How to Deal with a Difficult Tenant as a Landlord in Ghana

How to Deal with a Difficult Tenant as a Landlord in Ghana

  • Difficult tenants are the number one cause of headaches for many landlords in Ghana because they cause a lot of trouble
  • The rent advance of 1 or 2 years makes the experience with a difficult tenant quite burdensome as you are stuck with them for a long time
  • You do not have to fight with stubborn tenants. They are ways you can deal with them to make the experience less hectic for you as a landlord

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Dealing with unreasonable tenants in Ghana is a normal thing. Many think that as far as they have paid for a place, they can do whatever they like. If you are currently dealing with a stubborn tenant, then consider these points outlined below to help you seek redress.

A stubborn tenant is served with an eviction notice from the landlord
A stubborn tenant is served with an eviction notice from the landlord. Photo credit: Getty Images. Source: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images

Speak With them

The first step in addressing an issue with a tenant is to speak with them. Some of them may have genuine complaints but may not know how to channel their grievances.

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Speaking reasonably and amicably with them usually calms down high tempers and the two parties can come to a workable solution.

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Get Others Involved

If they will not speak with you, then try to involve other people who are influential in the neighbourhood such as pastors, imams or representatives from your local government such as the Assemblyman or Member of Parliament.

Lodge a Complaint with Rent Control

If you do not make any headway after speaking with them, you can make a complaint with any Rent Control office near you. They will usually summon the tenant involved and try to settle the issue between the two parties.

Rent Control will usually do their own investigations and then take action.

Pay their Balance and Give Them Time to Leave

One other way of dealing with difficult tenants is to ask them to vacate your property. In Ghana, this means that you pay them the balance of their remaining duration of stay in your property and also give them time (usually 3 months) to find a place and move out.

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Real estate apps in Ghana that help you rent a place

Meanwhile, in an earlier article, YEN.com.gh wrote about mobile apps in Ghana that help people find properties easily anywhere in Ghana.

All you have to do is sit comfortably at home, visit these apps and get access to a catalogue of properties online. You can also directly call the landlords and agents straight from the apps to check the availability of the homes.

Source: YEN.com.gh

Authors:
Richmond Setrana avatar

Richmond Setrana Richmond Setrana is a real estate editor for YEN.com.gh with 5 years of writing experience. He graduated from KNUST in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and is currently enrolled in a MA—Mass Communications program with Liverpool John Moores University. He has written for reputable platforms like meqasa.com, Noanyi, Edanra and Yourcommonwealth.org. He can be reached via: richmond.setrana@yen.com.gh