By Dickson Jere
The landlord was livid. His tenant was not picking his calls and he cut all form of communication to avoid paying the rent that was due. In a desperate attempt to make the tenant pay the outstanding rentals, the landlord locked the house! But then, thieves – sensing there was no one is that house – broke in and stole the household goods.
This is what prompted the tenant to commence an action in the High Court for Zambia against his landlord demanding for compensation for the stolen goods as well as damages for locking him out of the house illegally.
It was an interesting case!
You see, there are laws in Zambia that governs the relationship between tenant and landlord besides the tenancy agreement which the parties sign. If it is residential – The Rent Act – comes into play while business premises is governed by the Landlord and Tenant (Business Premises) Act. The two laws provides steps to be taken in evicting or levying distress on the goods of your tenant to recover your rentals.
At first round, the High Court was sympathetic to the landlord and thought the tenant was just being mischievous. The Court ruled in favour of the landlord, which prompted an appeal to the superior courts. Three judges at the Supreme Court reversed the decision and awarded damages and costs to the tenant.
The Supreme Court relied on Section 14 of the Rent Act, which provides that “No distress for the recovery of rent in respect of any premises shall be levied except with leave of the court”.
In short, for you to levy any distress on your tenant, you need to go to Court and get permission, which we call “leave” in law.
“Therefore, his action was unlawful and exposed him to liability in damages for unlawful distress,” the Court ruled.
The landlord was also ordered to pay damages to his tenant for all the things stolen but that he should deduct his rentals from the compensation.
So never lock your tenant houses or grab their goods without Court order! You will end up paying him more than what he owes you.
For full details of this case, please read Allan Muyambango v Clement Banda – Selected Judgment No.30 of 2016.