What to do when your tenant is not paying rent

[Drunkard #1]

http://www.privateproperty.co.za/advice/property/articles/landlords-and-electricity/459

Cathy Nolan is talking out her unreferenced arse.

"Section 12 of the Rental Housing Act Regulations"

 

[saturnz]

Cathy Nolan is talking out her unreferenced arse.

"Section 12 of the Rental Housing Act Regulations"

View attachment 384067

fair enough, email received from City of Cape Town

Thank you for writing to the City of Cape Town and bringing this matter to our attention.



We apologise for the delay in our response and any inconvenience this may have caused.


Please note that the City of Cape Town policy does not involve tenants that does not withhold payment, as its the owners responsibility. The City does not intervene as 3rd party between owners & tenants. In this case, you as the owner will have to go to nearest municipal office to make payment arrangements in the time of which you take legal action against your tenant who does not want to vacate premise.



Kind regards,



Damon Hartzenberg

Corporate Contact Centre

Customer Relations Department



Civic Centre, 12 Hertzog Boulevard, Cape Town



Tel: 086 010 3089
Fax: 086 576 1568

International: +27 21 401 4701

correspondence.crm@capetown.gov.za

 

[Drunkard #1]

fair enough, email received from City of Cape Town

No contradiction there - you asked the city to cut power when the tenant didn't pay you - the regulations refer to cases where the landlord cuts power himself (bulk metered townhouses and flats, etc.)

 

[ignitions]

If you ever find yourself with a tenant who does not want to pay rent. Remove all the house doors and windows and tell the tenant you are upgrading the house. If that doesn't work as previously mentioned get people (heavies) to move into the house. You cannot be charged with illegal eviction as you have not evicted any one and you within your rights to "upgrade" the property

 

[emptybruwer]

If you ever find yourself with a tenant who does not want to pay rent. Remove all the house doors and windows and tell the tenant you are upgrading the house. If that doesn't work as previously mentioned get people (heavies) to move into the house. You cannot be charged with illegal eviction as you have not evicted any one and you within your rights to "upgrade" the property

I like this idea

 

[saturnz]

If you ever find yourself with a tenant who does not want to pay rent. Remove all the house doors and windows and tell the tenant you are upgrading the house. If that doesn't work as previously mentioned get people (heavies) to move into the house. You cannot be charged with illegal eviction as you have not evicted any one and you within your rights to "upgrade" the property

and the tenant will be well within their rights to stay and not pay rent because you are doing the upgrades and thus significantly impacting their enjoyment of the property

I would like to see landlords actually take up these guerilla ideas and let us know how it goes.

 

[NeonNinja]

Inhumane people in here.

 

[airborne]

Inhumane people in here.

I agree the rent defaulters are inhumane to the nth degree, people have bonds/bills to pay and here's these heartless leeches trying to take a free ride, nooit.

 

[ChocolateBadger]

This is incomplete at best.

Last I heard, Cape Town will allow you to cut power a week after sending a notice to that effect. Joburg requires a court order.

If you're not going to go into the minutiae of the provincial rental housing regulations, don't bother writing an article.

My advice - commercial property - none of this bleeding heart rental housing bull****.



Court cases are long and expensive, and get longer and more expensive when a well funded landlord is intent on hurting an unfunded, piece of **** non-paying tenant. A decade long court case will probably kill the ****er - problem solved.

Maybe but any landlord willing to drop over 100k on legal fees going after, in most cases, under 100k in outstanding rent is mad. If the person doesn't have the money for under 10k rent then the landlord never see that money they dropped. Only one out of pocket is the landlord and the tenant is, at worst, blacklisted and just has to pay R100pm for the rest of their life. No real winner here. Remember you can't just strip someone of every cent they have. They'll settle on an affordable amount which makes the whole practice not worth anyone's time.

 

[presh63]

What about contacting the tenants employer? Or at least say you will.

 

[Splinter]

I am not a fan of rental agencies. All I've heard is that they are great in getting you a tenant, and then taking a slice of the pie. Not so good at sorting out the really crappy stuff.

Which is why screening your prospective tenants, yourself, is the best way to go.

 

[Splinter]

If you ever find yourself with a tenant who does not want to pay rent. Remove all the house doors and windows and tell the tenant you are upgrading the house. If that doesn't work as previously mentioned get people (heavies) to move into the house. You cannot be charged with illegal eviction as you have not evicted any one and you within your rights to "upgrade" the property

I like this idea

I'm pretty sure this is not a good idea....

 

[Drunkard #1]

Maybe but any landlord willing to drop over 100k on legal fees going after, in most cases, under 100k in outstanding rent is mad. If the person doesn't have the money for under 10k rent then the landlord never see that money they dropped. Only one out of pocket is the landlord and the tenant is, at worst, blacklisted and just has to pay R100pm for the rest of their life. No real winner here. Remember you can't just strip someone of every cent they have. They'll settle on an affordable amount which makes the whole practice not worth anyone's time.

If the **** doesn't pay, you turn off his power, and he leaves before the end of the month, hardly any landlord will chase after him.

If the **** thinks he knows the law, thinks he's entitled to live at my expense, costs me thousands in legal fees to get him evicted, then he's going to feel the full weight of the law.

And blacklisting is no walk in the park. These ****s are normally back within two years, begging to have the listing lifted, because they can't buy a car or a house or a cellphone, or even rent through an agency.

 

[Hamster]

If the **** doesn't pay, you turn off his power, and he leaves before the end of the month, hardly any landlord will chase after him.

You aren't allowed to switch of his water and electricity as far as I'm aware. Unfair imo, but human rights and all that k*k. This is why you fit pay as you use electricity and let them pay for it themselves.

 

[Drunkard #1]

You aren't allowed to switch of his water and electricity as far as I'm aware. Unfair imo, but human rights and all that k*k. This is why you fit pay as you use electricity and let them pay for it themselves.

Read the thread - according to the Cape regulations, you are. There are also several loopholes, and even if you're doing it illegally, the **** likely knows he's illegally occupying your property, so unless he wants to get 1000 pounds of **** dumped onto him by the courts, he'll get the hint and **** off. You'll also be surprised how many tenants "ask" for their power to be switched off when you tell them that otherwise it's going to cost them R10 000 for me to get a court order to do the same thing.

 

[saturnz]

Read the thread - according to the Cape regulations, you are. There are also several loopholes, and even if you're doing it illegally, the **** likely knows he's illegally occupying your property, so unless he wants to get 1000 pounds of **** dumped onto him by the courts, he'll get the hint and **** off. You'll also be surprised how many tenants "ask" for their power to be switched off when you tell them that otherwise it's going to cost them R10 000 for me to get a court order to do the same thing.

Regardless, you will be a super duper idiot if you rent out your property with post paid electricity, prepaid water is also something the Cape is considering if it hasn't been introduced already.

 

[Hamster]

Read the thread - according to the Cape regulations, you are. There are also several loopholes, and even if you're doing it illegally, the **** likely knows he's illegally occupying your property, so unless he wants to get 1000 pounds of **** dumped onto him by the courts, he'll get the hint and **** off. You'll also be surprised how many tenants "ask" for their power to be switched off when you tell them that otherwise it's going to cost them R10 000 for me to get a court order to do the same thing.

Well I suppose the people on Mybroadband knows best. Good luck with that ****

The Rental Housing Act is specific about this. Regulation 12 of the unfair practice regulations to the Rental Housing Act provides that a landlord who is obligated by law or terms of the lease agreement to provide electricity to a tenant must provide that service and must not cause the supply thereof to be interrupted or cut off to the dwelling without a court order. In other words, a landlord may not disconnect the power supply to his own property in order to force a tenant to either pay the rental arrears or to vacate the property.

http://www.privateproperty.co.za/advice/property/articles/landlords-and-electricity/459
http://www.phinc.co.za/NewsPublications/NewsArticle.aspx?CategoryID=1&articleId=1346#.V8PD-ejRZDs

Similar to the guy driving at 120km/h blocking the inside lane and not letting the obvious speedster behind him past. You are not a law enforcement official.

 

[saturnz]

Well I suppose the people on Mybroadband knows best. Good luck with that ****



http://www.privateproperty.co.za/advice/property/articles/landlords-and-electricity/459
http://www.phinc.co.za/NewsPublications/NewsArticle.aspx?CategoryID=1&articleId=1346#.V8PD-ejRZDs

Similar to the guy driving at 120km/h blocking the inside lane and not letting the obvious speedster behind him past. You are not a law enforcement official.

I've been through this discussion with him already which is why I'm hoping a landlord does take his guerrilla tactics seriously and reports back to us on how successful it was.

 

[Bloedmonster]

Hi Guys (and gals - if any),
Unfortunately the "criminal has more rights than you and I".
A cop told me this once, a while ago, while I caught someone doing something illegal and when they arrived, they said well legally he didn't do anything wrong - they can just take him to the station and check whether there is other outstanding cases against him.
Criminals paradise.
Now, as landlord in our beautiful country you need to be aware of the consequences when renting out your investment.
You need to know, before you have people occupy the property, that if something goes down with the tenants you will have to dig money out of your own pocket. This includes losing current rent, legal fees and damage to your property (because people that fail to adhere to your request to pay outstanding rent usually do not care about your property - and this is not generalizing - it's from experience).
Having any individual moving in "on top" of the current tenant is illegal and the tenant can easily get a court order to have them eviction - spoliation order.
So that option is not going to work.
Cutting power/water - I am confident in saying that it is still illegal - regardless of the articles pointed out earlier.
To date all the landlords/rental agencies I deal with stay far away from this route.
It is like punching someone when he drove into you - even if was under the influence - you WILL lose the case, immediately.
As far as having doors and windows removed for "renovations" - I'm sure the tenant could get a form of a spoliation order against you to order you to immediately restore undisturbed possession of the property.

Point is, being a property owner(with the idea to let out) in South Africa is a very difficult thing.
The tenants have so much rights; that makes it extremely difficult.
You can screen all you want, but if the tenant wants, he/she can screw you over big time.
Sub tenants are another massive headache and story for another time.

All I can say is do your homework properly, and be financially and mentally prepared for the worst, otherwise you may lose the property and get criminal charges against yourself.

All of the best

 

[Drunkard #1]

Well I suppose the people on Mybroadband knows best. Good luck with that ****



http://www.privateproperty.co.za/advice/property/articles/landlords-and-electricity/459
http://www.phinc.co.za/NewsPublications/NewsArticle.aspx?CategoryID=1&articleId=1346#.V8PD-ejRZDs

Similar to the guy driving at 120km/h blocking the inside lane and not letting the obvious speedster behind him past. You are not a law enforcement official.

Hey, if you chose to believe some journalist with no references, over the gazetted regulations published on the Western Cape Government's website, be my guest.