LANDLORD vs. UNPAID TENANT: – RIGHTS OF LANDLORD

 INTRODUCTION 

In India, a significant percentage of the population lives in rented house. It goes without saying that when such a big population lives in leased housing, there would be a slew of problems and concerns to deal with in terms of rentals, rented houses, and properties. Among the various issues that a landlord experiences when renting his property, the most prevalent chronic issue is when the tenant refuses to pay or is always late in paying the rent. Another severe problem with the rented houses is that when the tenant neither pays the rent nor is vacating it.

 IS IT AN OFFENCE

Living or even extending your entry into someone else’s property without or against his consent is an offence. The offence which deals with the excess of time spent in a particular place where you should not be or when you have no right over it is covered under trespass. It is a type of trespass in which a person who had a limited authority or consent to be in a particular place, extends his presence after the time till which he was given the authority to be there, commits an offence of trespass.

Trespass has been explained in the law of torts and under the Indian Penal Code. Under torts, it is wrong but the punishment of trespass has been explained in the Indian Penal Code.

 TRESPASS        

Trespass is an offence which is defined in both the Indian Penal Code as well as in the law of torts. Trespass in legal terms is the physical interference of an unauthorized person into either a land or chattel or body of the aggrieved person. Trespass in simple words can be explained as, disturbing a person or even entering into a person’s property or being in a particular place for more time than what he was given consent for, by any person, without or against his or her consent. This is a problem which is usually faced by the landlords when their tenants refuse to vacate their house. This problem which is faced by the landlords of their tenants not vacating the house is covered under trespass.

            Trespass of person is an act in which a person without any authority or the consent of the aggrieved person, disturbs or intervenes or interrupts the person from doing what he was doing before he was interrupted. Trespass of person has been explained in the law of torts.

            Trespass of chattel is an act in which a person without any authority or the consent of the aggrieved person, disturbs or intervenes with the privately owned movable property of the person. Trespass of chattel has been explained in the law of torts.

            Trespass of property or land is an act in which a person without any authority or the consent of the aggrieved person, disturbs or intervenes with the property or land of a person. Trespass of land has been explained in the law of torts as well as in the Indian Penal Code. It is a punishable offence.

 VIOLATION OF RENT AGREEMENT

When the rent agreement is being registered, it is crucial to check all the details, both by the tenant and the landlord. Any violation by the tenant or landlord may revoke the contract. How the property will be used must clearly be mentioned in the agreement. Often damage to the property, misuse of the property, movement of guests, friends or relatives becomes a bone of contention between a tenant and landlord. In case you notice any violation of contract, you can seek eviction by giving a legal notice to your tenant. It is very important not to ignore any kind of violation and send a warning to your tenant at the right time. If you receive a complaint against the behaviour of your tenant or any criminal activity is being run from your property then you will be liable for it. That is why, you as a landlord, need to be aware of your rights and duties.

 HOW TO EVICT A TENANT OR TO VACATE A RENTED HOUSE?

You can subtly send a Legal notice to the tenant regarding the eviction. To do so, first, you have to file an eviction Suit in a court under the suitable jurisdiction stating why you want the property to be vacated. This legal notice should also have an appropriate time as per Limitation Act, 1963 and the date by which you want the tenant to move out of the property. You should be modest in offering time-span to the tenant to vacate the property. In some cases, the tenant might still not get ready to move out of the rented flat or house even after getting the court’s eviction notice. If anything like this happens, you should hire an advocate and file an eviction suit against the tenant in a civil court under whose jurisdiction your property comes in. The third stage is when the court listens to both sides and releases an ultimate eviction notice for the tenant. The tenant cannot overlook this order once sent. It should be noted, that the process to evict a tenant becomes more arduous if no rent agreement is registered. So, having a registered rental agreement becomes a necessity if you want the eviction of your tenant to be smooth and without any hassle.

For any clarifications/suggestions or any queries please write drop a comment or write to us at info@sigmalegal.in

AMIT KUMAR

(LEGAL DEPARTMENT)

TEAM SIGMA LEGAL