How to take a dispute to the Rental Housing Tribunal

A tenant whose deposit has not been returned, or whose landlord has stopped fixing anything, generally believes the only options are to let it go or to find money for an attorney. A landlord whose tenant is destroying the property usually believes the same.

Both are wrong, and the reason they do not know it is that the Rental Housing Tribunal is one of the least publicised remedies in South African law. It is free, it is provincial, it requires no lawyer, and its rulings carry the weight of a court order.

What it is

The Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999 requires each province to establish a Rental Housing Tribunal to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants in respect of residential dwellings.

Three features make it useful in a way that ordinary litigation is not:

It is free. There is no fee to lodge a complaint.

You do not need an attorney. The process is designed for people representing themselves, and the tribunal's staff assist with the forms.

Its rulings bite. A ruling of the tribunal is deemed to be an order of a Magistrates' Court under section 13(13) of the Act. That means a ruling in your favour is enforced the same way as any magistrate's court judgment, through the sheriff, rather than being a recommendation the other side can ignore.

What counts as an unfair practice

The tribunal's jurisdiction is framed around unfair practices, meaning any act or omission by a landlord or tenant that contravenes the Act, or a prescribed practice that unreasonably prejudices the rights or interests of the other.

In practice that covers most of what actually goes wrong:

• Deposits: failure to refund, failure to account for deductions, failure to pay the interest the Act requires. Our guide on how long a landlord has to return a deposit sets out the timelines, and our deposit refund calculator works out what should come back.
• Repairs and maintenance: failure to maintain the property, or a tenant damaging it.
• Utilities: disconnection of water or electricity, or overcharging on recovered municipal charges.
• Access and privacy: a landlord entering without permission or notice.
• Lease terms: unlawful clauses, failure to provide a written lease on request, failure to do the joint incoming and outgoing inspections the Act requires.
• Rent: unlawful increases, or non-payment by a tenant.
• Harassment and intimidation by either party.

The last point is worth emphasising because it is so often missed: the tribunal is available to landlords too. A landlord with a tenant who is not paying, or who is damaging the property, can lodge a complaint rather than going straight to attorneys.

What it cannot do

The boundary that matters most is eviction. The tribunal cannot evict anybody. An eviction requires a court order under the PIE Act, and only a court can grant one. Our eviction checker sets out what that process requires.

What the tribunal can do is rule on the conduct that usually surrounds an eviction dispute: the arrears, the deposit, the state of the property, the disconnection of services. A landlord who wants possession still has to go to court; a landlord who wants the arrears ruled on does not.

It also deals only with residential tenancies. Commercial leases fall outside it.

How to lodge a complaint

Complete the complaint form. Each provincial tribunal has its own, available from its offices and usually from the provincial human settlements department's website.

Set out the facts with dates. This is where complaints succeed or fail. A chronology of what happened and when, with amounts, is worth more than several pages of grievance.

Attach the documents. The lease, proof of the deposit payment, the inspection reports, photographs, bank statements showing rent paid, and every message and letter exchanged. Screenshots of WhatsApp messages are routinely accepted and are often the best evidence available.

Lodge it. In person at the tribunal's offices or as the province directs.

What follows is generally a preliminary investigation, then mediation, and if mediation fails, a hearing before the tribunal. Many disputes settle at the mediation stage, which is the point of putting it first.

What to expect at a hearing

The hearing is informal by the standards of a court, but it is a hearing. Both sides attend, both sides put their version, and the tribunal asks questions.

Prepare as you would for a court appearance in miniature: bring three copies of everything, work from your chronology, and answer what you are asked rather than delivering a speech. Where a witness matters, such as the person who did the outgoing inspection, bring them.

Do not treat non-attendance as a way of avoiding the outcome. A ruling can be made in your absence and it will still be deemed an order of the Magistrates' Court.

Enforcing a ruling

This is where the tribunal differs from the many complaint bodies whose findings are advisory.

Because a ruling is deemed an order of the Magistrates' Court, it can be enforced through that court's machinery. A landlord ordered to repay a deposit who does not pay can have the ruling executed against, in the same way as an ordinary judgment debtor.

Failing to comply with a tribunal ruling is also an offence under the Act, which is a second layer of pressure.

Why use it rather than the Small Claims Court

Both are free, and for a straightforward money claim the Small Claims Court is often quicker. The limit there is R30 000 and our small claims checker works out whether a claim fits.

The tribunal is the better route where:

• the dispute is about conduct rather than only money, such as repairs, access or services
• you want an order that the other party do something, which the Small Claims Court is not designed for
• the relationship is ongoing, because the tribunal can regulate it rather than simply awarding a sum
• the amount exceeds R30 000

They are not mutually exclusive, but running the same dispute in both places is a bad idea and you should choose.

Practical advice for tenants

Do the incoming inspection and keep it. The Act contemplates a joint inspection at the start and at the end of the lease, and the incoming report is the document that decides most deposit disputes two years later. If the landlord does not offer one, photograph everything on the day you move in and email the photographs to the landlord.

Put every complaint in writing. A repair request by phone is not evidence. The same request by email or WhatsApp is.

Never withhold rent as leverage. It feels like the obvious response to a landlord who will not repair, and it converts you from a complainant into a defaulter. Lodge the complaint and keep paying.

Keep proof of the deposit. Surprising numbers of tenants cannot prove they paid one.

Practical advice for landlords

Use the tribunal early. A complaint lodged when arrears are two months old is a different matter from attorneys instructed when they are eight months old.

Do the outgoing inspection with the tenant present, and record it. A deduction from a deposit that is not supported by an inspection report is very hard to justify.

Never disconnect services or change locks. It is the fastest way to turn a strong case about arrears into a weak one about your own conduct, and it exposes you separately. Our guide on whether a landlord can cut off electricity explains why.

Worked example

This example is illustrative. Lerato pays a R9 000 deposit and lives in a flat for two years. On moving out she asks for the deposit back. The landlord says the flat needed repainting and the carpets replaced, and returns nothing. There was no incoming inspection and no outgoing inspection. The landlord provides no invoices.

Lerato lodges a complaint with the tribunal at no cost, attaching her lease, proof of the deposit payment, photographs she took on the day she moved in, and the messages in which she requested the inspection.

The landlord's difficulty is evidential. Without an incoming inspection there is no baseline for the condition of the flat, without an outgoing inspection there is no record of the damage claimed, and without invoices there is no proof of the cost. Fair wear and tear over two years is not deductible.

If the tribunal rules in Lerato's favour and the landlord does not pay, the ruling is deemed an order of the Magistrates' Court and she can have it executed.

What is worth noticing is what this cost her: a form, an afternoon and postage. The same claim through an attorney would have cost more than the deposit.