Monday 28 November 2016

Pay and Pack in” or “Pay, Pack in and Pay More


You have paid your rent, Agency and Legal Fees and perhaps a Caution Deposit. So your expenses on your rented apartments should over. Yes and no. Take the case of Laide, who moved into an apartment in Ipaja and found that some parts of the house were giving her electric shocks. She complained to the Landlord who referred her to the Agent who referred her back to the Landlord. When it was obvious that both men were ‘playing’ her, she sought legal advice and found out that she would have to pay about N150,000 to her lawyer and spend an undermined time in the courts to get redress. This was against the N75,000 bill the electrician had given her to fix the problem. She settled for the latter option of paying the electrician.


Then there was the case of the tenant of a duplex in an estate who was requested by the Estate Association to pay the Estate dues for the years the house was left vacant. After a lot of arguments, he reluctantly conceded to paying the dues for ‘peace’ sake.
In bot cases, the tenants had carried out due diligence during their inspection of the properties but these were unforeseen bills they had to make for them to enjoy the premises they had just rented. Of course, the money may be deducted against future rents but the tenant had to make the immediate payments. The moral of the lesson is that even after payments of rents and fees, tenants should have an emergency reserve for the unforeseen circumstances and expenses that comes with moving into a new property.

My Properties Weekly can be your 24/7 real estate agent.



(Eden View Estate)

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