Tenant Resists Eviction After 'Refusing' To Pay Rent For Whole Year
A Tenant in Northend, Bulawayo, has been taken to court by the relatives of the owner of the house after he allegedly refused to vacate the house.
The tenant, Brian Chitsungo, is also accused of refusing to pay rent for a year and a half.
The family of the landlord also allege that they had issued Chitsungo with an eviction notice which he refused to comply with.
Zwelithini Malinga, who has the power of attorney over the property, said:
Mr Chitsungo did not have a healthy relationship with Mrs Susan Magaramombe (mother to the owner of the house).
He would tell her not to put pressure on him to pay rent and at times exchange harsh words with her.
There was a time when the roof was leaking, Mr Chitsungo contacted us, and we instructed someone to go over and fix it, however, the person might have delayed.
This resulted in the tenant getting it fixed at his own expense and sending us a receipt for the costs stating that we should pay him as soon as possible without fail.
Malinga said that Chitsungo has not paid rent from November 2020 up to the end of March this year and efforts to evict him from the house have hit a brick wall. He added:
Mr Chitsungo said we can take him to any court in Bulawayo, he is not scared.
He is not cooperating, we have tried to have civil dialogue with him but it has been fruitless, and he has also put other tenants inside the house as well.
However, Chitsungo said he owes the family nothing because he repaired the house and they have failed to reimburse him for the expenses incurred. He said:
I have stayed in that house for 10 years and the problem started when my property was damaged by the rains last year.
They refused to pay me back and I do not owe them anything.
He also said he was not given any notice and only heard about it when they wanted to arbitrarily evict him.
The matter is still pending.
