Tenants from hell: a Kenyan landlord’s nightmare

Many people long for the day they can not only own their own homes, but also own houses to rent out. But there’s more to being a landlord than collecting rent at the end of the month. It can be a daunting task, even if you have written contracts.  

Mr Moses Wahinya, a landlord in Nakuru, has written agreements with his tenants stipulating that they meet the costs of repairs for the damage they do on his property. If, for example, a tenant breaks a window or damages a door, he or she must repair it, although Mr Wahinya occasionally meets some repair costs.

He complains that some tenants contravene the agreement by putting up unauthorised structures, citing the case of one who put up a semi-permanent structure in front of the house for chicken and goats. The structure was an eyesore and a nuisance to other tenants, so he ordered it demolished and evicted the tenant.

Another tenant asked Mr Wahinya to allow him to bring a relative to house sit for him because he would be working in a different town for some time but actually sub-let the house to the “relative” for a higher rent  and kept the extra cash.

Mr Isaac Ndung’u, a landlord in Nyahururu, says his problems with his tenants revolve mainly around blocked drainage and garbage disposal. He says he has spent a lot of money unclogging the toilet drainage system of his high-rise apartment because some  tenants flush all sorts of things down the toilets. In addition, some dispose of garbage by throwing it from the balcony, although each household is requested to put its refuse in large polythene bags for collection by a garbage truck once a week. 

“Each house is charged a small fee for garbage disposal, but not all tenants dispose of it in the proper way,” he laments.

The situation is worse when there are shared facilities. In one of Mr Ndung’u’s properties outside Nyahururu Town, the state of the common toilet was sometimes appalling, so he asked the tenants to make a roster for cleaning it.

 Many of the tenants didn’t take kindly to this, saying it was demeaning to be “punished” by being made to clean “other  people’s mess”.

 “The singles were particularly hard to deal with. They felt like they were being forced to clean the diapers of ‘overgrown babies’, who ought to know what they were doing,” he says.

SOFT LANDLORDS

He adds that tenants should not see landlords’ roles as merely providing housing because they should also play their part in keeping their environment clean.

He tells of a tenant who housed quails in several wooden cages in his room at the height of the much-hyped quail rearing craze. Although the man would take the cages out during the day, he and his family shared the room with the birds at night. Since that was contrary to the tenancy agreement, Mr Ndung’u told him to either get rid of the birds, or vacate his house. 

Mr Ndung’u says it is not true that landlords increase rent arbitrarily, adding that factors such as inflation, maintenance costs and other market forces often play a part.

But he ways the notion that rent should remain the same throughout the year is wishful thinking, adding that  there is a difference between leasing and renting. In a lease, the charge remains constant for the relevant period, but things are different when it comes to renting, he offers.

Besides, Mr Ndung’u says, there’s a rent tribunal where aggrieved tenants can seek redress.

On complaints that landlords are heartless towards tenants who plead for more time to clear rent arrears, he says no business operates on sympathy.

 “Evictions and confiscation of defaulters’ property don’t stem from a landlord’s  heartlessness. Agreements are binding, whether oral or written. If one wishes to move out, he or she must inform the landlord beforehand, orally or in writing, to ensure that the house being vacated is left in good condition, with no outstanding issues,” he says.

But as John Karuga, a landlord in Ol Kalou found out, some tenants disappear without a trace.

He tells of a tenant who left in the dead of night with no forwarding address. He owed a huge amount in rent arrears. To avoid  similar incidents in the future, he now takes down all the details on his tenants’ identity cards.

He believes some tenants take advantage of “soft” landlords to be allowed to stay long when rent is overdue, saying some complain that the rent is too high when it is time to pay.

“But that is not the case,” he says. “Before moving in, these tenants enter into agreements with their landlords and are comfortable with the terms, only to complain when it’s time to pay.”

Mr Ndung’u, however, concedes that some landlords’ overcharge for houses that are wanting, saying a tenant has the right to refuse to move in or to demand a house reflective of the rent.

Landlords should not use tenants’ just to enrich themselves, he says, adding that some of them charge exorbitantly for apartments with poor sewerage and garbage disposal arrangements, which pose a health hazard to the tenants.