Yesterday, I got a letter visitation from someone I least expected. It is more like a letter you do not want to see; it is not a love letter, a cheque, or even a promotion letter, so you can see I never wanted this letter to arrive at my place in the first place. It was a letter from my house agent. Mind you, I have not seen this for the past two years, which suggests that whenever I encounter this man or anything related to him, it is always finance-related.
Hey, I was right again; this time, it's a letter notifying me of an increase in my rent from 600,000 naira to 1 million naira. That's like from $350 to $600 for a year! How? From where? What happen? Were there any major renovations carried out that I was unaware of, or even a tenant meeting in regards to this update?
After reading the letter, which is a notification to me on the increment, I went online in a desperate attempt to see what my response will be and how people might have responded to such letters in the past, as one thing is certain, I would not be signing anything for now. It became more glaring to me that this sudden increment in rent is a growing pandemic in the state of Lagos at the moment, and it is being camouflaged under the words, Economic Instability.
Come on, this so-called economic instability is not only felt by the landlords; we, the tenants, are on the receiving end of the economy as well. We are receiving the financial blows that come with living in Nigeria, which has a quarterly inflation in the price of goods and services but a maintained stagflation in salary payment. It is now like the landlords are only focusing on their source of income, their property.
Ideally, I could say I have a case since the letter was delivered to me at the point of 5 months to the end of my second rent, since things like this should be done 6 months to the expiration of the rent in accordance to the Lagos State Law, but on second thought, wouldn't it still boil that to me leaving the house, as the landlord won't want to see my face again after tossing and battling in a couple of court appearances.
Even the option of moving to a cheaper place is still an option that is difficult to explore. One has to calculate the maintenance charge, agent's fee, house rent, and legal fees in some cases, and all these may even amount to a bigger figure compared to the proposed 1 million for the new rent. This is the norm being experienced by Lagosians at the hands of their landlords, and I suspect the new development of increasing rent can only occur after two years of a tenant's stay could be the reason why these landlords are acting differently.
You needed to see the shock on my face when I told my friend about the increment in my rent, he told me his rent is three times less than mine, and I should start looking for other cheaper places. Although he doesn't stay in Lagos, I guess he won't understand how stressful and costly a new apartment might be in Lagos.
This is why leaving the country is a good option that should be taken seriously, but for now, let's see how things develop. I don't intend to stay longer - There is a chess opening looking to take me out but somethings are harder than it looks when I'm not so good on the board or because I'm no longer young.
https://fij.ng/article/how-lagos-laws-let-landlords-increase-rent-without-restraint/
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