Distress for Rent Act
20. Penalty on superior landlord disregarding lodger’s declaration
20. Penalty on superior landlord disregarding lodger’s declaration
If a superior landlord, or a licensed auctioneer or other agent employed by him, after being served with the declaration and inventory referred to in section 19, and in the case of an under-tenant or lodger after an undertaking has been given, and the amount of rent (if any) then due has been paid or tendered in accordance with that undertaking, levies or proceeds with a distress on the furniture, goods or chattels of the under-tenant, lodger or other person, the superior landlord, licensed auctioneer or other agent shall be deemed guilty of an illegal distress, and the under-tenant, lodger or other person may apply to a subordinate court of the first or second class for an order for the restoration to him of those goods, and the court shall inquire into the truth of the declaration and inventory, and shall make such order for the recovery of the goods or otherwise as to it may seem just, and the superior landlord shall also be liable to an action at law at the suit of the under-tenant, lodger or other person, in which action the truth of the declaration and inventory may likewise be inquired into.[Act No. 5 of 1996, s. 34.]Source: Kenya Law