Very interesting read, as a tenant it really has opened my eyes to a lot and given more understanding on where I stand.

I am a tenant and had a burst geiser which happened on a Thursday. Because of the way the water was connected to the house, the water to the burst gieser could only be stopped by stopping the main water supply to the entire house. We had no running water for drinking, toilet use or bathing for four solid days as it was only repaired the next Tuesday. We are three adults living in the house and had to find place to stay for four days for which we had to pay but the owner did not compensate us. On the day the gieser was replaced, the workman nearly fell through the very wet ceiling and left a gaping hole in the lounge and some pushed out nails on the lounge and bedroom ceiling which showed sagging. I witheld R1500 of my rent which was R3100 at the time. The ceiling was not repaired until late November and has still not been painted over the repairs. I still have not paid the R1500 which I held back because the four days we lived elsewhere cost us a lot and my house still is not repaired in full. I have a raw piece of ceiling in my lounge and patches where the other damage was repaired. It looks unsightly and this whole issue has been going on since end September. Its now 13 January the following year already and she now threatened to give me notice if I dont pay her the R1500 I held back. What about the days we could not live in the house and the fact that its so long and the place is still not fully repaired. Am I not allowed compensation for the money spent for the four days and the fact that my house looks like a messed up place. Dont I as a tenant have any right to justice here. Can I not demand compensation and demand that the place be fully repaired. Can she in this case give me notice. She said that she will get me out even if it means that she has to come live here hereself. It is a private rental. She does not want me to pay the rent into her bank account and the property is not insured against damage. She said that she would now insure it but I dont think its been done yet. She told the workman to make his invoice out to another property she has so that she can claim on that ones insurance as if the damage was actually there and not here.
Can you give me some advice about my right to hold back R1500 for the four days we could not live in the house and for the fact that the place is not fully repaired four months later.

Please help, I am desparate. She wants to kick me out of the house by any possible means now just because I have not paid her the R1500 I am holding.

Thanks and I await your urgent reply.

Wilna van der Heide

Dear Wilner,

Your issue appears quite complex and I would suggest that you contact your attorney for details.

This is clearly a legal matter which we are not qualified to comment on.

Kind Regards

Lance Masfen

As it is not specified in the lease who is responsible for relacing tap washers? Tenant or owner?
These leaking tap washers have probably not been replaced since the house was built approx 10 years ago.

I am a new tennant and want to put the water on our name the local munisipality informed the there was an amount in arrears we need to pay it before they can put it on our name. Which we did now the renting agent informed us we have to wait for our money and we can not take it of the rent they have to sue the prevois owner on order to get the money back. I need advice on this please.

It does not make sense that the rental agent is not willing to deduct the money off the rent. They cannot hold you responsible for arrears made by a previous tenant. Isn't it the owners' responsibility to offer a property to rent without previous debt history which becomes the current tenants' responsibility?

In my mind they have to sue and recover the money from the previous tenant on own risk as it was their responsibility to ensure that these things were up to date in the first place.

I don't really know about these things, but it makes sense to me that you should stand firm in having the money paid back to you out of the rent. That is just my opinion.

Hi,
I have been working 7 - 7 in a admin
position and been a common law whife to
the owner for the last 7 years. I have
just been retrenched and asked to move
out of the house. He has met a new Lady
and wouldlike to move on with his life.
What can I do?

I have a problem with my landload, his has
given me one months notice to vacate the
premesis, I stay in those premesis and also
run a business the there.

He started by interfering with my business
by letting the same tipe of business right
next to mine. now he says that the rental
that I am paying is not enough he had not said anything before. it seems like it was his plan to subotage my business.

what can I do, to remedy this situation?

I need some advice. We moved out of the house we were renting end April. The agent was in the house on the 1st of May and said the house looks 100 times better then when we moved in. She did not ask me to inspect the house with her but actually asked me to leave. A week late I asked about my deposit and then the trouble started. Now there is a block drain, blinds that are broken and curtains that are gone. She only wants to pay me half of my deposit back. I feel helpless and cheated.

We have been renting a property which has now been sold the current/old owner now wants to withold our deposit until inspection. I can't see why an inspection should be done if the house was sold voetstoets to someone else....is this legal? Transfer has not taken place, we were given notice to vacate so the new owners can move in.

I have been having troubles with my toilet since I moved into my rental unit. It does not flush...sometimes I have to flush 20 times. I am having to wait till I get to work before I can use the loo as the unit only has 1 toilet. I have never flushed any foreign objects in the toilet. The toilet won't even flush a tissue down after blowing my nose for pete's sake! I have had 2 plumbers in but they cannot fix the problem. I paid them but could not get my money back. My Landlord will not fix the toliet and I still have 8 months to go before my contract ends. What can I do about this situation. Can I find a loop hole to cancel my contract if he still won't have it fixed. Please help.

My landlords are interfering with the way we live, and the way we look after the children.
I want to also know if it is legal for them to rent a cottage inc l/w when the tenants of the main house are paying for the bill. The cottage is adjoined to the house and is not seperated. They inform us that they pay the electricity but the Ethkweni Municipality have no record of a second meter for the cottage and tell us that the landlords cannot have two seperate leases for the one property with one meter reading.
Please help us

Im not getting my deposit back, its been over a month since due, the property manager keeps telling that he does not know when I'll get it.This is so frustrating since i need the money.The property manager wont even let me speak or give me the property owner' number.
I feel so powerless, I dont even have money to get a lawyer to sort out this for me.

Me and my husband had a contract for one year. the owner of the house started advertising their house after we told them we are not interested into buying at this stage. so we knew that we have to look for something else since the owner can give us two months notice and we could do the same. we eventually got the offer of staying in my husband's grandmothers house since she passed away. so the same day we spoke to the owner explain to her that we are moving out into my husband grandmothers house. We also told her that we will make two months payments for the time their is no one in. just before making our next payment she started phoning us that we have to make payments a.s.p.s we than make a turn at the house and saw that someone already moved in. Can she demand rent from two tendents? It doesn't sound right she can't get two payments? what does the law state about this?

I am a single mom and i realy need your good advice.My family and I have been shortlisted for a home to rent next month and were thrilled when the rental agency called and gave us the good news that the owner who is currently living overseas has accepted our application to rent his home. The agent and i have both signed the lease agreement ten days ago.The agent then told me that he will email the lease agreement to the owner to sign and that i may collect a copy of the lease in a weeks time with all 3 signatures (agents,landlords and tenants).I called the agent today to collect a copy of the lease to hand in at the high school as proof of residence together with my sons application and was told that he is still waiting for the owner to email the lease with his signature on it.
The agent then asked me to deposit 2 months rental deposit into their lawyers interest bearing account.I have no problem with depositng the money, but what worries me is that should'nt i have a copy of the lease first with all 3 signatures before i deposit my money? Would i have any problems getting my money back asap should the owner not sign the lease agreement for some reason? Please reply to my email as i dont want to deposit money into an account that will be a problem to get back in the event that i need the money to secure another home to rent. My children are all counting on me and i can't let them down.

We stayed in a townhouse for over two years and moved out at the end of Oct. We have been begging for our deposit back for weeks, we got it today but only R900.00, they short paid us by R3500.00 and told us that they needed to paint the townhouse. Is this legal? After two years of living there obviously the walls wont look brand new. We need help??

My mother is renting a place she was late with payment now the owner wants to kick her out whar must she do now.

love lallay

Hi Ayesha,

As far as I know, the lease has to be signed by the Landlord, otherwise it is not a legal binding contact.

I would recommend that you do not pay any monies over until you receive the signed document.

Hi Carmen,

This sounds like a legal matter to me.

I suggest you have a look at the Rental Act. It may be of assistance to you

http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=70618

How do i get out of a lease.

I am in a three year lease and there is no clause that allows for me to terminate the lease. Is there anyway that I can get out the lease? Ive been there for two months now but have already started experiencing problems with the plumbing, dampness and cracks on the walls and the level of security. It a brand new complex.

As far as I know, you have to give at least two months notice - But I suggest that you have a chat to your landlord.

I am renting a property in Durban. It is a house and a Garden Flat. I have two seperate leases. I pay R4200.00 for the house and R1500.00 for the flat. The flat was under construction when I moved in here, and I signed the lease to occupy the flat on completion. I have however never been able to occupy the flat as there is just bare concrete on the floor and no tiles as promised by the landlord. The electrical outlets (plugs), and lights in the lounge was not connected either. The ones that were connected were faulty. Every time we turned on a light anywhere in the flat, the house lights would trip.

I have been promised on numerous times that we would get tiles to put in the flat, and the electrical problems would be sorted out, and to this day nothing has happened. I have asked the Agent to cancel both my leases and they have refused. They are forcing me to stay here. The main house has no working stove, although when I came here I was told that it was a fully fitted kitchen, and that the stove works. The electricity was off at the time of occupation as there was a fine of R6000.00 for self reconnection from previous people, somethign that I was totally unawre of. I sat in the dark for 5 days before it was sorted out. I still cannot put the lights in my name as the owner is paying the lights off. I pay my portion of the light account when I receive it. Which is around the 20th of the following month. One plate works but only on very high and it burns everything. I even offered to split the costs of purchasing a new stove with the owner and he did not bother. My offer is no longer valid.

I withheld the rent on the flat this month, (on the agents instructions although he flatly denies saying so, and for which I would gladly take a polygraph) and was later told by the agent that if I paid this months rent I would get tiles for the flat the very next day. I paid the money two days ago after many assurances by him, and as yet nothing has happened. I advised the agent I wanted tiles so we could install them this weekend so my brother who is supposed to occupy the flat can actually take occupation. We were asked to give a quote for the electrical repairs on the agents instructions and he asked that my brother do it because he knows it will get done properly, which we did, and we then went and bought all the parts and had the electrical issues done. We asked that we be re-imbursed R1000.00 for parts and labour. We have not received any kind of acknowledgement from the agent regarding this.

None of my e-mails to the agent get acknowledged. I realise that we are not the only people he has to deal with, but we have been paying for a flat we cannot occupy for 4 or 5 months. I have not even received a copy of that lease as yet even though I have requested it often. I was told I cannot cancel my lease and have decided that in order to keep my good name not to cancel my lease, because the owner would end up suing me. But we also cannot wait for tiles for the place any longer and intend buying tiles out of the rent money and we will deduct this off the rent, as it seems that this is the only way we are going to get anywhere.

The owner says he has given us a lot. The inside of the main house's one wall was so water damaged we had to remove all the plaster and replaster it out of our own pocket. The owner said he would re-imburse us and has not. The house inside was so full of holes and drill marks, we had to poly fill everything. The inside had to be repainted. We then asked the owner to split the cost of repainting the inside of the house, which he did. The problem is the original paint on the inside is such bad quality that when we paint on it the paint underneath peels off. We have to sand all the paint off.

The owner keeps on telling us that he built the flat for us. We never asked that he build a flat. We were told by the agent when we first viewed the place that the owner was adding on to the flat. The owner then turned around and said that he never said he would put any kind of flooring in the flat (Is he serious?). He never mentioned this to me and neither did the Agent. You cannot expect a person to pay for an unfinished flat, without proper flooring or plug points and lights and live wires hanging out the walls. No-one can live in it. The water runs under the door every time it rains and floods the lounge area of the flat, because there is a gap between the door and the bare mouldy, rough uneven concrete floor where the tiles should go.

The walls are mouldy too because of this and everything that was stored in there went mouldy. We have had to throw away so much stuff that we stored in there already. The place was a mess when we first moved in. We were promised by the agent that the house would be painted before we took occupation, that never happened. That the garden would be cleaned. The owner gave us a broken lawnmower with no blade and expected us to clean up. I managed to get a working mower out of him 2 months later. He refused to pay for garden service. A clean garden was promised to us. We ended up having to sell the Jacuzzi that the owner had, (on his instructions, that I had to advertise), buy the paint and paint it ourselves.

We also had to have the roof pressure cleaned (on the owners instructions), the hole filled in and plastered where the Jacuzzi was, and finish the inside of the flat where they never put in Rhino boards, and cornice or curtain rails, and paint the inside of the flat, which became mouldy because of the water running in under the doors. We had a budget of R4000.00. We worked miracles. We had to hire a pressure cleaner for 3 days and then borrowed one because it was expensive. We also had to pay for labour for the roof of R100.00 per day. We have done so many things to the place, free of labour charges, and have decided that we will no longer offer our services free of charge.

We are really tired of being given the runaround by the agent and the owner to give us a complete flat. Something that we can take occupation of. Once again it is month end and I am expected to pay the rent for a vacant flat, and not be able to take occupation. Where do I draw the line. This flat is costing me money every month. We signed a lease for the flat because we did not want to share the property with strangers. We were promised flooring for the flat, were told by the owner on numerous occaisions to get quotes, and he will buy the tiles and deliver them. Nothing has happened. I am attaching e-mails from him to proove that.

I feel that I am owed a refund for all the months I have paid for a vacant unfinished flat. That the owner should finish what he said he would, and that the agent act in a responsible manner and acknowledge his clients and make an effort to answer their questions and queries.

We have had to endure many things while living here. When it rains hard, the whole back garden floods. The owner was told that he has to put in proper drainage. The water runs in here is not healthy It lays in the garden for days and runs in the garden in rivers for days on end. It eventually starts to stink. I have photograpic evidence of this too. The owner is trying to lay the blame on the vacant plot behind us. Unfortnately, it is a runnoff, and the person being flooded is the person who must put in adequate drainage. The thing is, the owner wants my brother who is very skilled in building to do this free of charge. We are not prepared to do anything for free anymore. We have been promised so much, and done so much for free. I am attaching e-mails from the owner where he has promised us things and they just simply have not happened. Two of my dogs have died from that runoff water. They picked up a disease from the water. All four of my dogs got sick and two died. The mosquitoes are also a huge problem, because the water just lays in the garden.

I also feel that I should not be given ultimatims for the tiles. If I pay the rent they will do this or that. I always pay the rent. I am attaching statements from my bank where I do internet transfers. I simply withheld it this month because I was told to, so that I could get some attention. It has become a big headache at the moment.

I phoned the agent in December and was unhappy about the way things were (That was when he told me not to pay the rent on the flat). He told me I can give two months notice. I e-mailed him my notice on 1 January. I had to tell the owner on the 15th that I had given notice, the agent never bothered. I was then told that I would be sued if I left. My lease is for a year, and I still have 6 months. The agent says this is good value for money. Where is the value if I cannot occupy the premsises that I am paying for.

I think you should go see an attorney about this matter and contact the Estate Agencies Affairs board.

You won't believe how many people have complained about their Agents/Landlords this month.

Hope you get this matter sorted out soon.

im renting a ground floor unit with carpets that look really bad and im also suffering from severe sinus attacks and headaches due to the amount of dust that gathers in the carpets.

as a new tentant in the flat, what are my rights in requesting that the carpets be replaced with laminated flooring?

The contract says that carpets must be left clean and wihtout stains and must be livable.

They would have deducted my deposit had I left it in such a condition as I received it, so surely I can request that they give it to me in a condition that is livable?

You gave honest ideas there. I did a search on the issue and got most peoples will agree with your blog.

Great info, i glad to see this blog, such an informative article, Thanks for share this.

I have rented a cottage directly from the owner. I had to move out due to the unbearable noise coming from the maid quaters accross a paper thin wall. We had a verbal agreement as to moving out before the contract expires. They said they are flexible as owners and only require a month of notice to find the next tenants. When I gave them 33 days of notice I did not receive any objections whatsoever and we were in mutual agreement ( I have emails to prove her agreement)

Now we have moved out on 26 April with all out furniture. Our rent had been paid up until the 30 Apr so we still had the keys until then. We thouroughly cleaned the cottage on 30 April and handed over our keys to the landlord who was on the property. She was very busy in the office and did not have the time to do inspection with us right next door to her office which is also on her property. She promised to do the inspection on 2 May after which we were meant to be refunded. She never did the inspection. 2 weeks later I was still sending her emails as to when we can do the inspection and when our deposit will be paid back. After many promises ignored, finally we met on 14 May. During the inspection we discovered a bathroom window cracked. As we cleaned the whole house including all the bathroom windows on the last day before handing over the keys - I know for sure that window wasn't broken. She is now trying to pin this on me saying that for 2 weeks no one has stepped into the cottage and therefore it must be us that have broken it. The crack could have easily come from an outside impact. Her son always kicks the ball across the wall and it had previously landed on our roof many times. She keeps telling me that it couldn't be her son as he would have told her. If it was him the chances he wouldn't have noticed and just picked up the ball from where it rolled and carried on playing. The point is that I haven't been on her property for more than 2 weeks. Why should I even come up with theories as to who might have broken her window.

I am very annoyed. A similar situation happened to me with the previous owner regarding cleaning where she charged me for cleaning the place a week after the new tenant moved in and I had to pay for cleaning his mess all because we never did the inspection on time. This time I have been trying to avoid all possible situations like this by pushing my landlord for an inspection immediately after we moved out. She kept telling me how incredibly busy she is and oftentimes simply ignored my correspondence. Now 2 weeks after we moved out she is pinning this broken window on me and still has not paid my deposit back (18 days after vacation). She now also doesn't return emails etc regarding the deposit.

What are my rights in this situation? In the end of the day I can't access the property or force the landlord to inspect it on time if she keeps delaying it.

Always love to post a comment, I can't help myself! Thanks Sarah :)

It's good too read your blog again, i see some interesting updates here..

Strange this post is totaly unrelated to what I was searching google for, but it was listed on the first page. I guess your doing something right if Google likes you enough to put you on the first page of a non related search. :)

Thank you for the advice. I’ve found your first point to be most effective.