Need for renewed Landlord and Tenant legislative process

Dear Editor,
I write to you on the area of landlord and tenant law. There is a need for a renewed Landlord and Tenant legislative process. The current procedure dealing with evicting a tenant for non-payment of rent is alien to modern trends. In Guyana, a tenant who fails to pay rent can use loopholes available under the Landlord & Tenant Act to frustrate a landlord and simultaneously continue to not pay rent. In essence, condoning a legal system of having one’s cake and eat it too.

Looking at the Provincial laws of Ontario, which I feel is a good example recent updates are made to the eviction order process. To get an eviction order, without attending the Tribunal (The Landlord and Tenant Board), previously a landlord must first serve the tenant a Form N4 (Notice to End a Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent), file a Form L1 (Application to Evict a Tenant for Non-payment of Rent) with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), fill out another LTB form, which becomes the repayment agreement with the tenant, and then wait about 10 days to receive the consent order from the board on that agreement.

The Gov’t allows landlords to, after entering into a negotiated settlement with their tenants to make an agreement on outstanding rent, without needing to appear before the LTB, get an eviction Order, should any term of the agreement be breached by the tenant, by applying for ex parte eviction orders. The process is such that if a tenant fails to meet the repayment agreement’s terms such a person can be subject to an ex parte eviction, or eviction without a hearing. This process if implemented in Guyana can only serve to better our landlord tenant relationships.

Yours Sincerely,

M. Shabeer Zafar
Barrister, Solicitor Notary