“Received two million naira for rent” is not a receipt. It says nothing about which flat, which period, or who had the right to take the money. The Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011 requires a landlord to give a receipt for rent paid; this is what it should say.
The template
RECEIPT FOR RENT PAID
Receipt No: ____________ Date: ____________
RECEIVED FROM (TENANT)
Name: _______________________________________
NIN: _______________________________________
Phone: _______________________________________
THE SUM OF
In figures: NGN __________________
In words: _______________________________________
_______________________________________
BEING RENT FOR
[____] months at NGN __________ a year
for the premises at:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Local government area: _________________________________
COVERING THE PERIOD
From: ____ / ____ / ________
To: ____ / ____ / ________
NOT INCLUDED IN THIS SUM (each receipted separately)
Agency fee: NGN __________ paid to: ______________
Legal fee: NGN __________ paid to: ______________
Caution deposit: NGN __________ refundable on: ________
PAID BY
[ ] Bank transfer [ ] Cash [ ] Other: ______________
Bank and transaction reference: _______________________
RECEIVED BY
Name: _______________________________________
NIN: _______________________________________
Capacity: [ ] Landlord [ ] Agent [ ] Attorney
If not the landlord, authority to receive rent:
_______________________________________________________
Phone: _______________________________________
Signature: _______________________________________
WITNESS
Name: _______________________________________
Phone: _______________________________________
Signature: _______________________________________
Why each field is there
The exact period. A dispute about rent is almost always a dispute about what period it bought. Write the first and last day in full.
The rate and the number of months. So the arithmetic is on the page and cannot be re-argued later.
The premises, with the LGA. So the receipt cannot be attached to another flat in the same compound.
The fees, separately. The agency fee, the “legal” fee and the caution deposit are not rent. Recording them on their own lines, with who took each, stops them being folded into the rent figure — and keeps the caution deposit visible when you ask for it back.
NINs, both sides. Identifies exactly who paid and who was paid.
Capacity and authority. If you pay an agent or an attorney, write down what authority they act under. Paying rent to someone with no right to receive it is the commonest serious housing fraud in Lagos.
How it was paid. A bank transfer is a second, independent record. Cash leaves you relying on this paper alone.
Two more reasons to insist on it
- Rent relief. Your income tax relief on rent needs evidence of rent actually paid. This receipt is that evidence. — Salary calculator
- The advance. The Tenancy Law limits how much rent a new tenant can be asked for in advance. A receipt that shows the period paid for is the record of what was demanded. — The rent advance