It is
trite that Recovery of Premises is a topic under Civil Litigation that often
comes out in BAR FINAL exam…..
TAKE NOTE;
1.
Whenever
you see a question that you to draft either of the two Notices (Notice to Quit
& Notice of Owner’s Intention to Apply to Recover Premises) as a counsel,
you must first draft;
LETTER OF AUTHORITY TO DRAFT THE
NOTICES (the
authorization must come from the Landlord)
WHY:
A Landlord can only delegate his
function of issuing the Notices to an Agent or Legal Practitioner through a WRITTEN AUTHORITY.
Section 2 of RPA
& SECTION 47 LSTL both provides that any person
working on behalf of the Landlord must be authorized to act in a particular
manner by writing under the hand of the Landlord (definition of an AGENT)
The position of the law is that a
solicitor must also be authorized in Writing, and any notice issued by a
Solicitor upon an oral instruction of the Landlord will be invalid and
incompetent. See COKER V ADETAYO, AYIWOH
V AKOREDE
THE DRAFT
CHIEF
OLOWO BABA
NO.
1 OLOWO STREET,
OFF
ADMIRALTY WAY
LEKKI, LAGOS STATE.
25th
MAY, 2017.
JAMES
BOND
12,
ADEOLA HOPEWELL,
VICTORIA
ISLAND
LAGOS STATE.
Dear
Sir,
AUTHORITY TO ISSUE
NOTICE TO QUIT AND OTHER RELEVANT NOTICES TO THE TENANT IN KOKO LODGE, LEKKI
I, Chief
Olowo Baba of No.1 Olowo Street, off Admiralty Way, Lekki, Koko Lodge, hereby
appoint you James Bond, a legal practitioner, to act on my behalf with respect
to the issuance of notices to the tenants in occupation of my property at No. 1
olowo street,off admiralty way Koko Lodge, Admiralty Way Lekki, Lagos.
I
authorize you to do any lawful act which may be necessary for the recovery of
the premises.
Thank
you
Yours faithfully
Chief
Olowo Baba
2.
Your
understanding of the Jurisdiction of the Applicable laws will help you in drafting
the Notices, specifically the Notice to Quit.
WHY
The
Computation
of Time is different from the various jurisdictions and this will
either make your draft valid or void;
IN
ABUJA (Recovery of Premises Act is applicable) and Apapa, Ikeja Gra, Ikoyi, Victoria
Island. (Recovery of Premises Law is applicable)
Computation
of 3 Months’ Notice
This
is for a quarterly &Half Year Tenancy. The Landlord must
issue him a 3 Months’ Notice to Quit.
The
Notice must be 3 calendar months AND it must expire on the eve of anniversary of
the current tenancy. See SECTION 8 (1)(c) & (9) RPA
For
Instance, if the commencements date of the tenancy agreement is 1st January,
the eve anniversary will be 31st December. So if am to issue a Quit Notice I
can issue it on any day in September and it will terminate on the 31st of
December.
Computation
of 6 Months’ Notice
This
is for a Yearly Tenancy. The Landlord must issue the Tenant a 6 Months’
Notice to quit.
The
computation is similar to above computation of 3 months’ Notice. The 6 Months’ Notice
must expire on the eve of anniversary of the current tenancy.
For
instance, if the commencement date of the tenancy agreement is 15th day
of April, the eve anniversary will be 14th day of April. So if am to
issue a Quit Notice, I can issue it on any day in October and it will expire on
the 14th of April.
HOWEVER,
IN LAGOS (LAGOS STATE TENANCY LAW )
Computation
of 3 Months’ Notice
The
Notice
must be 3 calendar months but it need not terminate on the eve of
anniversary of tenancy, it may terminate on or after the date of
expiration of the tenancy. SEE SECTION
13(4) LSTL.
For
Instance, if the commencement date is 1st of January, if I want to issue him a
quit notice, I can do that any month in the year, I must just make sure that
the computation is 3 calendar months, so I can issue him on the 21st day of
March, and it will expire on the 30th day of June.
Computation
of 6Monthss Notice
This
is similar to the computation above. Unlike the other Jurisdiction that the
expiration of the Notice must be on the eve of anniversary of the tenancy, in
computing the 6 Months’ Notice it may terminate on or after the date of
expiration of the tenancy.
THE
DRAFT OF NOTICE TO QUIT
To
understand a draft you need to know the content of your draft;
a)
That
the Tenant should quit and deliver up possession of the property with all
appurtenances to the Landlord
b)
Full
description of the property to be recovered and where it is situated
c)
The
kind of Tenancy
d)
The
date of expiration of the Tenancy
e)
The
date the tenant should quit and deliver
up possession
f)
Must
be dated and signed by the person giving the Notice.
So, am
drafting as a Counsel, REMEMBER you must first draft the
Letter of authorization, which we have drafted above.
Before
we draft let me tell you two things you need to take note of;
a)
The
length of Notice to Quit must not be less than the period stipulated by the
Statutes or else it will be null and void. See AP V OWODUNNI
b)
The
Length may however, be more than the period stipulated by the Statute. See OCHIE
V AJOSE
SO; your date may be more than the
stipulated period but please make sure it not less than the stipulated period.
JAMES
BOND & ASSOCIATES
LEGAL
PRACTITIONERS AND SOLICITORS
No 12 Adeola Hopewell, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Email: jamesbond@yahoo.com
Phone: 08123456789
Our Ref: Your Ref:
To: Mr Dauda Kareem
No 1, Olowo Street,
Off Admiralty Way,
Ikoyi, Lagos.
Dear Sir
NOTICE TO QUIT
I, James Bond, hereby, as Legal Practitioner for Chief
Olowo Baba, your landlord, and on his behalf give you notice to quit and
deliver up possession of the four bedroom flat with appurtenances, situate at
No 1, Olowo Street, Off Admiralty Way, Ikoyi in the Lagos Magisterial District
of Lagos State, which you held as yearly tenant, on the 31st day of
December 2017.
 |
Dated this 1st day of June 2017
Signed:
James
Bond
Legal
Practitioner
ANALYSIS OF THE
DRAFT
1.
Did
you notice that I didn’t date the letter at the beginning, please do not be
tempted to put date before the main letter.
2.
We
have two dates in the Letter
a)
The
1st date is the date the Tenant ought to leave the House (31st
December 2017)
b)
The
second date is the issuance date which we will start computing from.(1st
day of June 2017)
3.
The
tenancy is a Yearly Tenancy so the notice to be given is 6 Months
4.
From
the question the Jurisdiction is LEKKI which will be govern by
RECOVERY OF PREMISES LAW, so;
a)
The
tenancy agreement must have commenced in January 1st. that the
reason our expiry date is 31st of December.
b)
Expiry
Date: This
simply means the date the Tenant ought to leave the apartment with all its appurtenances.
FOR THE PURPOSE OF
MCQ OR ANSWERING YOUR THEORY QUESTION
THE FORMS FOR
NOTICE TO QUIT
IN ABUJA RPA AND RPL[this is
applicable in Lagos covering the areas that LSTL does not cover) SCHEDULE
1. FORM B- Notice to Quit signed by the Landlord
2. FORM C- notice to Quit given by the
Agent or Legal Practitioner of the Landlord
3. FORM D- Notice by the Landlord to
quit Lodgings
IN LAGOS LSTL SCHEDULE
1. TL 2- Notice to Quit signed by the
Landlord in Person
2. TL 3- Notice to Quit given by an Agent or Legal
Practitioner of the Landlord
NOTICE OF OWNERS’ INTENTION TO APPLY
TO RECOVER PREMISES
This is also known as 7
days’ Notice. Two circumstances in which the Landlord issue this
notice;
a) After the expiration of the Notice
to Quit and the Tenant have refused to leave
b) Instances where the Landlord can
dispense with the Notice to quit;
i.
Fixed
Term tenancy which terminate by effluxion of time
ii.
Licensee
iii.
Where
property is deemed to be abandoned
iv.
In
case of monthly tenancy where the tenant is in arrears of rent for 6 months.
v.
In
case of quarterly or half-yearly tenancy, where the tenant is in arrears of
rent for one year.
N.B: PLEASE TAKE NOTE of
the Question in EXAM if the 2nd Circumstances occur, then you will
not draft a Notice to Quit.
AND the same principle applies that if
the Landlord instruct you to draft you must draft a letter of authorization before
you go ahead in drafting your Notice of owners’ intention to apply to recover
premises.
RULES GUIDING
THE NOTICE
1.
The
application for recovery must be within the Jurisdiction were the property is
situated
2.
The
Notice must be 7 clear days
3.
Where
an action is commenced in court before expiration of 7 days after date of
service, the action will be null and void. LASAKI V DABIAM
4.
Where
an action is filled before the end of 7 days after service of notice BUT the
matter is not heard by court until after 7 days. The action will be valid, the
tenant will be deemed to have had enough time. IHEANACHO V UZOCHUKWU
THE DRAFT
JAMES BOND & ASSOCIATES
LEGAL PRACTITIONER
AND SOLICITOR
NO. 12 ADEOLA HOPEWELL,VICTORIA
ISLAND, LAGOS
Email: jamesbond@yahoo.com
Phone no: 08123456789
Our Ref:
__________
Your
Ref: _______________
Date:
January 3, 2018.
To:
Mr.
Dauda Kareem
Koko
Lodge, No. 1, Olowo Street,
Off
Admiralty Way, Ikoyi,
Lagos
Attention: Mr. Dauda Kareem
NOTICE OF OWNER’S
INTENTION TO APPLY TO RECOVER POSSESSION OF PREMISES
I, James
Bond, legal practitioner to Chief Olowo Baba, the owner, do hereby give you
notice that unless peaceable possession of the 4 bedroom flat with the
appurtenances situate at No 1, Olowo Street, Off Admiralty Way, Ikoyi, Lagos,
which were held of me under a yearly tenancy, which was determined by notice to
quit given by the owner on the 1st
of June, 2017 and expired on the 31st of December 2017, and
which premises are now held over and detained from the said owner, be given to
the owner on or before the expiration of seven (7) clear days from the date of service of this notice,
I, James Bond shall apply to court for summons to eject any person
therefrom.
Dated this 3rd day of January,
2018.
 |
Signed___________________
James Bond
Legal
practitioner
ANALYSIS OF THE
DRAFT
1.
Do
you notice that the designation of Chief Olowo Baba changed from Landlord to
Owner
WHY;
a)
Once
a Notice to Quit is served on a Tenant and it expires, it automatically
terminates the tenancy. UIC LTD V HAMMOND NIG LTD….AND
b)
The
Landlord and Tenant relationship terminates and therefore the designation of
the Landlord changes to ‘’OWNER’’
2.
What
terminated the Tenancy agreement was a Valid Notice to Quit, and the date of
issuance and expiration was included in the draft.
BUT,
3.
If
the circumstances of drafting this Notice fall under the auspices of were the
Notice to Quit can be dispensed of, then it would be stated in the draft.
4.
The
type of Tenancy agreement must be stated in the draft.
THE END
