualified practitioners.

The General Secretary of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, Mr. Kunle Awolaja stated that no landlord or his agent has the right to lock out a tenant simply because the tenant has defaulted in paying the service charge. He explained that a landlord can only recover his premises by an order of a legally constituted court. “It is illegal to distrain a tenant from a property without getting appropriate court permits.

In that case, you must have served the tenant the necessary notices and applied to the court for the recovery of premises. The action of the said agent is one of the jankara practices in real estate transactions. Maybe, she felt that when she does that shakara, the tenant will rush to pay,” he said, and advised the church not to take the matter lightly but to apply to the Lagos State Estate Agency Regulatory Authority located at No 2 Adekunle Banjo Street in Magodo ,for redress.

Also reacting to the incident, an Abuja-based Estate Surveyor and Valuer, Mr. Jim Nwaimo-Ogbonna, explained that no agent has the right to lock out a tenant on the flimsy excuse that service charge has not been paid.

“The highest thing the agent can do is to disconnect the tenant from the facilities he is enjoying,” Nwaimo-Ogbonna who is a former NIESV image maker explained.

The current NIESV image maker, Otunba Victor Ayeye who described service charge as a very sensitive issue, however said it is improper for a landlord or his caretaker to lock out a tenant who is not owing any rent.

“Service charge is applicable when you have services that are enjoyed by multiple tenants. The money paid as service charge is for the maintenance of those common services like security, cleaning and standby-generators. If a tenant has not defaulted in the payment of his rent or government rate that is occupiers’ liability ( such as the tenement rate) , the landlord or his agent has no right to lock out the tenant. Even when the tenant has not paid the tenement rate, it is not the duty of the landlord or his agent to seal off the property. That is the responsibility of the government,” he clarified.

The payment of service charge has always been a contentious issue between property owners and their tenants. Only recently, occupants of highbrow 1004 Estate in Victoria Island, Lagos were embroiled in a controversy over the hike in service charge by the owners of the estate.

But unlike the case between the church and its landlords, the owners of 1004 Estate were providing some first class services to the residents of the estate.

According to the General Manager, Facilities, 1004 Estates Limited, Mr. Olushola Oni, the service charge was meant to cover the cost of providing 24-hour electricity supply for all the apartments, treated water from three boreholes and a one million-litre capacity tank, lightning and cleaning of the common areas, solid waste treatment plant, maintenance of the swimming pool and other recreational facilities, insurance of the estate, and 24-hour security for the entire estate.

Besides, he said the increase in the service charge was to take care of the payment of some statutory fees to both the Federal Government and Lagos State Government such as Ground Rent, Land Use Charge and waste management fees, among others. The company also hired about 100 private security personnel in addition to regular policemen, with plans to increase the number in order to improve the overall security of the estate.