Ghana Rent Control Offices - A Bloody Joke Or What?

There seems to be something seriously wrong with the way things are being run at Ghana's Rent Control Offices in Accra. Talk about Piss-taking! I have been trying to get rid of a tenant from my property for the best part of five months now [ tis excludes the three months grace period given to her on paper]. I have blogged the events leading to her eviction on this blog, so if you are interested, you are welcome to read and acquaint yourself with the details. So this officer at the Rent Control Offices has been asking my representative in Accra [ and the tenant] to turn up at his office and on each occasion, he has had a story to tell as to why he hasn't come to a conclusion on what action needs to be taken. As of this Monday, the 17th, my representative has been to his office 4 times, and on each occasion, he has given her another date to return to his office. On her last trip, when she got there, he told her that he had not finished writing out the judgement. What the hell. Is this guy for real?

So I did a quick search on the internet and below is what I came up with regarding the Rent Control Offices in Accra, Ghana

Department Flooded with Complaints, Unable to Address Renter’s Needs

In Ghana, the Rent Control Department is mandated to settle disputes between landlords, tenants, and other interested parties. Long delays and inconsistent practices have marred the department’s reputation in recent years.

Madam Comfort, a tenant at Buashie in Accra who lodged a complaint against her landlord for unlawfully trying to evict her.  But after multiple visits where no progress was made, Comfort says she eventually stopped going back. “I went there several times and waited several hours. I stopped going there because I was wasting money and time at the place,” she says.

A visit to the Rent Control Department in Accra revealed a flood of unhappy landlords and angry tenants with a variety of complaints. Fred Tawiah of the Accra office of Rent Control Department says he hears complaints of “nuisance” and “unpaid rents” everyday. With a pile of documented rent cases on his desk, Tawiah admits that the office is understaffed and unable to adequately hear all of the cases. With a long sigh Tawiah says there is a strong need to build more houses in Accra and says he encourages government leaders to invest in housing construction.

The above was sourced from www.globalpressinstitute.org. There are several key points to this snipet

1. The Rent Control Department is mandated to settle disputes between Landlords and Tenants - this is obviously not the case. Interestedly enough, the person who has been tossing my representative up and down is the same person named in this article: Fred Tawiah. With a cut and dry case like this, why has he resorted to changing dates so many times? ]

2. Madam Comfort has been to the offices several times, only to be disappointed on each visit because nothing could be done to assist her. Just imagine the amount of money this poor lady had to spend on each trip. With the people placed in charge to resolve issues dragging their feet, how are things supposed to progress in a positive manner there?

3. Of course Mr Tawiah will have a "truck load" of cases pending on his desk, because he is dragging his feet on the ones he can easily resolve. Is this what the tax payers money is being used for?

Another link I found on the web is on MC Modern Ghana webpage. Check it out. This article was written in June this year!!

I am simply pissed off with this guy and intend to do something about this.

Nightmare On Blogodo Road - 27/06/2011 Update

It has been several weeks since Ms Akosua was, yet again , at the Rent Control Office with Ms Florence Massoud. I am slowly beginning to think that all these trips to the Rent Control Office is becoming a waste of time. Here is why: for the past 2 - 3 visits, the feedback I have had from my representative has been to do with Ms Florence Massoud expressing her concerns about the her belongings in the main building, and other irrelevant issues. There has been no mention of why she has overstayed her welcome even though the contract her business partner signed clearly states that they had to vacate after ten years. I thought that the Rent Control Office was there to make sure that tenants or landlords didn't take undue advantage over each other. Do not get me wrong I have not lost faith, i just feel that time is being wasted. Maybe I could be wrong. I am yet to learn something new.

So, at the last visit, this is what went down.
1. Ms Florence Massoud wants to charge $40 USD per day for her furniture being used in the main building. This would cover a period from January 2011 up to when she retrieved her stuff from the main building. When my agent told me this, I nearly fainted. What a load of rubbish. I was certainly not happy with this. More worrying was that all these deliberations are  being held in the presence of a qualified lawyer for the Rent Control Office. Anyway, I received a call from Ms Akosua and she has consulted a lawyer regarding this.
2. When Ms Florence was asked when she can remove her stuff from the main building, her response was "I do not know". Can you imagine this? At this point the lawyer for the Rent Control Office stepped and she said that she had to do better than that. So she finally caved in and agreed to an immediate date.

Another meeting is scheduled for the  12th of next month. Hopefully this will be the final one. My advice to those of you who wish to rent out your properties; perform an exhaustive research on the person/people you wish to rent the property out to. Get a reference - this is certainly important. Make sure that the reference is from a respected person/organisation. Yes, a rent advance is the way forward. You MUST make sure that you get this paid to you. No one knows what is round the corner. if for any reason your tenants suddenly turn out to be from hell, then you will have something to fall onto asa way of compensation. Contracts - be very meticulous in the word and write up. Personally, I would go for renewable 6 month contracts.

Nightmare On Blogodo Road - Getting Rid Of My Tenant From Hell

You might not think this to be of any use to you or will never happen to you but I would suggest that you read my account anyway, you just never know. After reading my account,you might encounter a friend who might need snippets of information from this. If thats the case, please pass it on. As I have already mentioned, you just never know.......

My nightmare on Blogodo Road started 10 years ago when my Mother, Elizabeth Laingoye Lartey passed away. After her burial, I entrusted the renting out of her house to my late Uncle Adjin ( a very bad and foolish move by me, knowing fully well of his history when it comes to matters like this). I was in the UK when my Uncle rung up to inform me that he had found a tenant for my late Mums house at Nyaniba. So I got the trip down to Accra with the intension of sorting out the rent with my new tenants. Their names were kenneth Astrom and Florence Massoud and they rented the property under the company name of Afro Satcom Ltd. Two days after arriving in Accra, I took a trip to Nyaniba with Alhaji Said Sinare and Ms Mariama Alhassan. When we got there, we immediately noticed that there were some renovation working taking place in the main building. Said's immediate reaction was that there must have been some exchange of money before this renovation would have taken place. So the next day I questioned my Uncle who assured me that he hadn't collected any money and that Kenneth was expecting me so that we could sort out the rent. All this didn't sit well with me, however I went the next day to see Kenneth at Nyaniba.  When I got there, I met Florence Massoud, Kenneth's partner. ten minutes into our conversation immediately revealed to me that some money had exchanged hands, to be exact $6,000.00 US dollars. She even brought out a receipt to confirm the payment. And this was where I made my first mistake I should have halted whatever work was being done on the house. After asking my Uncle several times to the rent advance he had collected, I finally gave up as it dawned on me that I wasn't going to get a dime from that money.

So over the years, a lot has happened. There has been breeches of the Tenancy agreement by the tenants, to which I have failed to act on mainly because of the fact that I didn't appoint a person to visit the property on a regular basis, some one like an Estate Agent.  So if you ever decide to rent out your property, please seek the assistance of a qualified Estate Agent. Do not worry about the thought of paying for the services, at least your interest will be placed first. On a few occasions, I employed my then lawyer to sort this out, but being who and what he is, nothing happened.

Currently, the tenancy agreement has come to the end of its life span. Last year in January, the tenant wanted a 5 year extension of the tenancy agreement. I flatly refused this. Nearer to the time the agreement was to expire, I travelled to Ghana on another business and took the opportunity to remind the tenant that I would be coming back to Ghana on the 2nd of January 2011 to collect the keys to the premises. The tenant took this meeting to request again for an extension which I refused. She even went to the extent of getting a lawyer to officially request for an extension for her. I immediately wrote back to refuse the request. Basically I had bloody had enough of this tenant and needed the premises for myself and family. I later got to learn that the tenant had rented out the main building to a couple for a period that extended past her tenancy agreement with me. How dubious can one get. She also failed to mention to the couple that her tenancy agreement was ending on the 1st of this month.

I arrived in Ghana on the 1st of January. On the 2nd, I called the tenant several times in an attempt to meet up with her. Not on one occasion did she pick up her [hone on that sunday. It appears the cat and mouse chase had started. The next day, early in the morning, I got a call from the tenant. She informed me that she was on her way to F515/4 Nyaniba Estates, and that I should meet her there at 10AM. Some Ghanaians are really fickle with their time keeping. This tenant fell exactly into that category of Ghanaians. She finally arrived  at 11.15AM. The next 30 minutes between us almost turned into world war 3. After providing me with a seat to sit down, this woman told me that by law I am supposed to give her 3 months notice to quit the property. In fact, her mentioning this suddenly pissed me off. The reason I was pissed of was because this woman waited all this time to tell me this. She knew I was coming to Ghana to collect the keys, she could have called me to preempt me. Anyway, i was not going to let this piss me off any further.

So far: I have issued her with an eviction notice, giving her 3 months to look for accommodation else where. However I have got wind of some information that she is asking certain people within Nyaniba Estates if anyone knows of a house in Nyaniba which hasn't been renovated. Further to that, she has requested from her previous tenants (tenants she has rented out the main building to) permission to make an assessment of the main building. They immediately refused her permission. My immediate reaction was "what the hell is this woman up to". Then it dawned on me that she wants to make an assessment of how much she has spent in renovating the place and then get some money back from me.  I dug out the original contract I drew up with Afro SAtcom and lo an behold the contract mentioned that if the tenant wanted to change any aspect of the original build, he/she would need to put this into writing. I have never in the past 10 years received a request from the tenant.

My next stop is to get my lawyer to officially write to her with supporting documents attached to state categorically she MUST leave the building at the end of the grace period. To make sure that I am acting within the strict confines of the law, I am seeking further advice as to when the use of force (getting the police involved) can be applied.

Do not be bitten and gnawed by a tenant from hell as I have been. Since the very beginning, I lost focus but by Gods Grace nothing as yet goes against me, except for the tenant is staying on for another 3 months, which I can handle. But just imagine the frustration that would have cropped up if I desperately needed that accommodation then and there!