step towards improving the quality of housing accessible to the most vulnerable in our society,” Dippenaar says.
While these obligations for the landlords sound heavy, there is room for the protection of their properties. And while the legislation Act makes certain that tenants are also on their best behavior, this will make it slightly easier for landlords to distinguish the‘ good’ tenants from the‘ bad’.
Here are some of the requirements of the legislation shared by SDLaw attorney, Simon Dippenaar among many others.
New Rental Housing Act Requirement:
• Landlords to provide tenants with written lease agreement and not verbal agreements
• Properties must be habitable.
• Property owners to ensure that their property is treated with respect
• The landlord to replace tenant’ s deposit in an interest-bearing account and repay the deposit plus interest within seven days of the lease expiring.
• The landlord to inspect the property with the tenant at the start of the lease.
• Defects or damages unrectified must be listed and attached to the lease agreement.
• The landlord cannot cut off utilities and services due to nonpayment. Only the municipality has the right to do so.
• A landlord cannot lock a tenant out of the property without a court order.
• Sufficient advance notice is required, unannounced‘ spot’ inspections are not permissible.
Well, it seems like most of what is coming to be the new law is threatening to some landlords. It should not be that way; the law could never be enacted to make life between such critical parties in the real estate industry difficult but created to improve landlord / tenant relationships. The provisions of the legislation should be quickly enacted in the lease agreements, so that the relationship is built a short while before the enforcement of this amendment.
SOURCES SDLaw, REI Masterclass & WeconnectU
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine JULY 2021 17