Tenants have the primary duty to pay rent at the appropriate time, so does
a landlord has the primary duties he must adhere to.
The role of a landlord is vital, there is a marked difference between what
people believe a landlord does and what a landlord actually does. This is
because, in the business of house renting, they are solely the employee,
playing multiple parts.
The specific duties of a landlord vary depending on the tenancy type and
agreement. Statutorily, every Nigerian landlord is bound by the tenancy law.
However, all Landlords must follow certain duties to accommodate their
tenants, which are;
Property Safety
A tenant wants to feel safe inside his environment. As a landlord, you have
the primary of ensuring that tenants are safely inhabited.
Both outdoor and indoor spaces must maintain high-quality safety practices.
Within the indoor space allotted to your tenants, all doors and windows
should have well-fixed locks. Good locks keep buglers off. Advisably, front
doors must be at least 44 millimeters thick, having a deadbolt lock.
To keep up with the safety train, you should always change the locks before
a new tenant moves in. During the process of tenant search, you should use a
generic lock if you are going to give your realtor the keys to the apartment.
For health safety, you are responsible as a landlord to ensure optimum
health standards within the outdoor spaces, either by yourself or through an
agreement with a tenant or superintendent.
Additionally, tenants should feel safe with other tenants. Conduct a rental
background check to identify red flags and avoid problematic tenants and any
form of criminality within the home spaces.
Receipt Issuance
It is an actionable offense to refuse to issue a receipt for rent paid and
received. As a landlord, you are obliged to issue a receipt for rent to your
tenant, once it can be established that payment has been made, regardless of
the medium of payment: cash, cheque, electronic transfer, or other methods of
payment.
Necessary details such as the name of the tenants to whom the receipt
applies, amount and date for each payment received for any rent, address of the
rental unit to which the receipt applies, name of the landlord of the rental
unit and the signature of the landlord should be indicated on the receipt.
Care and Maintenance
Properties require routine maintenance to keep them in top condition,
therefore, landlords are required to keep their rental property. It is the
landlord’s responsibility to make sure tenants have somewhere to put their
garbage, typically on the number of tenants and the number of times trash is
collected per week.
Landlords must make reasonable repairs to keep the property in habitable condition.
If a repair is necessary because of a tenant’s neglect or abuse, the landlord
can charge the tenant for the cost of the repair. He must make sure all
plumbing, heating, electrical, gas, and supplied appliances are in working
order.
Landlords Should Advise All Tenants to Purchase Renters
Insurance
Landlord insurance doesn’t cover the renters’ personal belongings.
Therefore, you should advise all tenants to purchase renters insurance, as a
landlord. The efficacy of this is to insure their possessions in the case of
certain perils such as fire outbreaks, floods, or other disasters and protect
their liability for an accident a guest may have inside of their apartment.
Your advisory role should include an emphasis on tenants getting a vivid
understanding of what is and isn’t covered before picking an insurer.