Omar Sey, the manager of the Rent Tribunal Unit at the Kanifing Municipal Council, has set the record straight by stating that no landlord should make a condition of entry for payment of up to 6 (six) months before getting access to any apartment.

He was then quick to make it clear that those who are bending the rules are committing offence and could face fines of up to D5,000 (five thousand) or a two-year jail term, or both.

Omar Sey made this remarks to the Daily Observer on Monday, during an exclusive interview at the KMC Rent Tribunal Office. According to him, they operate according to the provisions of decree 67 of 1996, adding that their office serves as a secretariat to the tribunal. The tribunal is a separate body which comprises of four members, one of whom he said is appointed as its chairman. He also pointed out that their aim is to regulate rents; i.e, to fix standard rent for rentable properties within the municipality. He also disclosed that the tribunal sits twice a week, every Tuesdays and Thursdays, for rent matters.

Sey further outlined that it is a requirement that all rentable residential properties within the municipality should be registered within the rent tribunal. Failure to comply with this, he said, can lead a landlord to face a fine of up to D5000 (five thousand dalasis) or two years imprisonment or both. He added that it is illegal for any landlord to arbitrarily increase his/her rent without making a formal application to the tribunal.

Putting the tribunal in picture, he said, will allow them to make inspection of such a property for subsequent issuance of recommendations. According to the rent tribunal boss, no landlord can give notice to any tenant in isolation of the tribunal. Failure to abide by this, he added, will render such a decision null and void if brought before the tribunal. The law, according to Sey, stipulates that only one month should be paid in advance.

The KMC Tribunal unit boss also seized the opportunity to say that one of the contributing factors to all these problems is that rent agents (rent brokers) play a preponderant role in creating artificial inflation in the sector. "Because their sole interest is to gain more commission from the six months down payment.

He therefore called on tenants who may be subjected to such conditions not to hesitate to take the matter up with the relevant authorities. Mr Sey seized the opportunity to lift a corner of the veil on the terms of conditions of notice, saying that there is no law that states that a landlord cannot give notice to tenants. But he emphasised that a notice should be given according to the length of stay of the tenant. He added that when the rent is paid annually, quarterly or yearly, the notice should be equally nothing less than three months.

Considering that KMC is the country's most populated municipality, Mr Sey further indicated that current trends of rent issues are increasingly becoming a daily problem. He further appealed to the general public to report all rent related matters to the Rent Tribunal unit at KMC.