What happens when a landlord is fined because of the misconduct of his tenant’s guest?
Creating a clause in the lease which transfers responsibility to the tenant is important because damage to the property could amount to thousands of Rands, which the landlord will end up having to pay for if he is not covered by his lease agreement.
Prescribed Management Rule 69 says, “The provisions of these rules and of the conduct rules, and the duties of the owner in relation to the use and occupation of sections and common property shall be binding on the owner of any section and any lessee or other occupant of any section, and it shall be the duty of the owner to ensure compliance with the rules by his lessee or occupant, including employees, guests and any member of his family, his lessee or his occupant.”
Michael Bauer, managing director of IHPC, says the owner is responsible for his personal behaviour and that of his family and visitors to the unit, and if he has a tenant, their behaviour and their visitors too.
He says it is recommended that the landlord have a clause in the lease which transfers responsibility to his tenant so that he is not held liable each time any fines for misbehaviour are issued by the body corporate.
There will sometimes be cases where damage is done to property, i.e. a gate or boom might be damaged by a vehicle visiting and if the guest register signed at the gate can show which unit the vehicle came from, the person will be held accountable for paying for the repairs needed.
This shows how important a clause in the lease is to transfer responsibility to the tenant, because damage could amount to thousands of Rands and the landlord will end up having to pay for this if he is not covered by his lease agreement.
Occupation numbers in units is often restricted, where either two or three people are allowed to occupy the unit but it is not specified in the lease which two or three people will live in the house, says Bauer.
It has happened where tenants have been found to be renting rooms out by the hour or sub-letting rooms, however, they are sticking to the lease agreement because there are sticking to the stipulated number of occupants at any given time and naming the actual tenants by name and age.
Bauer says it is recommended, therefore, to list in the lease the names of the people occupying the unit. In IHPC’s experience, this has proven to be important because if it is found that the occupants are not the people listed in the lease, the agreement can then be terminated immediately as a breach of the lease.
“A good letting agent will make sure that his client, the landlord, will be covered in the best way possible in the lease agreement against loss or damage, and take as many steps possible to prevent inappropriate behaviour from tenants.”
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