Notice To Quit

A notice to quit is a notice given to a tenant to
do some required act or to surrender and vacate the rental properly by a certain date or to pay overdue rent or correct some other default. A notice to quit must contain certain information such as: names of the persons to leave, whether their tenancy is by written or oral agreement, an amount of any financial delinquency and the period it covers, and to whom they should surrender the premises. There are a number of reasons a landlord can serve a tenant with a notice to quit. The notice can be given because a tenant violated a clause in the tenancy agreement or through no fault of the tenant, such as the property is being retired from residential use. Whatever the reason is, it must be clearly spelt out in the notice.
When serving a notice to quit, the landlord must make some to include the proper tenants on the notice and the address of the property must be indicated. The landlord or a representative of the landlord must sign and date this notice. The tenant must be formally served the notice.
Every state in Nigeria now has its own law on recovery of premises. The principal reason for this is to provide for procedures a landlord must adopt to recover possession. Such procedures is primarily to protect the interest of the tenant against the landlord. Coussey J.C.A  observed in the case of Okedare V. Hamid (1955) 15 WACA 17 at 19 that the main object of the recovery of premises law was to place limitations on the common law rights of a landlord with the object of regulating the recovery of and restraining summary eviction from occupied premises.
At common law the landlord on the expiration of a valid notice to quit may proceed to court for possession. However, the recovery of premises law requires an additional 7 days. The tenant therefore becomes a statutory tenant and cannot be evicted by force but by a lawful court order. Notice that for unlawful eviction that landlord can be sued and made liable for damages. In Ihenacho V. Uzochukwu (1997) 1 SCNJ 117 at 284, the Supreme Court of Nigeria held that resort to self help by the landlord to evict a tenant who is in lawful occupation is not within the purview of the provisions of the recovery of premises law and that such a landlord renders himself liable to the tenant in trespass. But at common law, the tenant does not have that right he is treated as a tenant at sufferance or a trespasser.
A landlord seeking to recover possession of his premises before the expiration of the tenancy is obliged to state in the notice to quit the period of notice; (1) for tenancy at will or weekly tenancy – a week’s notice (2) monthly tenancy – a month’s notice (3) quarterly tenancy – a quarter’s notice (4) yearly tenancy – half a year’s notice
The nature of tenancy shall in the absence of any evidence to the contrary be determined by reference to the mode of payment and demand for rents. On the expiration of the notice to quit or the determination of the interest of the tenant, if the tenant or any person actually in possession of the premises or any part thereof neglects or refuses to quit and deliver up possession of the premises or any part thereof, the landlord may cause the written notice of owner’s intention to recover possession to be served on the tenant. The date must not be less than 7 days. After the 7 days notice the tenant is still in possession of the premises, the landlord may apply to the appropriate court for the issuance of a writ or enter a plaint against the tenant for refusing to deliver up possession. Notice that the notice to quit must be registered in court before service.

Nkechi Bright-Ewere