Landlords, tenants to include ADR option in their agreements – Rent Control PRO

Head of Public Relations of the Rent Control Department, Emmanuel Hovey Kporsu has indicated that Landlords and tenants will soon be advised to include in their agreements an Alternative Dispute Mechanism option to deal with some rental disputes out of the Rent Control Department.

He notes that the new Rent Bill yet to be passed into law will make it compulsory for Landlords to do proper checks on would-be tenants, especially foreigners, and even have their bio-data before renting or letting out their premises to them.

“What you will be seeing in the new Act, first of all, there will be a change of name. Secondly, landlords and tenants will be advised to include in their agreements a way of contracting ADR so that it will not be that everything, will go to the Rent Control Department or the court.

Again Landlords will be forced through the Act to check on tenants and thus do a proper check on tenants before they give out their premises. So that if a tenant is coming in for instance a foreigner, you need to know the biodata of that person or whether the person has got a working or residence permit.”

In an interview with Dennislaw news, Mr. Hovey admitted that the 6 monthly rents areas provision for tenants has not been complied with but due to the lack of a certain collaboration with the rent magistrate, they could not readily provide the number of persons who have been prosecuted so far.

However, he noted that per the new Bill which is yet to be passed, that collaboration will exist which will enable the Department to be abreast more about the work of the rent magistrate.

Tenants renting flood-prone houses unawares-way out

Mr. Hovey noted that a duty behooves on both the tenant and the Landlord to do due diligence and the latter to open up respectively to the former.

He added that in such an instance, the tenant still has the right to vacate the premises with a refund.

However, he indicated that such tenants have to come to the Rent Control Department and lodge a complaint about the landlord to be invited accordingly for a thorough investigation to be done and order for a refund if found to be true.

Further to the above, if after the investigation, such tenants are still not satisfied with the refunds, due to damages done to one’s property per the landlord’s act, a recommendation could be made to the magistrate for compensation to be given to such tenants as well.

“So such tenants can come to the Rent Control Department so that we can investigate and find a solution.”