NO TENANT can take away the building of a landlord from him or occupy his building without paying for such. Every period of occupation of a building must be paid either as rent or as mesne profit (mesne profit is a legal terminology for the amount owed by a tenant to a landlord from the date his tenancy expired till the date he packs out of the building and gives up possession to the landlord).Right to enter a lent propertyTenancy is not alienation, assignment or sale of ownership from landlord to his tenant rather it is the leasing, renting, giving of some certain term, period, tenancy or lease to a tenant. It does not matter if such was done for a price called rent or not. Consequently, the all time ownership of a property rests on the landlord who only gives right to a tenant to occupy same. Hence, a landlord has a right to enter upon his lent property at will. Yes, it is his property for life against his tenant; once a landlord always a landlord!A landlord is equipped with this right in law to afford him the opportunity to supervise and monitor his property to avoid unnecessary damage in the hands of destructive tenants. A landlord needs to know what goes on his property to make sure tenants abide by their binding tenancy agreement. Sequel to this right, some smart tenants would demand the landlord to sign in their tenancy agreement that he would only enter upon the property in the daytime and not at odd hours of the night. Well that is okay. Besides, landlords need to respect tenants' fundamental human right to private and family life as enshrined in the constitution. Landlords should not result to self-help, like breaking tenant's door, loosening tenant's doors, windows and roof, beating tenants or locking them up in their flats or rooms in order to forcefully gain access or recover rent or possession. For any of above acts, a tenant can sue the hell out of such a landlord, both in civil and criminal law.Right to renew tenancyIt is not mandatory that a landlord must renew his tenancy with a tenant; a landlord can decline without reasons. This right is one of the measures a landlord can use to offload a non-conformist or compliant tenant. A tenant cannot force himself upon a landlord. It is the exclusive right of a landlord to determine his tenants. Hence, a landlord can only renew tenancy for his good old desirous tenants.All landlords should include their rights to renew tenancy in their tenancy agreements. A 'Tenancy Renewal Clause' should contain the time within which a tenant can apply to his landlord for renewal and also the mode of such application. This may look absurd but I bet you it clears off any air of assumption. All these are good foundation for an enjoyable 'land lordship'!Right not to reimburse a tenantA landlord owns a house and not a tenant. While a landlord owns a house and a tenant uses same, some repairs are for the landlord and some for his tenant. The nature of repairs can be clearly contained in a tenancy agreement to avoid doubt and unfounded assumption and problems. In practise, landlords for the sake of averting depreciation carryout repairs that should have been done by their tenants. Sometimes, tenants carry out repairs that are due to their inhuman landlords who care only for their rents. Some tenants after making repairs on buildings do subsequently seek to deduct their expenses from the rent due to their landlords. In some circumstances, the tenants may even demand for an outright defrayment of cost of repairs on the building.Hear this: 'A landlord is not a master of his tenant neither is a tenant an agent of a landlord. Each of them is independent and none represents the other in profit or in loss. Hence, a landlord is not bound to reimburse his tenant for expenses incurred from repairs neither is a tenant responsible for a landlord's cost of repairs on his building. Even if a landlord orally agrees to have such cost deducted from his tenant's rent, it still does not stand. A landlord can only be legally responsible to repay the expenses of his tenant if there is a written agreement between the landlord and his tenant as to such repayment. Equally, a landlord has a duty not to demand his cost of repairs from his tenants after they had paid their rent.Right to review rentThe only thing that does not change is change itself. Landlords are in business, for their buildings are their investments while a quality rent is their rightful expectation. As policies, time and economies change, landlords change their rent price. Unfortunately, the change is always an increment and never a decline, not minding depreciation on buildings. Well, it is the right of a landlord to review his rent price although within the percentage range in the 'Rent Review Clause' of his tenancy agreement. Although a landlord can review his rent, he cannot do such during an existing tenancy and demand his tenants to pay up the difference. A rent review must be for a fresh tenancy and not for a subsisting tenancy.With the above 10 rights of a landlord, you need not search further to know why the word 'lord' is attached to the title; 'landlord'. It is unfortunate; some landlords don't enjoy half of their rights due to ignorance. To enjoy the above rights in its fullness, I advise you to consult a lawyer and get a better tenancy agreement.' Onyekachi Umah practises law in Federal Capital Abuja.
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