Registration of Landlords Act (61:02)

L.R.O. 1/2012 LAWS OF GUYANA REGISTRATION OF LANDLORDS ACT CHAPTER 61:02 Act 6 of 1994 (inclusive) by L.R.O. Pages Authorised Current Authorised Pages 1 – 9 ... 1/2012 LAWS OF GUYANA 2 Cap. 61:02 Registration of Landlords L.R.O. 1/2011 Index of Subsidiary Legislation This Chapter contains no subsidiary legislation. LAWS OF GUYANA Registration of Landlords Cap. 61:02 3 L.R.O. 1/2012 CHAPTER 61:02 REGISTRATION OF LANDLORDS ACT ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS SECTION 1. Short title. 2. Interpretation. 3. Register of landlords to be kept. 4. Registration of landlords. 5. Exemption from need for registration. 6. Amendment of entries in register. 7. Transfer of registration. 8. Cancellation of registration. 9. Offences. SCHEDULE 6 of 1994 An Act to provide for the registration of landlords. [ 28th FEBRUARY, 1994] Short title. Interpretation. c. 36:20. 1. This Act may be cited as the Registration of Landlords Act. 2. In this Act— “buildings” includes houses, rooms, flats, apartments and parts thereof; “Chairman” means the Chairman of the Central Housing and Planning Authority appointed under section 4(2) of the Housing Act and includes a registration officer LAWS OF GUYANA 4 Cap. 61:02 Registration of Landlords L.R.O. 1/2011 Register of landlords to be kept. Registration of landlords. designated by him; “land” includes buildings, houses and other structures and erections thereon; “landlord” means any person who under any tenancy is, as between himself and the tenant for the time being, entitled to the rents and profits of the land or building payable under the tenancy; “lease” includes under-lease and assignment operating as a lease or under-lease; “rent” means the sum of money or other ascertainable consideration payable by the tenant for the possession of the land or building under a tenancy; “tenant” means any person entitled in possession to the land or building under any contract of tenancy, whether the interest of such tenant was acquired by original contract, assignment, operation of law or otherwise. 3. (1) The Chairman shall cause to be kept registers of landlords and a separate register shall be kept, as directed by the Chairman, by the registration officer, designated as such by the Chairman in each County. (2) Every registration officer as directed by the Chairman, shall forward to the Chairman a copy of every entry made in the register kept by him. 4. (1) Every landlord who leases any building or land shall apply for registration as the landlord under such tenancy within two months of the commencement of such tenancy. (2) Every application shall be made to the Chairman in Form 1 in the Schedule which must be duly LAWS OF GUYANA Registration of Landlords Cap. 61:02 5 L.R.O. 1/2012 c. 61:01 Exemption from need for registration. Amendment of entries in register. Transfer of registration. completed by the landlord and be accompanied by the prescribed registration fee in the Schedule. (3) The Chairman to whom application is made shall, upon being satisfied that the provisions of this Act, the Landlord and Tenant Act or any other written law have been complied with, forthwith enter the particulars of the tenancy in the register and shall give to the landlord a certified copy of that entry in Form 2 in the Schedule and such certificate of registration shall be regarded as prima facie evidence that the landlord to whom it refers has been registered. (4) The Chairman shall supply to any person applying therefor and on payment of the prescribed fee in the Schedule a copy of any entry in the register of landlords relating to any tenancy, provided that the applicant shows that he has a reasonable cause for requiring such a copy. (5) The onus of proving that a person has been registered as a landlord shall rest upon that person. 5. The State as landlord shall be exempt from registration. 6. (1) A landlord who is registered shall, within seven days thereof, notify the Chairman of all circumstances or events including any changes regarding particulars in relation to a tenancy which affect the accuracy of the entries in the register and shall at the same time forward his certificate of registration for amendment. (2) The Chairman may at any time call upon a landlord who is registered to furnish all information for the verification of the entries in the register of landlords relating to a tenancy. 7. (1) Within one month of the change of ownership, otherwise than by death, of the land or building in respect of which the landlord is registered, the new owner and the LAWS OF GUYANA 6 Cap. 61:02 Registration of Landlords L.R.O. 1/2011 Schedule. Cancellation of registration. Offences. [6 of 1997] registered landlord shall make application in Form 3 in the Schedule signed by both of them to the Chairman giving the name and address of the new owner and the date of change of ownership and such application shall be accompanied by the certificate of registration and the prescribed fee in the Schedule. (2) On the death of the registered landlord and until the property in respect of which the tenancy was created is transferred by law in the name of the person entitled to ownership of such property, the legal personal representative or the executor of the estate of the deceased landlord shall be deemed to be the landlord and shall within one month of such death give notice thereof to the Chairman and on payment of the prescribed fee the Chairman shall register the representative or executor as the landlord by amending the certificate of registration in the manner prescribed in section 7(1). (3) In lieu of amending any certificate of registration as provided in this section the Chairman may issue a new certificate of registration. 8. The registration of a person as landlord shall remain valid so long as the lease exists, and that person remains as landlord and shall only be cancelled if the Chairman is satisfied from the written notice of the landlord given under section 7(2) that the lease no longer exists or on production of the relevant documents that such person ceases for any reason, including a sale, to be the landlord. 9. (1) Any person who leases any land or building and who is not registered as provided for in this Act as the landlord of the lease for such land or building shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of seventy-five thousand dollars and in the case of a continuing offence to a further fine of fifteen hundred dollars, for each day during which the offence continues. LAWS OF GUYANA Registration of Landlords Cap. 61:02 7 L.R.O. 1/2012 s. 4(2) (2) Any person who, in, or in connection with, any application for registration of a landlord under this Act gives or permits to be given information which he knows or has reason to believe is false or misleading in a material particular; or in respect of any entry in the register includes or permits to be included information which he knows or has reason to believe is false or misleading in a material particular shall be, liable on summary conviction for a first offence to a fine of thirty thousand dollars and for each subsequent offence to a fine of forty-five thousand dollars. (3) Any person who fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and a person guilty of an offence under this Act for which no special penalty is provided shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of six thousand dollars. SCHEDULE FORM 1 APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION BY A LANDLORD Registration of Landlords Act, Cap. 61:02. To the Chairman, I, ............................................................. (name and occupation of landlord residing, at............................................(address of landlord) being the proposed landlord of the lease for the land or building of which true and correct particulars are appended hereby make application to be registered as the landlord of the lease for the land or building— (a) date of lease: ..................................................................; (b) name and occupation of the tenant: ..............................; (c) the recitals (if any), the operative words, the LAWS OF GUYANA 8 Cap. 61:02 Registration of Landlords L.R.O. 1/2011 s. 4(3) description of the parcels leased: ...................................; (d) the duration of lease: ......................................................; (e) the covenants (if any) :..................................................... Landlord FORM 2 CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION Registration of Landlords Act, Cap,61:02 Name of landlord Address of landlord Name of tenant Date of lease Duration of lease Location of tenancy Chairman, Central Housing and Planning Authority Date LAWS OF GUYANA Registration of Landlords Cap. 61:02 9 L.R.O. 1/2012 s. 7(1) FORM 3 APPLICATION FOR TRANSFER OF REGISTRATION Registration of Landlords Act Cap, 61:02. To the Chairman, I, (name and occupation of new owner) residing at (address of new owner) being the proposed landlord of the lease for the land or building of which true and correct particulars are appended hereby make application to be registered as the landlord of the lease for the land or building. Date of change of possession ........................................................ 1...................................... Existing Landlord 2...................................... New Landlord Fees Sections 4 For Registration $300.00 For copy of register $100.00 7 For transfer of registration $200.00