The Rent Control Department has revealed that the majority of cases reported at the office are ones from landlords.
These cases, he explained are mostly about tenants who are unable to pay their rent and have also refused to vacate their rooms.
Public Relations Officer for the department Emmanuel Kporsu told Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm that since the outbreak of Covid-19, several issues of tenants who are unable to pay their rent have dominated the cases.
He said ”several landlords are coming to us with cases of tenants unable to pay rent. The law requires that you do not have been indebted to your landlord for more than a month, but the cases we have received include cases of tenants owing their landlords between six months to one year”.
The PRO said it would be out of compassion for landlords to grant their tenants amnesty, but the law does not allow tenants to owe their landlords more than a month.
”There is also no law that mandates landlords to give you a grace period of three months before asking them to pack out. That is not in the law,” he noted.
Mr. Kporsu further posited that there is nothing like free rent, and tenants are obliged by the law to pay their rent.
He stated that tenants are required to inform their landlords of their intentions to renew their rent.
He concluded by indicating that the issue of landlords charging beyond the required months is something they are addressing.
He said some landlords have started charging on a monthly basis following sensitization activities, but the number is small, and ”we will encourage tenants to report landlords who breach the law and charge two to three years as rent”.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
