No man is an island. In our daily endeavors, we often have to cultivate different types of relationships or partnerships. One of such relationships is the landlord-tenant one. The relationship between a landlord and a tenant is neither one of a boss with an employee nor of a master with a slave, as is often seen in these climes; it is a business partnership. A landlord has his rights, he is the owner of the property after all but that does not strip the tenant of his rights either.

In the not-so-distant part, it was common place to see a landlord wake up one day and decide he wants a tenant out of his house at a moment’s notice for reasons ranging from plans to renovate the property to reasons as petty as malice. The tenant, on the other hand, could decide to be stubborn and stay put, causing a ripple of effects that eventually culminate into a free-for-all fracas.

To curb this worrisome trend, the landlord-tenant relationship is now guided strictly by the law; both parties are protected against any unlawful behavior of the other party. In this first part of the article, we are going to be examining the rights of the landlord as stipulated by the law as regards eviction in particular.

LANDLORD RIGHTS

In most states in Nigeria, the recovery of property works mostly to favor the tenant. Landlords have been stripped of the right to eject a tenant by themselves, they must go through the law, that is, the landlord must use the method prescribed by the law on eviction process.

The tenant must be given adequate notice and this notice period is determined by the tenancy arrangement. For a yearly tenancy, the law stipulates that the tenant must be given a 6 month notice, for a monthly tenancy, a month’s notice must be given. However, if it is otherwise specifically stated in the tenant agreement that was entered into at the beginning of the contract, then the terms in the tenancy agreement are adhered to. This is why it is advised that a tenant diligently reads the tenancy agreement before signing and execution.

Refusal of the tenant to quit after the stipulated time given earns him another 7days notice and at this point, the landlord’s lawyer has to inform the tenant of the intention of moving to court for property recovery.

After the expiration of the 7days notice, the tenant is referred to as a statutory tenant and after the court hearing, he can be ordered by the court to pay the rent accumulated in the time the tenant held the property.

……to be continued