How to lodge a Rental Housing Tribunal complaint

Any landlord or tenant, or a group of either, can lodge a complaint about an "unfair practice" with their province's Rental Housing Tribunal. That's section 13(1) of the Rental Housing Act. A withheld or short-paid deposit is the dispute this guide has in mind, though the route is the same for others. Once the complaint is in, the Act sets that route: the Tribunal investigates, tries mediation where it thinks that could work, and otherwise holds a hearing and makes a ruling that's enforced like a magistrate's court order. What the Act doesn't set is the paperwork. The complaint form, where you hand it in and how long each stage takes are decided province by province, so the honest first step is finding your own province's Tribunal. The rest of this guide covers both halves: what holds everywhere, and what to prepare before you lodge so the complaint can actually be decided.

What the Act fixes, and what your province decides

Section 13(1) says a complaint is lodged "in the prescribed manner", meaning as regulations set out, and each Tribunal is established provincially by the MEC responsible for housing (section 7). In practice every provincial Tribunal publishes its own form and channels, so be wary of anyone quoting one fee, one form or one deadline for the whole country. The split looks like this:

Does your dispute belong there?

If it involves a residential lease, there's a good chance it does. An amendment in 2007 widened the definition of "unfair practice" to include "any act or omission by a landlord or tenant in contravention of this Act" (the Rental Housing Amendment Act, 2007, in force since May 2008). The deposit rules sit in section 5(3) of the Act: joint inspections, interest, receipts, and refund deadlines of seven, 14 or 21 days depending on the circumstances. A deposit kept back in breach of those rules is an act "in contravention of this Act", which brings it within the definition. The Western Cape's Tribunal also lists problems like a landlord not maintaining the property or not providing municipal services, a tenant not paying rent, and damage to the property.

There are firm limits, though. The Tribunal "does not have jurisdiction to hear applications for eviction orders" (section 13(14)). Eviction stays with the courts. Section 13(10) also leaves you free to go to court for urgent relief, to recover arrear rent in the ordinary way, or for an eviction where there's no dispute about an unfair practice. Complaints about how a sectional-title complex or other community scheme is managed are a different animal; the Western Cape's Tribunal booklet points those to the Community Schemes Ombud Service.

One more rule decides where an unfair-practice dispute goes. Section 13(9) says that once a province has its Tribunal, such a dispute "must be determined by the Tribunal unless proceedings have already been instituted in any other court." If court proceedings over it are already under way, the Tribunal isn't a second round. Whether a particular claim is better suited to the Tribunal or the small claims court depends on your facts, and that's a question for an attorney or the Tribunal's own staff.

Before you lodge: build the complaint pack

The Western Cape booklet puts it plainly: it's the complainant's responsibility to give the Tribunal "any information or copies of any documents that may help the investigation." A complaint that arrives as a grievance without proof starts the case on the back foot. Assemble the pack first, number every document, and refer to those numbers in your statement. This checklist is our recommendation, not a statutory list; your province may ask for more.

Then write a one-page chronology. A table of dates with an exhibit next to each line lets whoever picks up your file see the case in two minutes instead of twenty. The format matters more than the polish:

The statement on the form can then stay short and specific. Something like this, adapted to your facts:

"I was the tenant at [address] from [date] to [date]. The landlord has kept R[amount] of my deposit for [item]. The incoming inspection report records that item as already damaged before I moved in (Annexure 3, item [number]). I asked for the balance in writing on [date] and have had no reply (Annexure 7). I ask the Tribunal to rule that the balance be refunded with interest."

Notice what the statement does: it names the rule, points to the record and asks for one specific outcome. It doesn't argue character or vent. A landlord's complaint works the same way in reverse: the incoming record, the outgoing record, the difference between them, and the reasonable cost of putting it right.

Lodging it: the Western Cape as a worked example

Because the mechanics are provincial, here is one province's process as its government currently publishes it, not as a template for the rest of the country. The Western Cape Rental Housing Tribunal page offers an online e-service for lodging, or you can email the complaint form, annexures and a copy of the lease to its disputes address. It says the service is free and the booklet adds that you can represent yourself. After you submit, the documents are screened for a valid dispute and the complaint gets a reference number, which the page says can take up to 14 days. A case officer is assigned, and both parties are notified by post that an investigation will take place.

In the other provinces, start with the provincial department responsible for housing, whose MEC establishes the Tribunal. Your municipality may also have a Rental Housing Information Office. Section 14 lets local authorities establish one "to advise tenants and landlords" on their rights, but the word is "may", so not every municipality will have one.

From lodging to ruling

Here the Act takes over, and section 13(2) lays out the sequence. The Tribunal registers the complaint and its staff conduct a preliminary investigation into whether there's a dispute about something that may be an unfair practice. If it thinks mediation could work, it appoints a mediator. If the dispute can't be mediated, or the mediator certifies that the parties couldn't settle, it holds a hearing and makes "such a ruling as it may consider just and fair in the circumstances."

An agreement reached in mediation isn't just a handshake: section 13(12)(b) lets the Tribunal make a mediation agreement a ruling of the Tribunal. At a hearing, section 13(3) gives the Tribunal power to summon people and documents and to take evidence under oath. Section 13(12) also lets it make a costs ruling "as may be just and equitable" and, since the 2007 amendment, issue spoliation and attachment orders and grant interdicts.

How long all of this takes is a practical question, not a legal one. The Western Cape page says the investigation can take up to three months. Treat any timeline you're quoted as an estimate for that province, not a guarantee.

The three months after you lodge

One provision changes the position the moment a complaint is lodged, and it matters most when the tenant is still living in the property. Under section 13(7), from the date of lodging until the Tribunal rules or three months pass, whichever comes first:

• the landlord may not evict the tenant;
• the tenant must keep paying rent at the rate that applied before the complaint (or, if there was an escalation before the complaint, the amount payable just before that escalation);
• the landlord must carry out necessary maintenance.

For a deposit dispute after move-out, most of this is beside the point: nobody is being evicted and no rent is due. It earns its place for disputes during a tenancy, and it cuts both ways. A tenant who lodges a maintenance complaint doesn't get to stop paying rent while it's heard.

After the ruling

Since the 2007 amendment, section 13(13) says a ruling is "deemed to be an order of a magistrate's court" under the Magistrates' Courts Act, 1944, "and is enforced in terms of that Act." Ignoring one is also an offence: section 16 makes failing to comply with a ruling under section 13(4) punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to two years, or both. The Act doesn't create an appeal route in the ordinary sense. What section 17 provides is that the Tribunal's proceedings "may be brought under review before the High Court", which is a challenge to how the decision was reached, and a job for an attorney.

Where the case is really decided

Section 13 itself sets no deadline for lodging a complaint. Don't read that as permission to wait. Other rules may still apply, and evidence gets worse with time: photos go missing, the other party moves, and the dates you need are harder to prove. Ask your province's Tribunal if timing is a concern.

The bigger point is uncomfortable but useful. A Tribunal can only rule on what you bring it, and by the time you lodge, the most important evidence was either created months ago or it wasn't. A joint incoming inspection with the defect list attached to the lease, an outgoing inspection that compares item by item, and dated photos of both are what turn "the stove was already like that" from a claim into an exhibit. If you're reading this before a dispute rather than during one, the two inspections and the evidence that holds up in a deposit dispute are where your Tribunal case gets built. If one side skipped an inspection, the missed-inspection rules will shape the outcome before anyone says a word at the hearing.