The Brong-Ahafo Regional Office of the Rent Control Department has summoned about 500 landlords/landladies in the Sunyani Municipality for renting their premises without registration and failure to provide rent cards to tenants in 2018.

Mr. Ishmael Kojo Blay Essien, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Rent Officer told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sunyani.

He said the summons was as a result of a successful regional inspection pilot programme to ensure rented premises were registered, which begun last year.

Mr. Essien explained Act 220 of 1963 and Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) Law 138 of 1986, which made it mandatory for any building to be registered before it could be rented out, but the Rent Officer said many landlords/landladies either knowingly or unknowingly had failed to do that.

He said the Department would continue with the programme this year to ensure that landlords/landladies who have rented their buildings, for whatever purpose, complied with the act, while those found to have breached the law would be prosecuted.

Mr. Essien mentioned lack of resources such as adequate funds and a vehicle for operations, as the major challenges of the Department and appealed to the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to support the office to work efficiently.

He suggested the payment of allowances to the Department’s field workers to motivate them for the educational programmes lined up to ensure that they attain set targets.

Mr. Essien said out of 12 Municipalities and 17 Districts in the region, the Department had only four offices, which was inadequate, considering the volume of work at hand.

He said the Department needs two additional offices at Wamfie in the Dormaa East District and Duayaw-Nkwanta in the Tano North Municipality.

Mr. Essien said the region had 400 reported rent cases in 2018 as against 463 in 2017, showing a decrease in cases.

The cases reported included refund, inducement, recovery of possession, absconding, nuisance, rent arrears and damages.

Mr. Essien said the Department settled 260 of the 400 cases, 103 pending, 21 cases referred to Court, six withdrawn and nine struck out.

He appealed to the general public, especially landlords/landladies to cooperate with rent officers for sanity and peace to prevail between house owners and tenants.