24th September, 2017
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
A constitutional lawyer, Mr Kabir Akingbolu has urged the Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode to initiate the process of amending the State’s Rent Control Law to regulate agency fees chargeable by property agents as commission on rent transactions.
Akingbolu, in a letter personally addressed to the Governor and made available to newsmen on Sunday, said the Rent Control Law was a brilliant initiative but the lacuna in the law with regards to amount chargeable by agents had made it a toothless bulldog.
He said there must be an effective control mechanism to regulate activities of property agents in the State for the good intention of the law to be achieved.
According to the lawyer, “Lagos State, as the pioneer of almost all development drives, put in place a befitting Rent Control Law and without any exaggeration, the law has done wonders but only in a restricted area.
“This is so because while the law made it illegal to pay more than one year rent for a new tenant and six months in case of a sitting tenant, the law has no provision to regulate agency. Thus, in practice, the agents are at liberty to collect any amount as commission and this is without any basis and as a result of this; it has made the law a toothless bulldog. This is because citizens pay through their nose to rent a house as agency is higher than rent in most cases.
“As a result of this, we implore Governor Ambode to urgently come to the aid of the citizens in this regard as it will put more smiles on their faces. There is need for an effective control mechanism for property agents in Lagos State because by the law of agency in the State, the agents are not entitled to not more than 5 per cent but today, the agents who are mostly non-professionals have come up with the obnoxious idea and means of collecting commission for agreement and another commission for agency. This is highly ridiculous,” Akingbolu said.
Besides, Akingbolu commended Governor Ambode for the laudable initiatives he had put in place so far and the speed with which projects are delivered in record time without the usual prolongation that had become a norm in the country.
“As a social crusader and rights activist, I can say without fear of contradiction and favour that Governor Ambode has broken new grounds. He (Ambode) is not an engineer but his resolve to reduce holdup in Lagos to the barest minimum which has yielded positive results to a large extent by the introduction of lay-bys on our roads and the removal of some roundabouts, have made the Governor do more than an engineer.
“He is not a lawyer but he has done better than a lawyer in that while previous governments concentrated on arrests and prosecutions of offenders, the Governor advanced further by preventing crimes. This is evident in the construction of barricades or barb wire in between the highways’ divide so that potential offenders are saved from committing crime.
“This ingenious move is commendable and we are proud to associate with Governor Ambode’s government without prejudice to disagree with the government if the need arises,” the lawyer said.