₦airaland Forum

Plenty of rent wahala in Lagos comes from not knowing what the Tenancy Law 2011 already settled. These five are straight from the Law, section by section, so you can check them yourself.

1. Advance rent has a legal cap. A sitting yearly tenant cannot be asked for, or pay, more than 1 year in advance; a sitting monthly tenant not more than 6 months (s.4(1)-(2)). A new tenant: not more than 1 year (s.4(3)-(4)). Both sides commit the offence - s.4(5): whoever receives or pays rent above the cap is liable to a fine of N100,000 or 3 months' imprisonment.

2. A rent receipt is a statutory duty, not a favour. s.5(1): every landlord shall issue a receipt on payment of rent. s.5(2) says what must be on it: the date the rent was received, the names and addresses of landlord and tenant, the description and location of the premises, the amount paid, and the period the payment covers. A landlord who fails to issue it is liable to a N100,000 fine (s.5(3)).

3. Quit notice periods are fixed by the Law (s.13(1)): tenant at will - one week; monthly tenant - one month; quarterly - three months; half-yearly - three months; yearly tenant - six months. And s.13(4) is the Lagos exception most people miss: the three- and six-month notices need not end on the anniversary of the tenancy; they may end on or after the date the tenancy expires.

4. No quit notice at all in two cases. s.13(2): a monthly tenant six months in arrears - the tenancy lapses and the Court orders possession and arrears on proof. s.13(5): a fixed-term tenancy that has simply run out needs no quit notice; the landlord serves a seven-day notice of intention to recover possession (Form TL5).

5. Self-help eviction is a crime. s.44(1): demolishing, altering or modifying a building to eject a tenant without the Court's approval, forcibly ejecting or attempting to, or threatening or molesting a tenant, is an offence - N250,000 or 6 months' imprisonment. And if a landlord refuses to collect your rent to set you up for "arrears", s.29 lets you apply to pay the rent into the Court Registry.

Keep your receipts. If your landlord does not give one, you can make a proper s.5(2) receipt yourself in two minutes, free, and ask him to sign it.

This is general information on the Lagos Tenancy Law 2011, not legal advice for your particular case. Other states have their own rules (Abuja, Rivers, Edo, Kano etc. differ on notice and anniversary dates).