Landlords Move to Have Rent Defaulters Blacklisted by CRB

By Soko Directory Team / Published February 28, 2019 | 8:27 am

Rental Agreement and Fountain Pen.

Landlords seem to have had enough with tenants who seek to occupy their property and never pay up the dues, which is why the Urban Landlords and Tenants Association of Kenya (ULTAK), are pushing to have rent defaulters listed with the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB).

What this means is that if you are one of the characters that move houses for weeks at odd hours to escape paying rent dues, then you might as well consider building your own place as your credit score will most likely have you turned down by landlords.

“My association has come up with a formula whereby tenants will stop feeling like defaulting on rent is normal. We have approached credit reference bureaus to partner with them with an aim of listing all tenants who default on rent payment,” Ephraim Murigo, ULTAK , secretary-general said.

ULTAK, the landlord’s welfare group only awaits a green light from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) in order to implement the plan that will enable landlords to work with CRBs to recover their unpaid dues.

Mr. Murigo warns people who have previously defaulted on paying their rent that it will be difficult to rent in other locations as a CRB clearance certificate will be a necessity before moving houses once the deal to work with the CRB succeeds.

“Today, landlords resort to a number of crafty ways like locking up a tenant’s belongings to recover unpaid rent. Once our plan is implemented, it will become difficult for tenants to dodge their responsibilities, and hence landlords will have an easier time,” Mr. Murigo informed.

According to Mr. Murigo, recovering the arrears from a number of tenants becomes impossible despite having a number of rent restriction tribunals and he hopes the need for one to protect their credit score would be motivating enough.

The 2018 Transunion Credit Reference Bureau data revealed that over 500,000 Kenyans had been blacklisted and could not access credit facilities.

In the case where landlords succeed to liaise with Crb to blacklist Kenyan’s who have previously defaulted on their loans, questions still arise on whether this will also be applied on when the tenant is blacklisted for a loan unrelated to rent.

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