Good tenants are one in a million and they are worth their weight in gold.

This is the view of Martin Schultheiss, chief executive officer of the giant Homenet real estate agency group, who said attracting a suitable tenant was key to successful investing in rental property.

Schultheiss says the best way to go about this "is setting a fair rent and keeping it constant as market conditions and demand patterns change".

He said the trick was to attract a responsible long-term tenant.

"Your chances improve if you set rental that gives your tenant a fair deal.

"Successful landlords are only too aware that a frequent turnover of tenants is time-consuming and costly in terms of advertising, cleaning and painting expenses, and probably vacancy time."

In this respect, the services of a reputable managing agent were invaluable to determine what would constitute a fair rental.

Schultheiss said, "Such agents can track the effects of interest rate movements and other factors that influence the demand for rental property in the area and are able to suggest a market-related rental."

The classified section of the newspaper was a good reference point as it reflected rentals asked for similar properties in the same location.

Schultheiss said there was much to be said in favour of a tenant who took care of your property and ensured you had a reliable rental income.

Rather this than sitting with the burden of trying to evict troublesome tenants.

Heather Briggs of Shepstone & Wylie attorneys said the general impression was that the Prevention of Illegal Eviction (PIE) Act was weighted in favour of tenants.

But landlords retained rights.

"A landlord is simply delayed in enforcing these rights as there are a number of procedural requirements to satisfy, which can take a few months."

Briggs said landlords could not evict anyone from a property without a court order.

"The landlord may consult the Rental Housing Tribunal for assistance in the settlement of disputes. But a court order is necessary to evict the tenants."

Once a tenant defaults on payment, the landlord is required to send a letter requesting that the tenant pay the amount within a certain time or the lease will be cancelled.

If the tenant does not pay, he or she is then "holding over" and is an unlawful occupier.

Briggs said a written lease could contain a clause stating that if the tenant failed to pay his rent, the lease would automatically be cancelled.

In this case it was not necessary to write a letter cancelling the lease and the tenant was automatically regarded as "holding over" following non-payment.

Once the lease had been cancelled and the tenant remained in occupation, summons had to be served to initiate the eviction proceedings.

Eviction

The Act gave the unlawful occupier at least 14 working days' written notice of a hearing, which needed to be authorised by a magistrate and served by the sheriff.

The landlord had to wait at least 14 working days between serving the summons and attending a court hearing.

If the tenant did not oppose the eviction then, provided the landlord had complied with the procedure, he would be entitled to an eviction order.

Briggs said if the tenant opposed the eviction, the hearing would be delayed to a later date where the matter would be dealt with by the court in detail, which could take a few months.

A defence against the Act included considerations regarding the rights and needs of the elderly, children, disabled people and households headed by women.

IOL 2008/04/01