Ashaiman landlords, caretakers accepts sex as rent

Some landlords within the Ashaiman Municipality have allegedly been demanding séxual favours from female tenants in place of rent payments, according to a report by the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centre.

The Ashaiman ADR Centre’s annual report disclosed that in certain instances, landlords agreed to accept séx instead of rent for specific periods.

The report, compiled by three mediators at the centre, further revealed that some caretakers exploited female prospective tenants by requesting sexual favours despite not being the property owners.

In one cited case, a caretaker who was managing a property in the landlord’s absence rented a room to a woman for two years. The caretaker later began a romantic relationship with the tenant and verbally extended her tenancy for an additional year after her initial rent expired.

He subsequently granted another one-year extension while maintaining the relationship, even after the woman became pregnant by another man.

According to the ADR Centre, the caretaker later asked the tenant to vacate the premises after their relationship ended, but she refused, insisting that they had agreed to a two-year verbal tenancy arrangement.

Mediators intervened and persuaded the caretaker to compensate the tenant after he admitted he was not the property owner and claimed he was acting on instructions from the landlord to reclaim the property.

The report also referenced another incident where a landlord evicted a tenant after discovering him engaged in a sexual relationship with his wife.

The ADR Centre noted that most disputes handled during the period were related to financial difficulties, sharp rent increases, and tenants’ inability to pay rent on time, often due to job losses. Other complaints involved tenants keeping pets or hosting visitors contrary to the terms of their tenancy agreements.