Asaba Residents Condemn Rent Increase, Urge Victims To Seek Redress

-Wants DTSG, Others To Address Issue

The Delta State Government, all members of the legislative arm, especially the Speaker of the DTHA and the Honourable Commissioner for Lands & Housing have been called upon to look into the suffering of Asaba residents over the hike in rents by caretakers and landlords.

Dr. Farouq Amodu, a practicing Medical Doctor, who resides in Asaba held a pressing briefing on the arbitrary rent Increment within the state capital and its environs by greedy landlords

He noted that the state government should set up a new agency to regulate and monitor both tenants and landlords to ensure equity, adding that laws were usually forgotten if not used or challenged.

Dr. Farouq called on tenants who were victims of arbitrary rent increase or other vices to approach the Delta State Real Estate Regulatory Authority or go to courts for amicable resolution of such issues.

“People just keep quiet when they are overcharged; but the law will not defend you if you don’t come to challenge it.

“Somebody must actually go out to say that I know my right and I can always challenge any landlord who is increasing his rent abruptly without any course to the law of the land,’’ he said.

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Farouq noted that the Ministry of Lands and housing was created to monitor, control and regulate policies of real estate transactions in the state.

“If either you have been defrauded or overcharged, or you paid for a property and you have not got value for your money, that is an area you can go to lodge your complaints and such people will be called to order,’’ he said.

He urged Delta state government to do the needf with the existing laws on rent made by previous regimes to bring them up-to-date with current realities.

“When certain rules are made, people tend to flout it.

“Landlords tend to believe that well, I’ve got my money to build my homes and I feel I should charge what I feel I have put in as cost, but that doesn’t come with government.

“The government is always on the side of the masses and that is why I said the government of Delta state should come up with a new idea of creating mortgages for people who intend to have homes.

“The Rent Control Act of the government is still going to be something that would be promulgated again, because we know that it is very easy for people to jerk up their prices of homes based on the fact that they don’t have good interest rates from the bank.

“We understand the parts of individuals,’’ he said.