A Lagos tenancy agreement is usually a few pages, drafted by the landlord’s agent or lawyer, handed to you after you have agreed the rent and often after you have paid. Read it before you pay, not after. The moment money changes hands is the moment your leverage ends.
The law behind it
Most tenancies in Lagos are governed by the Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011. It protects you whether or not the agreement mentions it - a clause that tries to sign away a protection in the Law does not take it away.
The Law does not apply in four areas: Apapa, Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi and Victoria Island. A tenancy there rests on the agreement and the general law, which makes the agreement matter even more.
What the agreement should say
Check that it states clearly:
- The parties. The landlord’s own name, not only the agent’s or a company you cannot identify. If the landlord is a company, its registered name.
- The property, precisely enough that there is no argument about what is included - the flat, the parking space, the boys’ quarters.
- The rent, and the period it covers, with the start and end dates.
- What else you pay. Service charge, and what it covers - generator hours, security, water, waste. Whether it can rise during the tenancy.
- Repairs. Who fixes what. Structural repairs, the roof and the plumbing are usually the landlord’s; minor and internal ones the tenant’s.
- Renewal and rent review. Whether you have an option to renew, and how much notice of a rent increase you get.
- The caution deposit, its amount and the conditions for getting it back.
- Notice periods, and how notice is to be given.
Anything you were promised verbally - a repainted flat, a new meter, a working borehole - should be in writing, in the agreement or a signed letter.
What the Tenancy Law gives you anyway
- A limit on advance rent. A landlord may not demand or receive more than 12 months’ rent in advance from a yearly tenant, or 6 months from a monthly one. This is the rule broken most often in Lagos.
- A receipt for rent you pay.
- Notice before you have to leave. At least 1 month for a monthly tenancy and 6 months for a yearly one, unless the agreement gives more.
- Eviction only by a court. After the notice to quit expires, the landlord must serve a further notice of intention to recover possession and then go to court. Changing the locks, removing the roof, cutting off the water or power, or sending people to throw you out are not lawful ways to end a tenancy.
Fees around the agreement
The agency fee, the “legal” or agreement fee and the caution deposit are each charged as a share of the annual rent, on top of it. A legal fee should buy a lawyer’s work. Ask who drafted the agreement; if nobody did, you are paying for a photocopy.
Tenancy agreements attract stamp duty - 0.78% of the rent for a tenancy of up to seven years. It is often left unpaid, but an unstamped agreement can be harder to rely on in court.
Leaving at the end
- Give notice in writing, and keep proof that you gave it.
- Photograph the flat when you move in and when you move out.
- Ask for the caution deposit back in writing, with a list of any deductions.
When there is a dispute
The Citizens Mediation Centre, run by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, mediates landlord and tenant disputes free of charge, with offices across the state. It is the first place to go: quicker and cheaper than court, and a landlord often takes a mediation summons more seriously than a letter.
If mediation fails, tenancy cases go to the magistrates’ courts or the High Court, depending on the rent. A lawyer is worth it at that point.