A letting agency serves as representative of the owner or landlord of an apartment or house. It is a service rendered to both landlords and their tenants. The Rental Housing Act, of 1999, protects the rights of both—according to chapter 3, section 5(3) the “lease will be deemed to include terms, enforceable in a competent court”. Section 5(3)(e) stipulates that “the tenant and the landlord must jointly, before the tenant moves into the dwelling, inspect the dwelling to ascertain the existence or not of any defects or damage therein with a view to determining the landlord’s responsibility for rectifying any defects or damage or with a view to registering such defects or damage” (emphasis added). A would be tenant must never just verbally communicate defects, section 5(7) stipulates that this list of defects must be attached as an annexure to the lease and section 5(9) that the landlord must ensure that section 5(7) is complied with. The tenant can always resort to the Gauteng Rental Housing Tribunal:
- Physical address: Ten Sixty Six building, 14th Floor, No. 35 Pritchard Streets (corner Harrison and Pritchard Streets), Johannesburg
- Tel: (011) 630 5035
- Fax: (011) 630 5057
- Postal address: Private Bag x97, Marshalltown, 2107
The Rental Housing Tribunal provides a free service to tenants and landlords in the Western Cape (021) 483 2111 . Its main function is dispute settlement between tenants and landlords http://www.capegateway.gov.za/eng/directories/public_entities/4200/10906
