Illegal tenants served another eviction notice

 THE National Housing Corporation has served another eviction notice on a family from Abau, Central, who have been occupying a corporation house in NCD for more than three years. 

This followed the continued refusal by the family of deceased tenant, George Rapola, to move out of the property on section 54, allotment 29, in Boroko.

NHC managing director John Dege said the family had been occupying the property since May 17, 1989 when Rapola, a former police officer, had entered into a tenancy agreement with the NHC.

He said after Rapola’s death on Nov 17, 2008 the family continued to occupy the property without paying rentals and without a proper tenancy agreement.

“NHC then tried to evict them but they obtained a restraining order against the corporation on Oct 4, 2009,” Dege said yesterday.

He said on Feb 1 this year, the court advised the family that it had no standing to sue NHC on the outdated tenancy agreement that the late Rapola had signed. 

The court ordered them to withdraw or discontinue the proceedings, which they did on May 6.

Dege said that in the meantime, the rental arrears continued to accumulate, which was causing NHC to lose revenue. 

The total rental arrears currently stand at K36,286.93.

Dege said he met with the family recently and proposed a fair settlement on the property, which included the NHC giving the family K20,000 and a piece of land to build a new house on and NHC writing off the family’s rental arrears.

Dege said the occupants refused this offer and continued living on the property without paying rent and without a tenancy agreement.

He said the property was not under any home ownership scheme or sell-off scheme.

Dege said the Rapola family had become illegal occupants upon the lifting of the restraining order.

“There is no legal relationship whatsoever between the illegal occupants and NHC. Why would they continue to illegally live on NHC’s property denying NHC of its rightful ownership rights? he asked.