As a landlord, I was thinking of what should be considered before increasing the rent of my tenants. As we have always behaved, it appears the power is in the hands of landlords to decide the fate of tenants whenever rents are due. There have been several instances tenants are asked to quit to allow the premises to be renovated or reconstructed. Mostly, tenants who refuse to pay new rates suffer such decisions as the last card to eject them.
In order not to fall victim, I decided to find out what the laws say about landlord and tenant relationships in Ghana. I was amazed to be enlightened when I read through the law even in its literal form. Without the legal interpretations, I can say without missing words that the rent law may be one of the abused and disregarded laws, to say the least. In the context of societal development, should we call for a review, repeal of the law or regeneration to strictly enforce the law?
The law governing the rent of premises in Ghana except those that belong to the government was established about 60 years ago (Rent Act,1963 (Act 220)). One at that time could easily count the number of houses that sprung up every year as compared to high-rise buildings coming up daily these days. Let me share some lessons I got from reading the law, for you to be my judge of whether the abuse and disregard of the rent law could be justified.
The law requires that we should have rent officers to facilitate its implementation. These officers together with the sector minister are to help tenants and landlords to arrive at the amount to be charged for each premise that one desires to rent. In fact, it is important to note that these rent officers are to have a register of all premises that are available for rent in this country. I know this calls for a lot of personnel in the department to achieve that object. But it is a requirement and governments over the years should have applied their minds and strength to that.
Though this is not to control the pricing of premises for rent, such arbitration could have gone a long way to reduce the hardship tenants are facing at the hands of landlords. In the same vane, landlords, based on needed obligations in respect of repair and maintenance could justifiably request for a fair review of the rent charges periodically with the intervention of the rent officers prescribed by law.
The beauty of the law is that it actually protects both tenants and landlords. There are several grounds on which a landlord can request for a tenant to leave rented premises provided the person informs the rent department.
Any tenant, whose rent is lawfully due and has not been within one month after the date on which it became lawfully due (it is, therefore, important to take note and agree on when one’s rent is due and should be paid – tenancy agreement comes to mind); who breaks or does not perform his obligations; who has been guilty of conduct which is a nuisance to other tenants; who is using the premises for immoral or illegal purpose; who by his conduct is causing the deterioration of the premises and many others that the rent department could educate landlords and tenants on.
It is equally important to note that when the rent of a tenant is due and the person is ready to pay it on monthly basis rather than paying more than one month in advance, the landlord cannot eject the person as he is protected by the law. Any attempt to eject such a person unless with justifiable reasons will bring the wrath of the law on the landlord. Even if the landlord needs to pull down the premises to construct new premises and such cannot be carried out while the tenant is in occupation, a six months notice is required for a court order to eject the tenant. Interestingly, if the renovation does not happen within a specified period, the tenant is allowed to come back.
It is difficult to see such beautiful law to protect landlords and tenants but it is never utilized by many. We all keep complaining daily. What are the challenges? Is it the case that, if you go along with the law, others will come and kowtow to the landlord and obtain the premises? Or we are not ready to allow the wheels of the law to grind slowly?
It is high time we all take note of the law that governs rent in Ghana to make fruitful discussions and possibly call for review if there are challenges in its implementation in modern times.
One is tempted to say that Act 220 if considered as a public servant should have been on retirement from this year and it may be better to get fresh blood to govern the tenant-landlord relationship.
Disclaimer: This is a layman’s understanding of the law, and acknowledge that I have no knowledge of any repeal of Act 220.