Once in a while a landlord or landlady will encounter troublesome tenants and it will serve you well to know how to handle such tenants.

Troublesome tenants come in all shapes and sizes but once the occupation of your property by an individual or organisation becomes a liability rather than an asset you can safely classify such a person or organisation as a troublesome tenant.

A troublesome tenant could be one who occupies your property without paying rent. He or she may also be a tenant that splits the payment of your rental income and thus limits what you can do with your income.

A troublesome tenant could also be one that pays his rent regularly but refuses to pay associated maintenance costs as well as utility bills. And also, a problem tenant could be someone who pays all the rents and bills but he/she is a nuisance to other tenants and the landlord. Whatever the cause of the action, a problem tenant is a liability to the owner of the property.

Problem tenants are not peculiar to specific ethnic groups. Although there are often widespread negative perceptions against letting or leasing properties to certain ethnic groups in certain areas in Nigeria, the fact is that if you go to the court and observe landlord and tenant cases, you will see different tribes who could be classified as a problem tenant.

Unfortunately, there is no guaranteed method of recognising a potential problem tenant.

It is amazing that an individual would occupy another person’s property and deliberately or wilfully refuse to pay rent or service charges or refuse to maintain the property, thereby depriving the owner legitimate income or reducing the value of the property through poor maintenance.

In fact, in some cases where the tenants refuse to pay their utility bills, the landlord not only loses revenue but also pays debt of service charges and utility bills . This is unfair.

Fortunately, there are legal processes that you can take to eject a troublesome tenant from your property.

However, it is necessary to observe that this is not the area for self-help and illegalities. Though you own the property, if you engage in any criminal or illegal acts against the tenant you can be prosecuted.

For instance, you are not to attack the tenant physically, threaten his/her life or damage his properties. It is also illegal for you to break open the door to his flat and forcefully gain entrance into his room or flat. These or similar actions could cause you serious problems and delay the ejection process.

In addition, the ejection process is a technical one and you definitely need the services of a lawyer. There are different types of “notice to quit” letters depending on the type of tenancy held by the tenant. There are sequential steps that should be followed including court processes.

After an order for possession has been given, you will need to execute the order. All these processes require the involvement of a legal practitioner.

Another very important pre-requisite to effectively dealing with a troublesome tenant is to leave adequate paper trails. The moment a tenant begins to breach the terms of his tenancy agreement, it is important to bring this to his attention in writing.

Although verbal warnings are good, they are easy to deny and difficult to prove should the matter proceed to litigation. Letters that are written and delivered to the tenant strengthens your case and increase pressure on the tenant.

It is also noteworthy that the police do not have the power to eject a tenant from a property since it is a civil matter. However, where you are convinced that a tenant is engaged in any illegal or criminal activity it is your responsibility to report him to the police for proper investigation and action.

Aside from the court, in Lagos State, Nigeria for instance, the matter could be reported to the Office of the Public Defender. This is a platform for mediation and settlement. They normally send invitation letters to all the parties with the aim of hearing both sides and guiding them to arrive at a mutually beneficial solution. Their job is to promote amicable resolution of disputes and to provide an alternative to the cost and time-wasting approach of litigation.

The workers are professionals and well trained. This section has also brought succour to several people.

Under normal circumstances, your journey to recovery of possession of your property starts with a “Notice to Quit”. A tenant who pays monthly, should be given a one month notice to quit while a tenant who pays quarterly/yearly will also be given an equally similar period.

Under certain circumstances, a tenant may be given a seven-day notice to quit. You cannot give a person a notice to quit a property during or before the expiration of his term. After, the notice to quit, another seven-day notice is given to the tenant before the court processes are drafted, filed and served. There are laws governing this aspect that must be complied with.

Although our legal system is sometimes slow, you can be rest assured when it comes to landlord and tenant matters that no court would order that a tenant should stay permanently in your property if you follow the right procedure.