Playbook/Aba: Bringing landlords and tenants into one room on tenancy rights
Steward: Rafael
Secondary Issue bucket: INS — Rule of Law & Institutions
Summary: Logos Circle Aba's housing work focuses on helping tenants understand their rights and responsibilities and on improving communication between landlords and tenants. At its 30 September meetup, 40 people attended, including three landlords. One landlord refunded two months' rent to each of two polytechnic students straight after the meeting.
The issue
Tenants and landlords in Aba lacked a shared understanding of tenancy rights, rent, agreements, and responsibilities, which led to avoidable disputes and left some tenants in genuine difficulty.
Why was it winnable
Contacts of the Aba Circle Steward were affected by disputes with their landlords, which is what inspired the issue, and he invited them to the Circle’s first meetup. That meant the Circle started with real cases and people who wanted help, rather than a problem it had to go and find. The Circle also had a lawyer among its members, who could give legal support in the room and explain tenants’ rights and obligations to the people affected. With the people and the expertise already in place, a single forum was enough to take on the issue.
Who was affected
Tenants, landlords and community members in Aba, including students at Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Aba.
The goal
Help tenants understand their rights and responsibilities, and create better communication between landlords and tenants so disputes are prevented.
What they did
- Ran an open tenancy forum. The September Circle was held on 30 September at the 138 Umuaka Community Town Hall, with 13 people registered and 40 attending.
- Brought both sides into the room. Tenants, landlords, community members and returning members attended. Three landlords came for the first time.
- Discussed the practical questions. Topics included tenancy rights and responsibilities, rent, tenancy agreements, landlord-tenant relationships and the KYLT (Know Your Landlord & Tenant) awareness work.
- Explored ways to support tenants in difficulty. The group discussed practical ways to help tenants facing housing problems and reviewed lessons from earlier housing engagements.
- Followed up with the landlords. The landlords invited the Circle to their end-of-year gathering in December, where it can speak to other landlords, and committed to encouraging other landlords to involve their tenants.
Who they worked with
A lawyer, tenants, landlords and community members. Some members travelled from almost 55 km away.
What worked
Including landlords, not just tenants. The landlords said they had not seen this kind of initiative in Aba before. One acted straight away, asking two of his tenants (both polytechnic students) for their account details and refunding two months' rent to each. Having a lawyer in the Circle gave the discussion practical credibility, and the landlords contributed funds in appreciation of his work.
The outcome
- 40 attendees (13 registered), including three first-time landlords.
- Two tenants each received a refund of two months' rent.
- The Circle gained an invitation to the landlords' December gathering and a commitment from the landlords to bring in other landlords.
- Some members who had attended three times asked about starting Circles in their own communities.
What was learned
A simple, open conversation can produce results when the people on both sides of a problem are invited to take part.
What could another Circle replicate
A landlord-tenant forum with a lawyer present, held in a community hall, with landlords explicitly invited. Then follow up with the landlords, for example through an existing landlord gathering.
Resources
Forum post: https://forum.logos.co/t/logos-circle-aba-4-september-edition/1983