I live in Ikeja. A year back, my landlord gave me a quit notice I never saw a few months after I had paid him a yearly rent age.

At the expiration of my tenancy I called him that I want to paid the yearly rent I normally pay. He then told me that his agent will see me. I later got a letter from him through his so called agent from a lawyer of the landlord's intention to recovery his property from me. I then called the lawyer and arranged a meeting with him, after our meeting he told me he will ask the landlord what he want since am not owing him.

Before his reply came, I saw the landlord , who told me that actually he needs money and the only remedy is for me to pay him three years rent. I told him I cant afford that, that I will try to raise two years rent for him. I gave him cash and cheque to make up for the two years rent he demanded. I then demanded for my receipt for the money I have giving him he said he will give me the receipt when I complete the money i.e. when he cash the cheque.

On the day of the cheque the money I was expecting from the contract I did, did not clear so I called him and told him not to present the cheque that he should give me some time. He came the following day told me that he has gotten the money he has been expecting the reason why he put pressure on me to pay him two year rent. I then ask him again for my receipt of the money I have paid so far he said he will bring it to me but he never did, all my repeated plea for him to give me my receipt yielded nothing.

At the expiration of my rent I called him that I wanted to pay my rent. He told me he does not know what am talking about that my case is in court, so I went to him and ask what he meant by my case is in court, he told me that since I did not pay him the two years he demanded from me he has taking me to court with the quite notice he served me last year that why he did not give me my receipt.

Later I overheard him telling somebody that he will have somebody represent me in court and have me kicked out. My problem now is I was never served with court summons and I do not know the court were the case was filed. Please I need a lawyer to advice me on the step to take as I have seen situations were people were thrown out of their apartments without them ever invited to court. Please I need urgent advice please.

Sorry, but thats how these wicked landlords act. Better go get a lawyer or talk to a CLO lawyer, they tend to handle it better.
Is the man denying the payment?

Ask for your money back and move out -- why didn't you move out the first time around.

obowunmi:

Ask for your money back and move out -- why didn't you move out the first time around.

was about to ask that too, if someone is giving you notice first before ask for 3 years in advance you should know he is not straight, you dont have to pay him more money just to retain the house

Why are you not paying through the agent, who is being paid, this landlord doesnt have any receipt to give you, nothing is documented, he'll just make up lies.

Lagos housing na wa! patronise agents with registered office address and document everything

^^And what has ethnicity got to do with his dilemma?

if you gave him a cheque, you should be able to see the record in your bank statement. Next time photocopy cheques and get the payee (or whoever is collecting the cheque on his/her behalf) to confirm receipt of the original. Also use the opprotunity to state what the payment is meant for. that way the denial is tougher.

2. Consult a lawyer. in my opinion, not paying 2 years' rent is not enough grounds for the quit notice but if you did not renew your tenancy, he might be building a case against you. (I'm not a lawyer o). get your lawyer to ensure that he does not use the backdoor courts to kick you out and if you don't have any unused rent, why don't you use the opportunity to look for another accommodation

@OP,
Just go to the citizen's mediation centre within the lagos state secretariat in Alausa, its on the first floor of ministry of justice, their services are free, best of luck

My dear, do not feel bad at all. It is Nigerian to trust besides you can't live without trusting. Yes, one has to be careful but you can never be careful enough all the time. At times like yours, if you demanded receipt, the man would intimidate you even more psychologically. But learn to make critical payments thru banks - direct lodgement & keep teller or vide Cheque.
Your first challenge is raising money for new flat, I know that was what you sort to avoid When you agreed to the two years. Unfortunately you have no evidence that he accepted money from you since his quit notice.
The man has you on the neck. Play a psychological war back to him. First visit him and blow all soft grammar to arrest his conscience. Before then call him with a phone that records call & talk about the cash you gave. Start with "oga , Good afternoon" then fight for evidence. After that, write him a letter using any affordable lawyer, State your case, don't lie. Claim wrongful quit notice & wrongful refusal to accept annual rental, since you have no evidence of his so called suit. Then he should melt. Where it fails, pack out. He may be a cult member. Remember there is no rule of law in naija yet. Thanks

let him go to court, i promise you he will be the one begging you to withdraw the case when after five year the case hasnt ended. hope you know while the case is on you are not allowed to renew your rent till the case ends. while i was growing up we had a similar case which made us stay 10 good years in court and we didnt pay a dime to the landlord since the case was still in court. the landlord got tired and was begging us to settle out of court, but we refused since he took the case to court.

ireke:

if you gave him a cheque, you should be able to see the record in your bank statement. Next time photocopy cheques and get the payee (or whoever is collecting the cheque on his/her behalf) to confirm receipt of the original. Also use the opprotunity to state what the payment is meant for. that way the denial is tougher.

I never thought about that, thanks for the contribution.

RICHIE BOI:

let him go to court, i promise you he will be the one begging you to withdraw the case when after five year the case hasnt ended. hope you know while the case is on you are not allowed to renew your rent till the case ends. while i was growing up we had a similar case which made us stay 10 good years in court and we didnt pay a dime to the landlord since the case was still in court. the landlord got tired and was begging us to settle out of court, but we refused since he took the case to court.

The day the court will decide against you, you will pay for all the years you are owing and the landlord can come and eject you at midnight. Don't do that especially if you intend to be a landlord in future.

If I understood correctly, you gave him cash but you also gave him a

check knowing it would not clear the bank. The courts may hold you accountable for passing a

bad check. I notice you didn't mention why the landlord no longer wants you to occupy the property.

The landlord asking for such a large amount of money was his way of trying to force you to leave.

Apparently he does not consider you a proper tenant. I don't know if you've disturbed other

renters, have not been timely with your payments, etc.  but the property is there to be rented  so he must

have had a reason for choosing another tenant. At this point all you can do is wait for your court date

and retrieve any cash you gave to the landlord. If you're worried about him one day cashing the
check, simply close the account the check was drawn on and open another account.

Thirst4Lif:

If I understood correctly, you gave him cash but you also gave him a

check knowing it would not clear the bank. The courts may hold you accountable for passing a

bad check. I notice you didn't mention why the landlord no longer wants you to occupy the property.

The landlord asking for such a large amount of money was his way of trying to force you to leave.

Apparently he does not consider you a proper tenant. I don't know if you've disturbed other

renters, have not been timely with your payments, etc. but the property is there to be rented so he must

have had a reason for choosing another tenant. At this point all you can do is wait for your court date

and retrieve any cash you gave to the landlord. If you're worried about him one day cashing the
check, simply close the account the check was drawn on.

well said Thirst4Lif. The OP just gave us his side of the story. as u pointed out for the lanlord to want him out by cunningly asking for 3 years advance he must been a pretty bad tenant. worse more with the bounce check scenario it ain't hard to see the OP has integrity issues. i wish u well sha.

Hey Oga Ophicer,

obowunmi was right. make your money up and go look for another apartment.

Trust me if you fight with a Landlord over his property, he will still win. It only takes time and you will loose( You eventually get to pay more for a new house)

Do not engage in any strong head kinda show down. Beg for more time( reasonable), save money and get another place.

PLS CLOSE THIS POST.

Mr. Poster, you're in a serious danger and you really need to be fast about whatever you intend to do.
First of all, you have to repeat your visit to the Landlord's lawyer and talk to him, maybe he can give you the details of the case in court and which court, and the date which the matter will be coming up in court.
You can then get your own lawyer to write to that court and state your own part of the story, I can bet you, they will lose that case.
But if they should get judgment behind you, that will put you in a whole lot of mess. Although, you can get legal redress on this, but it takes time, effort and money.

WARNING: Start parking your valuable (such as Gold, Important Document, Money, etc)properties out of that house because anything can happen anytime.

If you need further details or assistance, let me know.

@fm7070-If you need further details or assistance, let me know.

Pls let the guy off the hook do you intend making money off him.
The story is simple do not fight with a Landlord once your tenancy expires. Haba.