The tenant nightmare
The tenant nightmare
Faizul Khan Tanim writes on the various concerns that landlords have before and after letting out a house
While tenants have a range of issues with landlords, the landlords themselves are not to be left behind in the number of concerns and reservations they have before letting out a house.
Most landlords across the city cite numerous cases of being deceived by tenants, on various occasions being deprived of rent for months and years, and sometimes losing possession of their own property.
Like tenants have no recourse to law if they are mistreated by landlords, landlords also feel that once in the hands of tenant who can pull a lot of ‘weight’, the landlord is virtually captive.
They also feel that the measure most landlords take nowadays to screen and control tenants is justified in the absence of laws to protect them.
A very common complaint is how lodgers deceive landlords while renting houses.
‘I once rented a flat to a decent looking lady who told me that her husband lives abroad and she would be living with her daughter and son-in-law,’ says Samiul Haq who owns a five-storey building in Mohammadpur.
‘A few months later, other tenants of the building informed me that the so-called son-in-law was going around flats and asking the housemaids to work as prostitutes. They were actually running a brothel from the flat,’ he says.
Many landowners allege that they miss monthly rents from tenants who cite various excuses, sometimes getting it as late as the following month. Some landowners don’t get rent for years and having served notices to these tenants to leave, many landlords actually get into trouble as some tenants threaten them with dire consequences.
‘For many years, my two-storey house in Gulshan was occupied by this family who did not pay rent,’ says a landowner on condition of anonymity. ‘I went to the police and Dhaka City Corporation on many occasions. This tenant of mine had bought off the police and they in turn threatened and told me to forget the house while the officials at DCC were nonchalant,’ he says.
‘After many years, I finally had to turn to illegal means as I hired a number of goons who forced them out,’ he says.
Tenants don’t just leave it at occupying houses, many sometimes leave the house in disarray.
‘When my tenants left I realised that they had put up partitions of partex wood, made holes and dug nails, broke windows and curtain holders, destroyed the distemper on the walls, all without my knowledge,’ says Abdul Mannan, another landlord from Mohakhali.
‘It took me two months and nearly two lakh taka to get the flat in shape once again,’ he adds. Many landlords point out that Mannan was lucky, because a lot of the tenants leave the flat walking away with most of the accessories like light and fan holders, bathroom commode, curtain holders, window glass etc.
Many tenants allege that landlords put unfair demands like returning to the house at a certain time, most often by 11pm.
‘We need to lock the doors at a certain hour because the law and order situation in the country is really bad,’ says Suraiya Akhtar, a landlord of a four-storey building in Shyamali. ‘A late tenant can disturb other tenants. Also, in Dhaka city, being robbed in your own flat is not uncommon and it worries other tenants a lot,’ she says.
Landowners say they prefer small families and fixed income earners while letting out a house.
‘Service holders have a fixed income and based on that, they rent a house. They will consistently pay the dues without hassle and this is very important for a person like me who took loan while constructing the building. I need a regular payment guarantee to ensure payment of my credit installments,’ says Abdul Mannan.
‘The reason for taking in a small family is that there is less pressure on my utility services because when the tenants use more water than required for a four member family, it creates problem for my other occupants’, Mannan added.
Landlords prefer not to rent out to tenants of specific profession like journalists, government or private service holders with late night working shifts and even bachelors or single mothers because they bring in many guests at different times which makes other tenants uncomfortable.
The property-owners feel that once bachelors are let in, many anti-social activities might take place. Mannan further believes that bachelors quite regularly rent a place and then fail to make the monthly payment.
‘I am tired of listening to problems for example: our exams are nearby and we are waiting for our parents to send money. And quite often they end up fighting amongst each other which would trigger one to leave, bringing extra pressure on the other to pay the monthly due, and in these cases, you would find one fine morning that the rest fled without paying the rent or bills’.
Most landlords point out that these problems do not exist abroad because the system there is very transparent. One can always find a person with their unique social security number.
A common allegation of tenants is that quite often, landowners forcibly make them pay the house owner’s utility bills by producing shady adjustments in the bills. Most landowners admitted that a handful of them, around ten percent, actually practice this.
These landowners devise a plan of letting each tenant stay for only six months and keeps on adding their bills with the tenants until the tenants realise what is happening. And by the time they realise, six months have already passed. Since the landowners usually take huge amount of advance payments before renting, they do not incur any loss.
Most property owners feel that since renting houses is a trade, there should be government monitoring. They demanded a list of do’s and don’ts and common rules for both landowners and tenants so that when an agreement is breached, both parties can seek help of the law.
They also mentioned that there should be proper ‘deed of agreements’ signed on stamp papers before renting out. There should be regulations to follow on how house rents would be increased, based on location, facilities provided, and square feet of property. There should be enough time before the landowners give certain notices of evacuation.
Many landowners agree, that in general, landowners have more power over tenants because of the disparity in demand and supply.
‘There should actually be more landlords,’ says Abdul Mannan. He further comes up with a unique idea that the state run house building finance corporation (BHBFC) should give loan to a single person for only one unit, that is one flat for that person’s living.
‘This should be done because that landowner is taking loan for five flats and then earning huge profit whereas, if he was sanctioned a loan for only one flat, other people could get the same loan easily and that can bring an end to the existing housing crisis’.
Faizul Khan Tanim writes on the various concerns that landlords have before and after letting out a house
While tenants have a range of issues with landlords, the landlords themselves are not to be left behind in the number of concerns and reservations they have before letting out a house.
Most landlords across the city cite numerous cases of being deceived by tenants, on various occasions being deprived of rent for months and years, and sometimes losing possession of their own property.
Like tenants have no recourse to law if they are mistreated by landlords, landlords also feel that once in the hands of tenant who can pull a lot of ‘weight’, the landlord is virtually captive.
They also feel that the measure most landlords take nowadays to screen and control tenants is justified in the absence of laws to protect them.
A very common complaint is how lodgers deceive landlords while renting houses.
‘I once rented a flat to a decent looking lady who told me that her husband lives abroad and she would be living with her daughter and son-in-law,’ says Samiul Haq who owns a five-storey building in Mohammadpur.
‘A few months later, other tenants of the building informed me that the so-called son-in-law was going around flats and asking the housemaids to work as prostitutes. They were actually running a brothel from the flat,’ he says.
Many landowners allege that they miss monthly rents from tenants who cite various excuses, sometimes getting it as late as the following month. Some landowners don’t get rent for years and having served notices to these tenants to leave, many landlords actually get into trouble as some tenants threaten them with dire consequences.
‘For many years, my two-storey house in Gulshan was occupied by this family who did not pay rent,’ says a landowner on condition of anonymity. ‘I went to the police and Dhaka City Corporation on many occasions. This tenant of mine had bought off the police and they in turn threatened and told me to forget the house while the officials at DCC were nonchalant,’ he says.
‘After many years, I finally had to turn to illegal means as I hired a number of goons who forced them out,’ he says.
Tenants don’t just leave it at occupying houses, many sometimes leave the house in disarray.
‘When my tenants left I realised that they had put up partitions of partex wood, made holes and dug nails, broke windows and curtain holders, destroyed the distemper on the walls, all without my knowledge,’ says Abdul Mannan, another landlord from Mohakhali.
‘It took me two months and nearly two lakh taka to get the flat in shape once again,’ he adds. Many landlords point out that Mannan was lucky, because a lot of the tenants leave the flat walking away with most of the accessories like light and fan holders, bathroom commode, curtain holders, window glass etc.
Many tenants allege that landlords put unfair demands like returning to the house at a certain time, most often by 11pm.
‘We need to lock the doors at a certain hour because the law and order situation in the country is really bad,’ says Suraiya Akhtar, a landlord of a four-storey building in Shyamali. ‘A late tenant can disturb other tenants. Also, in Dhaka city, being robbed in your own flat is not uncommon and it worries other tenants a lot,’ she says.
Landowners say they prefer small families and fixed income earners while letting out a house.
‘Service holders have a fixed income and based on that, they rent a house. They will consistently pay the dues without hassle and this is very important for a person like me who took loan while constructing the building. I need a regular payment guarantee to ensure payment of my credit installments,’ says Abdul Mannan.
‘The reason for taking in a small family is that there is less pressure on my utility services because when the tenants use more water than required for a four member family, it creates problem for my other occupants’, Mannan added.
Landlords prefer not to rent out to tenants of specific profession like journalists, government or private service holders with late night working shifts and even bachelors or single mothers because they bring in many guests at different times which makes other tenants uncomfortable.
The property-owners feel that once bachelors are let in, many anti-social activities might take place. Mannan further believes that bachelors quite regularly rent a place and then fail to make the monthly payment.
‘I am tired of listening to problems for example: our exams are nearby and we are waiting for our parents to send money. And quite often they end up fighting amongst each other which would trigger one to leave, bringing extra pressure on the other to pay the monthly due, and in these cases, you would find one fine morning that the rest fled without paying the rent or bills’.
Most landlords point out that these problems do not exist abroad because the system there is very transparent. One can always find a person with their unique social security number.
A common allegation of tenants is that quite often, landowners forcibly make them pay the house owner’s utility bills by producing shady adjustments in the bills. Most landowners admitted that a handful of them, around ten percent, actually practice this.
These landowners devise a plan of letting each tenant stay for only six months and keeps on adding their bills with the tenants until the tenants realise what is happening. And by the time they realise, six months have already passed. Since the landowners usually take huge amount of advance payments before renting, they do not incur any loss.
Most property owners feel that since renting houses is a trade, there should be government monitoring. They demanded a list of do’s and don’ts and common rules for both landowners and tenants so that when an agreement is breached, both parties can seek help of the law.
They also mentioned that there should be proper ‘deed of agreements’ signed on stamp papers before renting out. There should be regulations to follow on how house rents would be increased, based on location, facilities provided, and square feet of property. There should be enough time before the landowners give certain notices of evacuation.
Many landowners agree, that in general, landowners have more power over tenants because of the disparity in demand and supply.
‘There should actually be more landlords,’ says Abdul Mannan. He further comes up with a unique idea that the state run house building finance corporation (BHBFC) should give loan to a single person for only one unit, that is one flat for that person’s living.
‘This should be done because that landowner is taking loan for five flats and then earning huge profit whereas, if he was sanctioned a loan for only one flat, other people could get the same loan easily and that can bring an end to the existing housing crisis’.
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