In view of the recent rape incident on a US citizen by a Yoga teacher, the North Goa District Magistrate has issued an ex-parte order. The order instructs all residential and hotel owners to carry out tenant verification. This, in order to ascertain the bonafide of their tenants.
South Goa Collector had issued this order in 2013. However, North Goa made it compulsory only now.
What it states
“All owners of the houses, buildings, flats and other residential accommodation and the owners/management of all hotels, lodging and boarding, private guest houses, paying guest accommodation of religious bodies etc in the whole of North Goa should verify the bonafide of the persons through proofs of their identity such as voters’ ID, driving licence, Aadhaar card, passport, etc and should fill in the tenant/visitor/guest verification form before such persons are allowed to reside at their premises. The same must be furnished to the local police station for further verification and record.”
As per the order, owners who have not furnished the verification forms of visitors already occupying their premises will be in force until April 1.
According to the order, those who do not comply are liable to be punished under IPC Section 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by public servant).
Tenant Verification
For Tenant Verification, one needs to carry out a background check of the tenant on a prescribed form obtained from the police.
Follow the guidelines below to carry out the verification process:
Goans are extremely hospitable people. Providing accommodation to stranded tourists or letting their apartments out to unknown persons without verification is quite common. Some want to evade taxes on their income from renting, some are just too trusting or some just ‘susegado’.
In carrying out this process, the owner ensures that the tenant does not have any criminal background from the place he previously lived in. The Police carry out the check. A delay occurs in the process when the other police station fails to respond with clarifications in time.
A few tips to owners before renting out their premises:
