Payment of utility bills: Bone of contention between landlords and tenants
The Awutu-Senya East Municipal Rent Control Manager, Mr Mathew Taabazuing, has stated that disagreements between landlords and tenants mainly over payment of utility bills, particularly that of electricity, continues to be on the increase.
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He said his outfit had been recording a rise in the number of cases between landlords and tenants, especially those who lived in the same house as their landlords, regarding conflicting claims and opinions when bills were due to be paid and they sometimes got piled up due to those disagreements.
“Tenants are suspicious that landlords are cheating when they are not shown the amount on the bills to be paid or when landlords arbitrarily decide how much must be paid for electricity for prepaid meters,” he said.
Solution
Mr Taabazuing said the rent control office had, therefore, advised landlords to allow tenants to handle the utility bills.
“In situations where tenants manage the payment of bills and receive contributions from landlords, there is more trust and transparency and removes suspicions that landlords spend monies collected on personal expenses,” he said.
He said another worrying development was landlords asking prospective tenants to pre-finance the construction of their rooms and the cost spread over an agreed period.
He said difficulties arose when landlords, after a period, decided to eject those tenants who oftentimes argued that the amount they spent on constructing their accommodation was not exhausted.
Rent charges
Commenting on rent charges, Mr Taabazuing said the law frowned on the payment of rent advance beyond six months.
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He said according to the Rent Law of Ghana, landlords were prohibited from charging rent advance beyond a six-month period.
Mr Taabazuing expressed his worry over the forceful ejection of tenants because they were unable to pay up unexpected astronomical increments in rent.
He mentioned also that the failure of some landlords to provide sanitation facilities in their houses had become a great bother to tenants and a subject of dispute.
“There are houses with no toilet facilities and proper means of disposing of waste. Under the circumstances, tenants in such situations resort to improper ways to dispose of waste and this inevitably leads to the onset of diseases,” he said.
Cases
According to Mr Taabazuing, a total of 1,296 rent cases were recorded by his office from January to December last year.
Out of the number, he said, 103 cases were referred to the court for settlement.
He said over the same period, 250 tenants and their landlords did not respond to summons to appear before the Awutu Senya East Municipal Rent Control Office.