General News of Saturday, 22 October 2022

Source: Daryl Kofi Doku, Contributor

It's misconception that tenants are allowed three months after expiration rent - Rent Control

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Head of the Public Relations Directorate of the Rent Control Department, Emmanuel Hovey Kposu has said that it's a misconception that when a tenant's rent expires he or she should be pardoned for additional months before moving out of the house. He explained that it is not in their regulations that a tenant whose rent has expired should be granted a grace period of three months to move to another place. Emmanuel Kposu, in an interview with Daryl on the MultiCDB channel,on how to said no law bars a landlord from sacking a tenant whose rent is due. “ There is a misconception that when a tenant's rent s expires he should be given three months it is not in our laws. If you are a tenant before the rent expires, you should approach the landlord and discuss whether you move out or you want to renew the tenancy but don't wait till the end of the tenancy then rush to the landlord that he should give you free months. "There is no law in Ghana that states that there should be free rent. To state categorically, there’s no free rent in Ghana” he said. “So just as I mentioned if the landlord out of sympathy gives you any period, you are supposed to pay. Section 31 of rent act 220 states that nothing should prevent the landlord from collecting its rent. There are no free three months. "We look at the circumstances along your movement if something is impeding you from moving out, the rent officer or the rent magistrate will determine how long you should continue to stay in the premises but it’s not your power, it is not your right as a tenant to demand any three months rent.