Rental disputes: In May this year, a landlord in Ruaka, Kiambu County, flatly refused to reduce rent for his tenants. The landlord said that he had a Sh. 1.048 million loan which he was servicing and could not afford to miss a coin in rent. His refusal to cut rent was just the tip of the iceberg. Many of his colleagues have acted worse. Since the outbreak of coronavirus and the slowdown of the economy in Kenya, reports have filled media outlets on landlords welding tenants’ doors and taking off roofs in a bid to kick out rent defaulters.
A landlord also went viral after auctioning off one of his tenants’ goods even though he still had the tenant’s two-month rent deposit. These scenarios betray the bitter relationship between landlords and tenants. What most tenants don’t know is that they have legal rights that landlords shouldn’t breach and for which they can seek legal relief. These rights cover areas of bad blood such as abrupt increase of rent, eviction, deposits, and property damages. Read more
