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According to the Rental Housing Act, both landlords and tenants have obligations and rights. The Rental Housing Tribunal was established to provide a free dispute settlement service between tenants and landlords.
This is part two of a two part article series. Part one is: Rental Housing Tribunal is Here to Solve Disputes between Tenants and Landlords.
So what are your rights as a tenant or a landlord? Here is a place to start.
The Rental Housing Tribunal seeks to:
- Harmonise relationships between landlords and tenants in the rental housing sector.
- Resolve disputes that arise due to unfair practices.
- Inform landlords and tenants about their rights and obligations in terms of the Rental Housing Act.
- Make recommendations to relevant stakeholders.
The Rental Housing Tribunals' objectives are:
- To promote stability in the rental housing sector.
- To create mechanisms to deal with disputes in the rental housing sector.
- To facilitate, investigate, mediate and conduct hearings to resolve disputes.
- To inform landlords and tenants of their rights and obligations should unfair and unlawful practices arise.
Tenants Rights
The tenants’ rights, amongst other, include:
- A tenants person or home may not be searched without a court order
- A tenants possessions may not be seized (except where there is a valid court order)
- A tenant personal and communications privacy may not be infringed
The above rights extend to include the tenants family members and any visitors.
Landlords Rights
The landlords’ rights, include:
- Prompt and regular payment of rental or any other charges payable in terms of the lease
- Recovery of unpaid rent after obtaining a ruling by the court or Tribunal
- Termination of lease on grounds that do not institute an unfair practice and are specified in the lease
- Receive back the rented premises in good state
- Repossession having first obtained a court order
- Claim compensation for damages to the property or any other improvements on land where the property is situated, if such damages are caused by the tenants or members of family.
These rights are very simple to understand and a good place to start reading if one needs to check their rights as seen by the Rental Housing Tribunal.
If you want to ask general questions about this subject, clarify any questions about the article or ask anything about properties, register for free on Property Investor Network and ask away in the forum.
This article was featured on iafrica.com: Rental Housing Tribunal helps resolve tenant and landlord rights in line with the Rental Housing Act.
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