Report convened presupposes the Rent Control Office has made strife in their quest to making rent in Ghana more convenient.

The report says, Emmanuel Kporsu who is the Public Relations Officer (PRO), has sent out a ‘warning’ to landlords against taking rent advance of more than six(6) months from tenants.

His assertion is in reference to Section 25:5 of the rent act which makes it illegal for any landlord to do so and has punitive sanctions assigned to anyone who disregards the act.

“Looking at the rent control law, we have two categories of tenancy namely, the short and long tenancy. With the former, you pay your rent monthly and the landlord can only charge you a maximum of two months’ rent advance. But for the long term tenancy, one can have a two-year agreement with the landlord but he or she is only required to take a maximum rent advance of six months”. Emmanuel Kporsu disclosed in an interview on Happy FM.

“Any landlord who disregards the act and is brought before a magistrate can face a jail term of 2 years or may be fined an amount of GH₵10,000 or based on the discretion of the magistrate, one can suffer both”. He added.

He shared that his outfit for the past two years has been undertaking an educational campaign on the rent act as part of their mandate to resolve disagreements between landlords and tenants.

On his authority, some landlords are already facing prosecution for breaching the rent act “and the statistics will soon be shared with the public”.