Landlords Ordered To Surrender Rents Deposits Left By Tenants Or Face Jail Term

Holders of unclaimed financial assets in Kenya, including banks, landlords, and telecommunications firms, have asked to restore the funds to the general economy, per a notification issued by the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA)

According to the notice, the authority issued a penalty waiver to holders planning to hand over the assets before Friday, June 30. Targeted holders in the directive include landlords who withhold unclaimed deposits once their tenants move out.

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Additionally, financial institutions including banks are expected to hand over unclaimed finances left by their customers for long periods of time.

The Unclaimed Financial Assets Act 2011 details that anyone who willfully fails to report or surrender unclaimed assets is liable to a penalty of between Ksh7,000 to Ksh50,000 for every day they withhold the assets.

“A person who willfully fails to render any report on unclaimed Financial Assets shall be liable to pay a penalty of seven thousand shillings but not more than fifty thousand shillings for each day the report is withheld or the duty is not performed,” the Act details.

The move is part of the authority’s push to encourage Kenyans to claim up to Ksh52 billion lying idle after beneficiaries fail to claim them. In an earlier notice, UFAA Chairperson Francis Kigo asked Kenyans to claim their assets and directed them to confirm the status of any assets registered under their names using a short code *361#.

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“We want Ksh52 billion to be returned to the mainstream economy because that is the primary goal of the unclaimed assets authority.

“We are in the process of telling people to come and get their money. We are doing a lot of advertisements including printing names on the print media,” Kigo stated.

Some of the assets abandoned by Kenyans include unpaid wages, unclaimed gifts, check overdrafts, self-deposits, and life endowment insurance.

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 How to Check and Claim

One can log into the Authority’s website to check whether they have unclaimed assets. You can also do so by dialing *361#. By following the stipulated procedures, all accounts holding the unclaimed assets.

There are four types of claims i.e., claiming as an original owner, on behalf of someone (beneficiary or deceased), on behalf of a business entity, and on behalf of a minor.

To recover the funds, you can download forms from the agency’s official website, fill in the details, and submit them to the UFAA.

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