My landlord is intimidating me to force me out of my home

• A landlord may try to intimidate you through calls, messages or other ways to make you feel uncomfortable or scared as a tactic to get you to move out. The landlord may also get someone else to intimidate, harass or threaten you.
• Communicate with your landlord and tell them that intimidation to make you leave is against the law, and that they should stop. Keep a record of all the messages or calls.

• Go to The Rental Housing Tribunal and fill in a complaint form for unfair practice by your landlord.
• TIP: Write down a history of your landlord’s unfair practices and include as much detail as possible (e.g. names of the people involved; dates when you had discussions with people; where you had those discussions and what was said)
• You will need to complete two forms: the main complaint form and the annexure (e) form.
• TIP: It is best to go to the Helpdesk at the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements on 27 Wale Street and ask for the Rental Housing Tribunal complaint forms.
• To fill in a form you need:
  • Your ID/passport/permit
  • Your landlord’s full name, contact details and address
  • If an agent is managing the property, the company details and contact numbers must be completed
  • Your address and copies of your written lease if there is one
  • It is also a good idea to include proof of payment of rent or any other documents that support your complaint
• TIP: Don’t forget to sign your application form! Please look at the checklist and tick or circle the relevant complaint/s Complete the relevant annexure
• Your complaint form, annexures and supporting documents are handed in via email, post or hand delivered to the Help Desk at the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements.
• TIP: Attach certified copies of your documents to the complaint form and keep your originals. Also keep a copy of the complete complaint form including attached documents that you submit, write down the date that you submitted the form, and the name of the staff person you submitted the form to. Ask for written confirmation that you have submitted the complaint, even if it is just the Rental Housing Tribunal’s date stamp on your copy of the submitted complaint form.
• After Tribunal staff receive your complaint they open a file and give it a case reference number. This is a number that will be used to track your complaint.
• About two weeks later, you and your landlord should receive a letter from the Tribunal. This letter should say that your complaint has been received, and it should include your case reference number.
• Tip: You might get a phone call from a Tribunal staff member. If they call, ask them for their name and for your case reference number. Ask if they have sent the letter & ask for the contact details of the case officer assigned to your matter. If you do not hear anything after two weeks, call the Rental Housing Tribunal to follow-up. Keep following up regularly.
• Tribunal staff check whether your complaint involves a dispute about something that may be an unfair practice. This check is called a preliminary investigation. If they think they need more details, they can ask for more information from you or your landlord to help them understand the complaint. Tribunal staff can also get an inspector to inspect the property.
• After the investigation, the Tribunal staff decide whether or not the complaint is about a dispute that may be an unfair practice. After you submit the complaint, they then have 30 days to decide.

If they do not think your complaint involves an unfair practice, they must send a letter to let you know. If possible, the Tribunal should also let you know where else you can take your issue. Tribunal staff will then close your file.

If the Tribunal staff think that an unfair practice may be involved, they will continue to try and solve the dispute, and must let you know about what is decided.

• TIP: If there is any chance that the dispute could be about an unfair practice, the Tribunal staff must continue to deal with the complaint. If the staff are not trained well or if there are not enough people doing the work, this could mean that some cases are incorrectly closed. If you feel that your complaint has not been dealt with properly, report this. Send an email to nathan.adriaanse@westerncape.gov.za or ask to speak to him at 27 Wale Street. Nathan Adriaanse is the director of Communication and Stakeholder Relations in the Department of Human Settlements.
• Your case is given a case officer. This case officer is someone who is supposed to contact you and the landlord. They might first try to come to a solution by calling you and your landlord to discuss the issue.
  
  
• The case officer then decides whether the dispute can be solved through mediation, or a hearing. Mediation is a meeting where both sides try to come to an agreement after discussing the problem, with the help of a neutral person from the Tribunal. A hearing is where both parties share the facts of their dispute to members of the Tribunal board who will make a ruling.
• TIP: Check your phone and email regularly. The case officer will try to contact you about whether you should attend mediation or a hearing
• If the case officer thinks that the dispute can be solved by mediation, they will contact you to set up an appointment. A member of the Tribunal staff facilitates the mediation as the mediator. The mediator does not come up with the solutions, but helps the two parties come to their own solution. You can have a lawyer or someone else help you in mediation, but it is not necessary. In the mediation, the mediator listens to both parties and asks questions to help them come to an agreement. If you come to an agreement, you sign the agreement and both parties do what was agreed to. If you do not come to an agreement, the next step is to have a hearing.
• TIP: If you need a translator or have a disability, let your case officer know before the mediation or hearing.
• You will be given a hearing date by your case officer. The hearing will be held at the Tribunal offices at 27 Wale Street. In the hearing, each party is asked to share the facts of their case. At least three Tribunal members will be present at the hearing. They ask the parties questions, and may ask for certain documents to be shown. It is not as formal as a court, and you do not need to have lawyers or legal representation. After hearing both sides, the Tribunal members make a ruling. This is a decision about whether there was an unfair practice. The ruling is communicated to the parties a few days after the hearing. The ruling has the same power as a ruling by a Magistrate’s Court. If you or the landlord wants to challenge the decision, you have to go to the High Court as soon as possible.
• TIP: Make sure you have copies of all the documents that you need for your case when you attend the hearing. This includes receipts, proof of WhatsApp messages or SMSs, copies of lease agreements etc.

Contacts for The Rental Housing tribunal

Website

Email: rht.enquiries@westerncape.gov.za

Telephone: 0860 106 166

Fax: 021 4833313

Street address: Department of Housing, 27 Wale Street, Ground Floor, Cape Town

Postal address: The Western Cape Rental Housing Tribunal, Private Bag X9083, Cape Town, 8000

• To apply for a protection order you can go to your nearest police station or magistrates court. If you do go to a police station you may be directed to a court for assistance with filling out the form. You do not need legal representation for this process.
• You will first be required to fill in an Information Notice which explains how the process work and notifies you of your right to lodge a criminal complaint.
• TIP: If you want a form that is not in English follow this link and scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will be given language options for the J37 form/Form 1.
• Once you have read and signed the Information Notice, you will be required to fill in The Application for Protection Order.
• TIP: You should include a list of the specific acts committed by your landlord in the protection order. You are also able to request that the court impose any additional conditions necessary to ensure your safety and well-being.
• The court may, after considering the application, issue an interim protection order against your landlord even if they have not been given notice of the proceedings. The court must, however, be satisfied that there is evidence that the landlord is engaging, or has engaged in harassment; harm is or may be suffered by you (the complainant) as a result of such conduct if a protection order is not issued immediately; and the protection to be accorded by the interim protection order is likely not to be achieved if prior notice of the application is given to your landlord (the respondent).

Cape Town Magistrates’ Court

Office Hours: Monday - Friday: 07:45 - 16:15

Street Address: 7-11 Parade Street, Cape Town, 8000

Postal Address: Private Bag X9017, Cape Town, 8000

General Enquiries

Telephone: 021 401 1556 / 1511

Fax: 021 461 2076

E-mail: ysis@justice.gov.za

For more information contact

Ms Z Talip

Area Court Manager

E-mail: ztalip@justice.gov.za