₦airaland Forum

ikechukwu21:
Hi all, I'm sorry I don't know the exact section to post this but hopefully the mods will help in moving it to the right section. Thanks.

I'm gonna go straight to the point.

I moved into this small house in Abuja due to pressure from the people I was staying with before now which required that I moved out quickly from there. After searching for a house to stay in within the shortest possible time, I finally settled for this one I'm staying in right now. I paid fully for the house in the presence of about three witnesses that is to say I am not owing a dime.

As with every house, there are agreements binding the tenants and landlords and some of mine includes Paying of water and light bill. Now the issue is that whenever we pay our light bill, after about a week or two it gets disconnected due to the outstanding balance of about N50,000 which is small compared to what so many people are owing in Nigeria but still have their electricity intact and from what I heard he was the one who kept refusing to pay the bills whenever it was given to him by past tenants and hence it accumulated.

The landlord promised fixing prepaid metre when I was moving in but until now he still hasn't and we the tenants have been suffering dearly for this. Everytime the PHCN guys come around, he fights and insults them and this I believe is the reason they have refused to be linient with us which is what he has been doing to us, the tenants too. At a point I even reported him to the police for subtly threatening me verbally and angrily and he was picked up for questioning and ever since then he started avoiding having any confrontation with me.

Now the issue is that we haven't had electricity for over a month now in our compound while our surrounding neighbors constantly have light in their houses. This has made us suffer greatly. Note that we don't owe light bill. We pay whenever there's a new bill and like I stated before, just after a week or two, we get disconnected again and we go ahead to buy wires, get and pay the person to help reconnect it. This has been going on since I moved in here. I later heard that other tenants suffered same with him. I can't remember the last time I ironed my clothes in my house, charged my phone or even watched TV all because of this guy's cruelty.

I had to resort to getting a generator to enable me get light and enjoy a bit of fan whenever I get back from work. My fridge has been lying dormant as I no longer use it to store cooked food. All these has cost me and is still costing me money. I now buy fuel almost every time, eat out because I can no longer cook and store the food in my fridge. He lives in the compound and doesn't care.

My question is this: what can be done to get us out of this misery this heartless guy has put us into? Please we need all the help we can get. The other two tenants are already overwhelmed with the whole situation. Please we need all the help we can get. Location is Abuja. Thanks.

Tax yourselves and pay something substantial to PHCN,get your wire connected and when it's time to renew your rent,deduct the paid amount,if he talk trash make una report am give police

ikechukwu21:
Ok I will. Are you in Abuja sir?

I do come to Abuja b4.call my number 09064511640 so we talk

You and the other tenants should pay the outstanding bill in the presence of a lawyer, then subtract it along with the lawyer's bill from your rent.
Print out the NEPA bill and agreement with the lawyer and give him.
If he tries anything funny after this, take the matter to human rights commission.
I and my partners rented a place for our staff to stay and the landlord was forming hard man, l explained to him how I'm going to handle him. He calmed down after reminding me that his fourth born is older than I am.

doubleportion:
Do you think every landlord na human beins? My landlord increase our house rent exponentially and sternly warn us not to come and meet him as soon as the lawyer bring paper, I just contact my lawyer who took the matter up, my additional 6 months remain two months to expire without hassles. People with fear of God are very few in this country, if you are running away from courts cases, you will be cheated in this country.

Anyway its always wise not to rent in a hurry
then in school if i wan rent a place first thing for me na to check weda the lodge is infested with yahoo boys and cultist then na to codedly ask about the landlord or landlady wether na person wey dey mentally balanced then the place itself on how it looks.Na when u just rush in take a place and pay everything wahala dey enter.Even the lawyer that u will hire to settle the matter u will still pay him.But anyway,tenants in naija have more rights now.A landlord cant just enter and start bullying you.

ikechukwu21:
The guy is just plain wicked and cruel. He doesn't listen to anyone. The only things he wishes is for us to use our money to sort out everything. Once he collects rents from unsuspecting prospective tenants he turns into a monster and every promise he made before they moved into his house becimes null and void. Someone from the same compound told me that no one has ever stayed up to a year in the compound before. We have been using our money to sort out the issue before but we're fed up.

New tenants usually pay more because of agent and agreement fee. I think his behaviour is so that old tenants will become frustrated and pack out, so that he rent out to new tenants.

ikechukwu21:
Hi all, I'm sorry I don't know the exact section to post this but hopefully the mods will help in moving it to the right section. Thanks.

I'm gonna go straight to the point.

I moved into this small house in Abuja due to pressure from the people I was staying with before now which required that I moved out quickly from there. After searching for a house to stay in within the shortest possible time, I finally settled for this one I'm staying in right now. I paid fully for the house in the presence of about three witnesses that is to say I am not owing a dime.

As with every house, there are agreements binding the tenants and landlords and some of mine includes Paying of water and light bill. Now the issue is that whenever we pay our light bill, after about a week or two it gets disconnected due to the outstanding balance of about N50,000 which is small compared to what so many people are owing in Nigeria but still have their electricity intact and from what I heard he was the one who kept refusing to pay the bills whenever it was given to him by past tenants and hence it accumulated.

The landlord promised fixing prepaid metre when I was moving in but until now he still hasn't and we the tenants have been suffering dearly for this. Everytime the PHCN guys come around, he fights and insults them and this I believe is the reason they have refused to be linient with us which is what he has been doing to us, the tenants too. At a point I even reported him to the police for subtly threatening me verbally and angrily and he was picked up for questioning and ever since then he started avoiding having any confrontation with me.

Now the issue is that we haven't had electricity for over a month now in our compound while our surrounding neighbors constantly have light in their houses. This has made us suffer greatly. Note that we don't owe light bill. We pay whenever there's a new bill and like I stated before, just after a week or two, we get disconnected again and we go ahead to buy wires, get and pay the person to help reconnect it. This has been going on since I moved in here. I later heard that other tenants suffered same with him. I can't remember the last time I ironed my clothes in my house, charged my phone or even watched TV all because of this guy's cruelty.

I had to resort to getting a generator to enable me get light and enjoy a bit of fan whenever I get back from work. My fridge has been lying dormant as I no longer use it to store cooked food. All these has cost me and is still costing me money. I now buy fuel almost every time, eat out because I can no longer cook and store the food in my fridge. He lives in the compound and doesn't care.

My question is this: what can be done to get us out of this misery this heartless guy has put us into? Please we need all the help we can get. The other two tenants are already overwhelmed with the whole situation. Please we need all the help we can get. Location is Abuja. Thanks.

What i did before i moved into my house.
1. Bought my own personal meter with wire.
2. Bought a big Gen that can carry my fridge as option B.
3 Problem solved. I go anywhere with my meter and make it clear to any house i'm moving in that, i'm coming with my own meter. Nothing consyn me with dia wahala.
They come to me to use electricity when they are out of units cos mine never goes off.

NOTE: They are angry with me cos they believe i have money yet, no loop holes to exploit me like they do with others. Like i said, wetin consyn me

Birdeyeview:
Make i sidon small and listen to elders way get beta thing to talk

It's a simple matter. Read my reply directly above.

Tokskob2008:
Seems your landlord and mine are siblings because for the past 7months or so i have been fetching water since he refused to replaced the spoilt pumping machine, he says it's the responsibility of we the tennants to buy him a new one even after we had contributed to repair it twice before it was confirmed "dead". Half his tennants has left but he can't rent out the vacant flats since there's no water, can't wait to get cash and move out never again will i live in a house that the landlord resides too, it's not just worth it at all.

1. Don't ever rent into a family house with either landlord or caretaker living with you. Go for strictly tenants.
2. Read No. 1 again

Tmlivesport:
Single face in Abuja now is around 40,000 sir

The compound is indebted to the tune of 50,000

Which is more economical considering the op isn't that financially bouyant

The meter saves you stress for life. He goes anywhere with it. Though not allowed. But i have been moving mine ever since.

ikechukwu21:
Hi all, I'm sorry I don't know the exact section to post this but hopefully the mods will help in moving it to the right section. Thanks.

I'm gonna go straight to the point.

I moved into this small house in Abuja due to pressure from the people I was staying with before now which required that I moved out quickly from there. After searching for a house to stay in within the shortest possible time, I finally settled for this one I'm staying in right now. I paid fully for the house in the presence of about three witnesses that is to say I am not owing a dime.

As with every house, there are agreements binding the tenants and landlords and some of mine includes Paying of water and light bill. Now the issue is that whenever we pay our light bill, after about a week or two it gets disconnected due to the outstanding balance of about N50,000 which is small compared to what so many people are owing in Nigeria but still have their electricity intact and from what I heard he was the one who kept refusing to pay the bills whenever it was given to him by past tenants and hence it accumulated.

The landlord promised fixing prepaid metre when I was moving in but until now he still hasn't and we the tenants have been suffering dearly for this. Everytime the PHCN guys come around, he fights and insults them and this I believe is the reason they have refused to be linient with us which is what he has been doing to us, the tenants too. At a point I even reported him to the police for subtly threatening me verbally and angrily and he was picked up for questioning and ever since then he started avoiding having any confrontation with me.

Now the issue is that we haven't had electricity for over a month now in our compound while our surrounding neighbors constantly have light in their houses. This has made us suffer greatly. Note that we don't owe light bill. We pay whenever there's a new bill and like I stated before, just after a week or two, we get disconnected again and we go ahead to buy wires, get and pay the person to help reconnect it. This has been going on since I moved in here. I later heard that other tenants suffered same with him. I can't remember the last time I ironed my clothes in my house, charged my phone or even watched TV all because of this guy's cruelty.

I had to resort to getting a generator to enable me get light and enjoy a bit of fan whenever I get back from work. My fridge has been lying dormant as I no longer use it to store cooked food. All these has cost me and is still costing me money. I now buy fuel almost every time, eat out because I can no longer cook and store the food in my fridge. He lives in the compound and doesn't care.

My question is this: what can be done to get us out of this misery this heartless guy has put us into? Please we need all the help we can get. The other two tenants are already overwhelmed with the whole situation. Please we need all the help we can get. Location is Abuja. Thanks.

I had similar experience years ago as a tenant in Lagos. The landlord promised paying it off after I made the mandatory 2 years rent payment then but did not; and NEPA made a field day off me before I decided to resolve it myself and offset it from rent. The landlord had no choice after even though it hurt.
Since you are already in the house, get together with other tenants and pay off the outstanding N50000. Then go back to Police station to document it as advance rent. Find something for the Police so they can alert him to your action. When your rent is due for renewal, notify him of the advanced rent and pay him the balance. If he makes noise, go back to the station. Then ensure you guys pay bills regularly and not give him any more money

Nusaibart:
Nigerian men are heartless

including ur father ba?

IGoComotYaTeeth:
including ur father ba?

No... Including your grandfather broke and useless he goat like u

ikechukwu21:
My brother he is the landlord o. We don't have any issue with doing what you said but the guy is stark illetratre. Several attempts have been made in regard to what you suggested even last month that the PHCN official came around, he suggested same to him but the guy opposed them as usual and was just shouting. Truth is he doesn't want to spend a dime in rectifying the issue. He wants us to handle it all alone. The guy is fraudulent and crooked in nature. I am Igbo by tribe and the guy is also Igbo. Before now I didn't know why people so much dislike my tribe until I met this guy that was when I understood. I say this with great shame. There are other things he has done which contradicts the agreements we had before I moved in but I don't want to state them here to avoid the post being lengthy.

My brother most Igbo landlords are known for such cruelty especially those living with their tenants. They make people to hate igbo tribes because of their cruelty and wickedness

ikechukwu21:
When he was invited by the Police, I asked for my balance and he said he doesn't have money to pay me except I move out and he gets someone to occupy the place and then gives me the balance but the issue right now is that I don't have money to pay for another place as my rent is remaining about 6-7 months to expire.

Use am use the house

ikechukwu21:
It's really crazy. Everytime I remember I'm coming back home, I become sad.

Your sort of Tenant "cant reason" with your LandLord:
You have spent less than 5months in the House and has already taken your LLord to the Police Station!
Within that time, you have requested to move-out and get a refund!
Your complaint is not even that the Landlord did not pay 'Nepa' your electricity Bill, but that there was an outstanding on it, that tenants like him owed and refused to pay before balling out. It is not even the LL removing the Light, it is the Nepa people, so let him use Police to arrest them naah
Issorite, be forming 'I too know' and insulting your Landlord, your money will soon expire.

If you were smart at all, how much is 50K that all of you cannot come together and contribute it, pay-off Nepa and then continue to enjoy steady Power?
You can buy a Generator, you can be buying Petrol everyday but does not have the common sense to know that it is cheaper, better, more efficient and safer for him to just dash out 15K out of the 50K and let other tenants continue the rest, rather you chose to take your Landlord to the Police Station?

Sorry is your middle name, Penny-Wise, Pound-Foolish.

Let us wait and see how that 'arresting your Landlord will Police' move, will help your case.

Offpoint1:
Collect your balance and find somewhere else relocate... You no fit use your own money buy wahala for yourself.

Living in the same house with your landlord or lady is among the 1001 ways to die. Number 6 pricisely.

I have lived in a House where the Landlord does not live and we the tenants have to DO EVERYTHING on our own.
From Soakaway evacuating, to Land Use Charge, to Borehole, to issues of Fence came down, WE HAVE TO CONTRIBUTE MONEY FOR IT OURSELVES.

But before them, l was living in a House where the Landlord lives and even if it is light bulb that spoils, he quickly replaces it because he does not want darkness around him. His wife sweeps the compound, he bought another pumping machine when the one we met there got spoilt because he needs to drink water as well. Infact, apart from paying his rent, we dont do anything in the house.
The only problem that l had in the house was that he will lock the Gate at 11pm and as a young guy then, we dey roll town till 1am or 2am. Now, ld ont even go our beyond 10:30pm, if l had known l will not have left that house just because of that.
The one l rented afterwards without Landlord really taught me a lesson that l was spoilt by my previous Landlord. And the absentee landlord will still increase rent as much as 70%.

I believe if you are good to your Landlord and treat him with some respect, he will in the long run, reciprocate it but if you are forming champion in his house, just make sure that you have kept money to rent another house somewhere because l am yet to see where Police will drive out the landlord for the tenant.
Tenant will be the one to pack out, no matter what.

All I see is the problem of pre-paid meter. Nigerians suffer unnecessarily to get it and still no regular light.
In Cotonou, it is between 10,000 to maximum of 20,000 cfa( DURABLE) for your personal meter which comes for u to use card on as a tenant/landlord. In Cameroon, 4,000-5000cfa to get personal meter, it is not card type but it is near transparent in calculation by your landlord eg if you see 19, it means 19X 100= 1900 cfa for that month. These are countries with almost 24/7 light and if there is no light, know they are maintaining/servicing it and it is RARE. Besides, it can be installed by anyone with small electrical knowledge and when u are leaving the compound, you can carry it away.
Getting prepaid meter is headache in Nigeria and u still pay outstanding bill for wetin u know nothing about, this light to be changed by PHCN especially if the tenant knows nothing about the bill.
God help our clueless leaders at both government and private sectors

I think your landlord feeds from your rents obviously and fighting him is not an option,. Just manager your generator for as long as your rent have not expired then, try make up your savings to pack into another apartment this time make sure you inquire very well before you move. And so you don't get yourself into a bigger trouble.

CalmElder:
New tenants usually pay more because of agent and agreement fee. I think his behaviour is so that old tenants will become frustrated and pack out, so that he rent out to new tenants.

I think you're right.

Lewisdinho:
My two cents advice, just be patient. Wait till when your rent is due, you pack out quietly. Don't disturb yourself too much cos it's not worth it at all. Just have a little patience, ignore the situation at hand and focus of saving money to relocate to another place when the rent expires.

Hmmmm... It's just a month and I'm almost running mad. It's well. I'm really trying to save up and get out as soon as my rent is due.

AfroKnight:
I would have said you should all go to Nepa office to complain and negotiate a payment plan to clear the bill but if you guys receive estimate bills (instead of metred bills) they can easily turn this into an opportunity to extort you people to meet up with their targets at the office.

Really? I didn't know . And I was actually contemplating going to them. As I'm typing right now there's light all over and I'm sweating in my room. Funny thing is that they gave him the option of even getting three metres free of charge for each of us in the compound but he was still saying lots of nonsense. I wasn't home when this happened it was the other tenants that told me when I got back.

egopersonified:
Can you guys buy wire and ask to be connected to a different line and your landlord on another line? Don't wait for 'nepa' to come to the house, go to their office and discuss a way out with them. If you all are buying fuel, the logical thing will be to pay N500 each every month to off set the previous bill, but with this your landlord, I don't know how that will pan out. Did he inherit the house? Because if he built it, this is a very stupid behavior for someone who laboured to accomplish something and watches his tenants pack out every year.

Someone said this same thing you're advising now but they said it won't be possible to get connected to another line because of the outstanding bill. This was how previous tenants paid lots of money for bills, wire purchase and constant reconnection. I think they tried same thing but it didn't work out. I'll plead with my co-tenenats for us to try one more time.

doubleportion:
Do you think every landlord na human beins? My landlord increase our house rent exponentially and sternly warn us not to come and meet him as soon as the lawyer bring paper, I just contact my lawyer who took the matter up, my additional 6 months remain two months to expire without hassles. People with fear of God are very few in this country, if you are running away from courts cases, you will be cheated in this country.

You're right. I'm really thinking of following this up in the court of law. I'll meet with the other guys tomorrow. I don't like stress. Maybe the court will decide.

Daboomb:
This has nothing to do with your Tribe being Igbo, it is YOO and your attitude that is the problem!
You started very badly and l will think, very arrogantly.
Most people will not level with you, once you use Police to arrest them, from that moment on, it is about who has more wits.

Imagine if, being a stark illiterate as you said, you went to him and cajole him and let him know that you are willing ot talk to the other tenants to raise the money but that he should please let you use it as an extra months rent? Wont he have agreed since he is not taking any amount from his pocket?
But you made yourself his mortal enemy, within a few months of entering his House and yo are here painting him black and blue!

Oga I said what I said. I'm the one staying in the house. You should have asked why I got the police involved in the first place instead of bringing your usual tribal war on nairaland. I'm not cut out for that child's stuff please. Thanks.

Daboomb:
Your sort of Tenant "cant reason" with your LandLord:
You have spent less than 5months in the House and has already taken your LLord to the Police Station!
Within that time, you have requested to move-out and get a refund!
Your complaint is not even that the Landlord did not pay 'Nepa' your electricity Bill, but that there was an outstanding on it, that tenants like him owed and refused to pay before balling out. It is not even the LL removing the Light, it is the Nepa people, so let him use Police to arrest them naah
Issorite, be forming 'I too know' and insulting your Landlord, your money will soon expire.

If you were smart at all, how much is 50K that all of you cannot come together and contribute it, pay-off Nepa and then continue to enjoy steady Power?
You can buy a Generator, you can be buying Petrol everyday but does not have the common sense to know that it is cheaper, better, more efficient and safer for him to just dash out 15K out of the 50K and let other tenants continue the rest, rather you chose to take your Landlord to the Police Station?

Sorry is your middle name, Penny-Wise, Pound-Foolish.

Let us wait and see how that 'arresting your Landlord will Police' move, will help your case.

With all due respect you're a kid. A grand kid at that. You need someone to throw tantrums with? Check daycare.

Nnecky:
My brother most Igbo landlords are known for such cruelty especially those living with their tenants. They make people to hate igbo tribes because of their cruelty and wickedness

This man from what I heard has fought with every tenant who has ever lived in his house and none ever stayed for up to a year. He verbally threatens and insults his tenants for things that can be laughed over. I mean this literally.

Amitez:
I had similar experience years ago as a tenant in Lagos. The landlord promised paying it off after I made the mandatory 2 years rent payment then but did not; and NEPA made a field day off me before I decided to resolve it myself and offset it from rent. The landlord had no choice after even though it hurt.
Since you are already in the house, get together with other tenants and pay off the outstanding N50000. Then go back to Police station to document it as advance rent. Find something for the Police so they can alert him to your action. When your rent is due for renewal, notify him of the advanced rent and pay him the balance. If he makes noise, go back to the station. Then ensure you guys pay bills regularly and not give him any more money

If we were renewing our rent, it would have been possible to adopt this method. But none of us is renewing. It's so bad that we're all moving out after this first year rent expires. It's that bad. I pray that God grants us favour so we can all build our own houses. No one should be subjected to this inhumane treatments.

lefulefu:
Anyway its always wise not to rent in a hurry
then in school if i wan rent a place first thing for me na to check weda the lodge is infested with yahoo boys and cultist then na to codedly ask about the landlord or landlady wether na person wey dey mentally balanced then the place itself on how it looks.Na when u just rush in take a place and pay everything wahala dey enter.Even the lawyer that u will hire to settle the matter u will still pay him.But anyway,tenants in naija have more rights now.A landlord cant just enter and start bullying you.

Anybody can turn to beast at anytime but the laws cannot change, we were living like a family for two good years before he suddenly changed.

Daboomb:
I have lived in a House where the Landlord does not live and we the tenants have to DO EVERYTHING on our own.
From Soakaway evacuating, to Land Use Charge, to Borehole, to issues of Fence came down, WE HAVE TO CONTRIBUTE MONEY FOR IT OURSELVES.

But before them, l was living in a House where the Landlord lives and even if it is light bulb that spoils, he quickly replaces it because he does not want darkness around him. His wife sweeps the compound, he bought another pumping machine when the one we met there got spoilt because he needs to drink water as well. Infact, apart from paying his rent, we dont do anything in the house.
The only problem that l had in the house was that he will lock the Gate at 11pm and as a young guy then, we dey roll town till 1am or 2am. Now, ld ont even go our beyond 10:30pm, if l had known l will not have left that house just because of that.
The one l rented afterwards without Landlord really taught me a lesson that l was spoilt by my previous Landlord. And the absentee landlord will still increase rent as much as 70%.

I believe if you are good to your Landlord and treat him with some respect, he will in the long run, reciprocate it but if you are forming champion in his house, just make sure that you have kept money to rent another house somewhere because l am yet to see where Police will drive out the landlord for the tenant.
Tenant will be the one to pack out, no matter what.

I'm not saying there are no good landlords, there few of them.
The rest of are full of trouble, rules and regulations.

ikechukwu21:
Someone said this same thing you're advising now but they said it won't be possible to get connected to another line because of the outstanding bill. This was how previous tenants paid lots of money for bills, wire purchase and constant reconnection. I think they tried same thing but it didn't work out. I'll plead with my co-tenenats for us to try one more time.

So sorry for the stress. Please just start saving money for another rent, so you can leave before a year. Don't see it as a loss.

ikechukwu21:
Hi all, I'm sorry I don't know the exact section to post this but hopefully the mods will help in moving it to the right section. Thanks.

I'm gonna go straight to the point.

I moved into this small house in Abuja due to pressure from the people I was staying with before now which required that I moved out quickly from there. After searching for a house to stay in within the shortest possible time, I finally settled for this one I'm staying in right now. I paid fully for the house in the presence of about three witnesses that is to say I am not owing a dime.

As with every house, there are agreements binding the tenants and landlords and some of mine includes Paying of water and light bill. Now the issue is that whenever we pay our light bill, after about a week or two it gets disconnected due to the outstanding balance of about N50,000 which is small compared to what so many people are owing in Nigeria but still have their electricity intact and from what I heard he was the one who kept refusing to pay the bills whenever it was given to him by past tenants and hence it accumulated.

The landlord promised fixing prepaid metre when I was moving in but until now he still hasn't and we the tenants have been suffering dearly for this. Everytime the PHCN guys come around, he fights and insults them and this I believe is the reason they have refused to be linient with us which is what he has been doing to us, the tenants too. At a point I even reported him to the police for subtly threatening me verbally and angrily and he was picked up for questioning and ever since then he started avoiding having any confrontation with me.

Now the issue is that we haven't had electricity for over a month now in our compound while our surrounding neighbors constantly have light in their houses. This has made us suffer greatly. Note that we don't owe light bill. We pay whenever there's a new bill and like I stated before, just after a week or two, we get disconnected again and we go ahead to buy wires, get and pay the person to help reconnect it. This has been going on since I moved in here. I later heard that other tenants suffered same with him. I can't remember the last time I ironed my clothes in my house, charged my phone or even watched TV all because of this guy's cruelty.

I had to resort to getting a generator to enable me get light and enjoy a bit of fan whenever I get back from work. My fridge has been lying dormant as I no longer use it to store cooked food. All these has cost me and is still costing me money. I now buy fuel almost every time, eat out because I can no longer cook and store the food in my fridge. He lives in the compound and doesn't care.

My question is this: what can be done to get us out of this misery this heartless guy has put us into? Please we need all the help we can get. The other two tenants are already overwhelmed with the whole situation. Please we need all the help we can get. Location is Abuja. Thanks.

Some landlords are menace. Check my signature