By Joseph Erunke, ABUJA

Leading property-tech management company,Shelta,has introduced a monthly rent payment option on its platform, making it the first of its kind in Nigeria.

The development which is against the age- long annual rent payment practice in Nigeria is a relief to tenants who subscribe with the company ,given the problems associated with annual rent payment method known in the country.

Shelta’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer,CEO, Austin Igwe,who disclosed this at its 3rd Anniversary Dinner and Award Night, held in Abuja,also said by January,Shelta would be coming out with a product aimed at addressing accommodation problems by corps members and low income earners.

Mr Igwe , who also decried the problem associated with caution fees between landlords and tenants upon the latter moving out of the apartment,advocated flexible rent option and return of caution fees with interest in situations where tenants vacate apartments without damage to properties.

Igwe added that Shelta was working assiduously towards solving accomodation problems by low-income earners and corps members,who he regretted,move from one location to the other in search of accommodation during their service years.

According to him,the company was expanding its services beyond metropolitan cities to suburbs, especially Abuja to cater for the needs of low-income earners.

Speaking on why Shelta ventures into monthly rent payment option in a country where such option has not been on the table,Igwe explained that the “introduction of monthly rent was because of the problems that are associated with annual rent payment.

” Most people pay their rent on the edge,many people take loans just to pay the rent and sometimes,it gets to a point where they can no longer manage it and so,they end up delaying or telling stories to the property owners and when they start telling stories,the property owners are not interested in hearing.The property owner feels ‘I have built this house and this is an investment for me.’

” Some of them are using their houses as sources of income after retirement. So, it breaks their hearts to see that a particular tenant has been in the property and not paying.

“We decided to do this because personally,I have had that kind of experience before.

“In 2019,I had two persons,two close friends I knew they had capacity to pay their rent but because it wasn’t flexible,they kept having issues. This was one of the reasons we decided to go solving this particular problem.

“It will be good if the landlords can accept flexible rent payment but we have seen that a lot of landlords don’t accept it ,so we give them guaranteed rent. We guarantee the rent for them,that is what makes us a bit different as against what agents and other property managers usually do.They will only take you to court if you can’t pay. That is why we came up with this,”he said.

Also, speaking on the company’s initiative to solve rent and accommodation problems of corps members and low income earners in the country,Igwe explained that:”We are releasing a product in January for corpers specifically.

“This is because we found out that many corpers move from one location to another, they leave their catchment areas and move to where they need to serve. They often run around looking for where to stay, especially in Abuja. So we are designing a product to target that particular segment or that market to see how we can help them find their place.”

While bemoaning the problems associated with caution fees, especially when tenants are moving out of properties,he advocated an interest during return of the fee in situation where there were no damage to properties by tenants:’

He said;”In law, caution fees, otherwise called security deposits are supposed to come with interest. It’s a deposit. So we are the only one who are trying to see that your security deposit can earn you interest. Beyond paying back,we are trying to see that that security deposit is able to earn you interest. That deposit can grow,that is what we are saying, because we keep it in the bank,just in case there is a problem with the property by the time you are leaving ,we can use the money in fixing it without the landlord having to use his money doing the job. Most times, when tenants move out,the landlord has to paint and fix a lot of things.”

Speaking on the challenges of managing properties,Igwe said:”There is this culture that ‘the property is not mine and so I really don’t know how to care for it.’

He explained that the development informed the company’s awards to its best tenants to encourage people.

“We are awarding the best tenants in our property today. We decided to do that to help tell people that you can actually live right. And the best tenants on our platform are getting their rent fully paid next year. So they are going to be living fulfilled,”he said.

He, however,said there were challenges in satisfying the needs Shelta’s over 2000 users even as he explained that:”Our goal is actually to ensure that every person is able to find a place,a good place to stay, without really having to go through the headache of running up and down. “

“One of the challenges we have had so far has been having enough properties for our users. Most times,we have too many users beyond the properties we have. Every time we onboard properties, before we even put them online,they are gone,”he lamented.

Recall that Shelta was conceived with a view to addressing the age-long challenges inherent in property financing and management, particularly as they concern misunderstandings among landlords and tenants over rent payments.