STAND ALONE NARRATIVE
WICKED LANDLORD
Recently, I renovated my house, upgrading the windows to better ones and redesigning both the interior and exterior to suit my taste. As an introvert, I value a comfortable home, so I spent so much on the renovation.
Last week, my landlord visited, admired the improvements, thanked me for elevating the value of his house. He also prayed for me.
My rent is expiring next month and the landlord brought a notice for rent renewal with a shocking 100% increment.
I have been furious since I got the notice.I called him to remind him how much I have spent renovating his house and he said he did not ask me to renovate his house. . I am mad and confused, what should I do.
Last week, my landlord visited, admired the improvements, thanked me for elevating the value of his house. He also prayed for me.
My rent is expiring next month and the landlord brought a notice for rent renewal with a shocking 100% increment.
I have been furious since I got the notice.I called him to remind him how much I have spent renovating his house and he said he did not ask me to renovate his house. . I am mad and confused, what should I do.
The increase affects a lot of people cos i have been hearing of same complaints.....
So, first off, the Landlord did not send you to renovate his property, that was on you......He is supposed to bear with but he probably wants you out so that he can increase it to 200 percent..
If you go out to rent, you will pay so many fees and still end up renovating again....Just discuss with him to make it 70 or 80 percent increase cos of the renovations..
Your comfort have landed you in deep mess.
ReplyDeleteJust bear the pain, and try to negotiate with him.
DOZZYBEST.
Poster normally the Landlord takes care of the exterior parts of the house while you the tenant handle the interior...What you could have done was to inform the landlord with consent of all the changes you made and a rebate or total value of the renovation less your annual rent. Your landlord sef na ojukokoro...
DeletePlease negotiate with him and let him know the costs of your renovation. If you have a lawyer, please speak with him about this scenario...
Me: before I do that kind of renovation, will take pictures and if the landlord no get conscience, will let him know that I don't have conscience too.
DeleteSome landlords are from hell. Have a talk with him, let him reduce it. House hunting no be beans.
ReplyDeleteWho renovates a home that they do not own, introvert or not? And if you are doing it up, you do not do more than painting it over.
ReplyDeleteIf you were talking to ppl and not such an introvert you would have received wise counsel. Stella has given you all the answer you need.
In a sane country, there are regulations on how and when you can increase rent with due explanation sef. When we got a slight increase in our rent, it came with an explanation that also cited the law they followed but everything is just yaga in Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteHow can you just increase rent, not by 10%, 20% or even 50% but by 100%. Is that not wickedness? If they did that to ur kid that is renting elsewhere, will u be happy?
Exactly pure wickedness! True he did not ask you to renovate but have a sit down with him and negotiate the terms. The way you renovated another man's house one would think it is your house nawa.
DeleteU forgot to also tell the tenant that in a sane country, a tenant does not have the right to do a major renovation of a property without first seeking the approval of the landlord. In some ‘sane countries’ even as much as driving a nail on a wall to hang picture frames will land u in trouble wt the landlord.
Delete15:51, this is not a case whereby the landlord is annoyed that she did such renovations or I would have had to point that out. So I'm confused at why u are raising this point!
DeleteIs inflation 20-domething percent in your sane country? Or in the sane country you can remove landlord’s windows without due discussion? Go and try it in sane country and watch them hit you with costs that you cant imagine.
DeleteIt must be really tiring to be playing dumb everyday.
DeleteAll these landlords increasing rents by 100% in this harsh economy are heartless.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like they did renovations or something spectacular, just wickedness.
Even the ones with semi mud houses too are increasing rents.
It will never be well with them.
Can you handle the stress of searching for another apartment?
For Lagos, they increase the land use charges...normally landlords bear the cost but they have transfered this to their tenants
DeleteSo as fuel increase money , you no want make landlord increase money too??. Na you dey wicked
DeleteIn my opinion, I always choose to rent instead of buying a house in Nigeria for the convenience of changing tease and location as I like since I don’t believe in the Nigerian real estate business. Nne. Why didn’t you simply move to another house that has everything you needed when you had the money?
ReplyDeleteJust take your time and recoup some money then leave.
If you value your peace of mind like me, forget about it, pretend you moved into a new place and try your best to enjoy your time and money. It’s money, it will always come if you have to right attitude towards it. Money is spirit. Don’t treat it with regret. Enjoy money and it will keep coming.
you should never renovate a house that is not your own no matter what, this same attitude alot of landlord are doing it just to make you one will not claim their property. You should have spoken with hi first before you renovate it and see if he would have agreed to deduct it from your rent.
ReplyDeleteHe want you out, if you can afford the rent just go ahead and pay it since you have the place up to your taste. You should speak with him in a calm voice to reduce it since you did some work recently. He never asked for it but still plead with him to consider you, I hope you have learnt something from your landlord.
If I was the one , I would move my things out to a storage facility and UNDO EVERYTHING i've done in that house and return it to how it was somewhat. I don't care about the expenses
ReplyDeleteThe landlord can sue her if she messes up his house especially if she signed an agreement that says she should not tamper with his house without his permission. She has already reneged on that agreement albeit positively, any effort to do so negatively could land her in hot soup.
DeleteYou cut off your nose to spite your own face? Who loose?
DeleteThere is no way he or she can undo everything. What if POP was installed? What about tiles? painting? How can painting be undone? By messing up the walls?
DeleteWell poster, if it will give you satisfaction, undo what you have fixed.
Remove all the windows and put the type that was there before. Remove the POP. Mess up the walls if you painted it, remove the marbles, remove the new doors and put old ones there m, remove or rear the nets, Carpenter and others who worked on them before will help you. Remove the new tap heads and put old or substandard ones, etc
But before you do this, make sure you have secured another apartment and you have moved your things out. I hope you have photograph or video of before and after you renovated the house because the landlord may sue you for damages of you don't have proof.
This chronicle is the exact story of the movie i watched recently on YouTube. I thought it was make believe.
ReplyDeleteWhat I learnt from the movie is that once this house owners see that a tenant renovate their house out of the ordinary, they feel you have money. So there will use the opportunity to want to extort the person. They see it as if you have enough to throw around so instead of that, you should just use the money to pay rent.
Try to talk to your landlord, plead for negotiation.
Always pay your next year month before you renovate
ReplyDeleteWeigh your options
Don’t just start doing interiors because you can
You will pay the money my dear,if you park out another person pay 2years and your landlord won’t refund you shishi
Who lose?
If you had at lest deluded with him
This won’t be happening
Besides na your neighbor go tell am oh
Person go inform am
Person wey Dey close to you
You were but informed?
ReplyDeleteWhatever you do, return the house to it's original state you met it before moving out.
Poster the mistake you made was that renovation . you didn't have in mind that you are not the owner or that you will move out someday. It's landlords that that do that part. The landlord is not considerate,he would have been the one to compensate you.
ReplyDeleteNext time you feel the need to renovate rented property, call the landlord and have a discussion, tell him the extent of the renovation u want to do and demand a discount in rent for few months, atleast like he said u have increased the value of his property. It is a win-win situation.
ReplyDeleteLesson learnt.
ReplyDeleteNever you renovate another man's house.
If you don't like the structure of the house, leave and rent somewhere else.
I came across a similar story on Facebook.
This landlord played a fast one on an innocent hardworking girl. She renovated a hovel to the standard of a Palace because she wanted to use the place for her fashion design business.
Only for the landlord to tell her he was no longer interested and asked to refund her just the rent.
With what is happening now people should stop renovating houses that are not theirs even if the landlord agrees.
Next time only fix the interior . Fix the exterior of your own home not someone else
ReplyDeletePoster who send you message?? Are you new in Naija or you don't know wetin dey sup. Which kind renovation when you are not the landlord?? Na wetin landlords dey find bi that nah, that's business.You have given him hope that you are capable .
ReplyDeleteShebi you dey find comfort.
Na him suppose compensate you for doing his job. It's landlords that renovate their houses not tenants. Shine your eyes.
Dear poster,
ReplyDeletePermit me to laugh a little, and I'm sorry for the predicament you found yourself in.
Admittedly, you acted on emotions instead of logic, by investing in a house that isn't yours - life thrives better with critical thinking. Whatever we do, we must always act on the peculiarities of the society we find ourselves in. Your landlord in any case, now sees increased value, not sentiment like you are reasoning. And that is why you're angry; anyone would be - he, himself, would be. You poured your heart, money, time, and comfort into a place you don’t even own - that's not a given. Only for the landlord to turn around and double your rent. It feels like a betrayal. The reality is that it is his investment to which you are not a partner but a client, so he’s right. He never asked you to renovate, and legally, he owes you nothing - nothing whatsoever. Emotionally, though? It’s unfair. Then again, life is never truly fair.
Now, you have two options - fight (immediate response) or negotiate (thoughtful approach). Anger won’t win this - I'm sure experience must have taught you this, and also that begging won’t solve it. Try appealing to his sense of reason. Pacify him, show him that a reasonable increase, say 35-60%, benefits both of you - heartlessly, it's all about the money now. If he won’t budge, cut your losses, maybe it’s time to move on - you naively played into his hand. If it doesn't happen now, it will come later - it's inevitable with more of our landlords. Lesson learned hopefully: next time, invest in what’s truly yours. Comfort shouldn’t come at the cost of regret - wisdom is in learning before paying tuition in pain.
You don't renovate a rented house without an agreement with the landlord. Some landlords do make an agreement with you that you renovate and live rent-free for the value of the money you spent while some will tell you to leave their house the way it is except you will be renovating it for free. They won't give you one kobo back in cash or kind and they can increase it any time they wish. So it is left for you to decide if you want to go ahead.
ReplyDeleteNext time, carry the landlord along before renovation so you don't feel cheated if anything happens after.
You don't renovate someone's property without their consent and approval, you renovated the house to the extent of changing the windows
ReplyDeletewhat a waste of money on top what's not your property, the kind of mind tenants have nowadays ehhhh
That's how one turned my house to a poultry farm without my consent
This is very common with landlords.
ReplyDeleteHe wants you to move out out of anger so that he will increase it by 200% percent.
Negotiate with him to reduce it, if he refuse, then pay the new rent and enjoy your money at least. To search for another house nowadays is war.
Sorry for this ,it wasn't his plan just that average Nigerians thinks once you upgrade your comfort in life you have made it or more change has entered,just beg him for a little discount and maybe you should ask for permission next time .Even the people here condemning the landlord will do worse if they are in the same position,just pray for more provision and wisdom
ReplyDeleteGoke, I'm sure you meant to say you will do worse if you were the landlord.
DeleteNext time, talk about only yourself. Not everyone is greedy and wicked like you.
Always spewing rubbish with your patchy patchy English
Yes he's right.You didn't discuss the renovation with him.
ReplyDeleteOh dear
ReplyDeleteIt's to plead with him to reduce it a bit for you.
He knows you have spent money and you like the property and won't move out
ReplyDelete