Patricia Roxborough, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU -
TENANTS ARE coming under increasing pressure in Jamaica as most landlords illegally hike rent for their properties way above the limit prescribed by law.
Sunday Gleaner checks show that only a token few landlords are complying with a century-old law, which grants a maximum 7.5 per cent annual rent increase, unless permission is granted by the Rent Assessment Board (RAB).
"(Cases involving) increases granted above the 7.5 per cent authorised by law was 9,671 for the past five years mainly from Kingston and St. Andrew," said RAB Administrator Madge Ashby-Coleman. "We are not computerised so I couldn't tell you precisely what percentage of landlords this represents, but I would want to say that this is just a drop in the bucket."
Violation of the law carries a $5,000 fine for offenders. In the last three years, the RAB has ordered 3,079 landlords to refund illegal rent hikes.
"Some (tenants) were allowed to live out the amount as the landlords were unable to refund cash," Mrs Ashby-Coleman explained.
The RAB was set up under the Rent Restriction Act to monitor such real estate dealings. The agency handles complaints from landlords and tenants. Both parties often complain about abuses suffered from the other.
"Tenants usually complain about harassment, which entails taking off doors, windows, roofs, preventing entry to premises by changing locks, disconnecting water and light and posting invalid notices to quit (the premises)," Mrs. Ashby-Coleman said.
"The landlords complain about arrears of rental, destruction of property, unacceptable living patterns of their tenants and their refusal to pay utility bills."
However, the landlords to whom The Sunday Gleaner spoke said they had never had any dealings with the RAB.
"Rent Board? I've been renting my house for years and I've never been there," said one landlady who did not want her name published.
The law requires anyone who rents accommodation to register with the RAB for the sum of $20. When the person registers, the RAB sends its inspectors to the premises. The inspectors compile a report for the Land Valuation Department which in turn sends its inspectors to the premises. They then work out how much rent the landlord should charge by adding five per cent of the value of the land to 12.5 per cent of the value of the building and dividing it by 12 to arrive at a monthly figure. This information is then documented on a certificate which is sent to the landlord.
Landlords seemed largely unaware of the process.
"A whe you a sey!" exclaimed a landlady mockingly when The Sunday Gleaner recited the law.
The RAB does not have a monitoring mechanism to ensure that landlords are registered, so it's up to the tenants to ensure that they don't get a bad deal from their landlords.
"What happens is that as soon as we get a complaint, we do the investigation and then take action," said Mrs. Ashby-Coleman.
Legislation governing the RAB was last updated in 1983 and there is a plan for another update, but The Sunday Gleaner was unable to get the details of this plan from the Ministry of Water and Housing under whose jurisdiction the RAB falls.
"In the meantime, we are coping as best we can," said Mrs. Ashby-Coleman.
