Tenants in Nigeria are notorious for their refusal or failure to pay rent. It is common practice among tenants to pay the first rent which forms the basis upon which possession of the premises is given to them. Once they are in possession, they begin to default on their obligation to pay rent. At this point, it becomes a tug of war to attempt to collect rent from tenants. Many landlords say that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is to collect or recover rents from tenants. This phenomenon of contractual rascality and irresponsibility on the part of many a tenant poses a serious threat to the ability of landlords to reap positive returns on their investment.
What is more, a landlord whose only means of livelihood and sustenance is rental income from his property is doomed indeed. In practice, there a number of remedies at law available to a landlord whose tenant has refused,neglected or failed to pay him rent. For example, a landlord whose tenant is owing rent or arrears of rent can exercise his right of distress.
Distress is the right of a landlord whose tenant is owing him rent to seize the goods or personal property of the tenant. The landlord would sell the goods or chattel of the tenant and use the money realised from the sale to offset the debt/arrears. The enforcement of this remedy is however fraught with several problems. For one,the tenant is likely to oppose or resist the seizure of his property.This might lead to
physical assault or injury being inflicted or suffered by either party.
Secondly,there are a number of restrictions on the enforcement of this remedy at common law, which makes it a cumbersome and time consuming process. These restrictions include:
(a) proper notice must be given to the tenant at the time the distress is taken
(b) after giving notice of distress and possession of the chattels, but prior to marketing the chattels for sale, the landlord must wait five (5)
days and then must have the distrained goods appraised by two (2)independent appraisers;
(c) when selling the distrained goods, the landlord must obtain “the best price available in the marketplace for them”; there is no specific requirement with respect to the process that must be followed for the sale of the goods; however, the landlord can be exposed to liability for making an “improvident” sale ;
(d)distress must be levied during daylight hours,ie after dawn and before sunset. Even when the landlord successfully seizes or distrains the
tenant's chattel,the value of the tenant's chattel might not be sufficient to offset the amout owed in rent or arrears of rent. Also, the landlord might have difficulties with finding ready buyers for the tenant's goods or personal belongings.

(2) Taking of security: A landlord should always demand or insist that the tenant furnishes or advances security in his favour to compensate
him in the event of a failure or default of the tenant to pay rent and other charges. Security simply means something that secures the
fulfillment or performance of an obligation. In other words, security is a property such as a house, a car,shares of a
company,bond,investments and any other thing of value that is temporarily relinquished to guarantee the repayment of a loan or other
financial or legal obligation. Landlords should therefore provide in the lease/tenancy agreement that if the tenant defaults on his
obligation to pay rent as at when due,that the landlord will be entitled to attach and sell a specified property(s) of the tenants.

This covenant or provision is therefore a charge,encumbrance or legal mortgage on the property of the tenant. Property(s) of the tenant that
could be advanced as security for the payment of rent and other charges could the tenant's house,a machine or piece of equipment,land
or his shares,bond,car,goods or any other thing of value. The beauty of this arrangement is that
(1) it encourages the tenant to pay his
rent promptly so as not to lose his property
(2) the landlord can easily,expediently and with little or no expense or otherwise dispose of the property advanced as security for payment of rent and other charges
(3) the landlord can enforce the security and realise the amount due to him as rent or arrears of rent without having to to the courts. We all know how cumbersome, expensive and time wasting litigation is.

In conclusion,the traditional remedies available to landlords at law for recovering of rent or arrears of rent are fraught with difficulties that make enforcement of these remedies ineffective,expensive and time wasting. Landlords are therefore advised to adopt additional measures to against the penchant of tenants for violating or dishonouring their obligation to pay rent as at when due. The conduct, investigations and inquiries into the financial strength and standing of prospective tenants before letting the premises to them

Henry Isiekwe Medua
Partner at MackStokes Partners
www.mackstokespartners.com

do all dix n extra. stubborn broke tenant wey no wan pay no go pay.

Someone who won't pay won't pay.

Lecture

Vickydera2:
do all dix n extra. stubborn broke tenant wey no wan pay no go pay.

oh Lord! thank you for yet another beautiful creature right here.
she looks God -fearing and responsible, father Lord, use your powerful breeze to blow her come my side, use your thunderous koboko to flog all the men looking at her with evil inventions, please lord... use the latest golden lantern to shine her path so that she can see road to my heart, and house.
lastly, father Lord ... massage her lips to keep calling my name in her sleep. this is my prayer this day! amen.

STORY FOR THE GODS....

You can't try this at Ajegunle, Mushin, Shomolu and Co...
Abi would you go through this stress because you wanna collect 30k for a one room apartment?

landlord's should learn to hand over their properties to good legal agents. with their lawyers, everything will be fine.

shadowgwalker:
oh Lord! thank you for yet another beautiful creature right here.
she looks God -fearing and responsible, father Lord, use your powerful breeze to blow her come my side, use your thunderous koboko to flog all the men looking at her with evil inventions, please lord... use the latest golden lantern to shine her path so that she can see road to my heart, and house.
lastly, father Lord ... massage her lips to keep calling my name in her sleep. this is my prayer this day! amen.

like seriously?

Vickydera2:
like seriously?

hian!!it's like seriously.