• Tenant is absconding and don't know about whereabouts for last 3 months

The tenant did not pay rent and bills (electric, and water) for last five months. The 11 month rental agreement is also expiring by end of this month. The tenant and his family are hiding somewhere at Andhra due to financial default issues. For last two months, he is not picking up the phone and my house has all his household items. Many attempts to reach him turned futile. The house is locked for last 3 months. As it is an independent house, I am worried about the safety of the house.
What are my options now? 
As the rental agreement is not valid any more, can I break the lock and enter the house? 
His friends are saying that he will not return and they also couldn't reach him. I don't know about his location and no way to contact him as he is not picking his phone. Please advise.
Asked 7 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

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6 Answers

Sir,

House trespass/lurking/breaking is offence when it is on the possession of somebody.

Only way, I suggest you to make police complaint and let the police make an entry of the house hold items and dump those elsewhere.

You may approach any local lawyer for the same.

Niranjan
Advocate, Bangalore
844 Answers
9 Consultations

Dear Client,

Go to nearest Police station where your house situates, file a complain and along with police unlock the house, and seal all the house hold things with list of articles endorsed by 2 independent witnesses may be neighbours.

If police do not cooperate than hire a local advocate, file a petition in the court, and take orders from court in this regards. not a time consuming process n u will get remedy.

Yogendra Singh Rajawat
Advocate, Jaipur
22989 Answers
31 Consultations

Hi, the first thing is to do is to take the posession of the flat , by breaking the lock .. You can shift his stuff to one room , and rent it out to a new tenant by making a new lease agreement.. To be on the safer side send a legal notice through a lawyer on the address of your property , asking tenant to pay the dues and vacate the flat within 15 days ..you can show the notice delivered to officials if he in future initiate any proceedings against you

Hemant Chaudhary
Advocate, Gurgaon
4630 Answers
67 Consultations

As the rental agreement is not valid any more, can I break the lock and enter the house?

His friends are saying that he will not return and they also couldn't reach him. I don't know about his location and no way to contact him as he is not picking his phone. Please advise.

You cannot break open his house without court order.

For obtaining court order you must first issue a legal notice to him to vacate the premises for default in rental payment.

The notice should be returned undelivered.

Then you file an eviction suit, get an exparte order agaisnt him, after which you file an execution petition and seek police help for breaking open the house and dispose the articles in it either by depositing it in court or to dump them in a room exclusively allotted to dump them safety.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
87030 Answers
2337 Consultations

1. You can not break open the lock of the house on the ground that the agreement time has expired or that he has not paid rent or as he is absconding.

2. You shall have to take possession of your said house from your tenant after due process of law. unless there is a clause mentioned in the agreement that if he does not sow up for three months you are entitled to break open the lock of his tenanted house and transport all his luggage to his native place.

3. In the instant case, file an application before the Court for an order upon the police to break open the lock and handover possession of your rented property to you since the tenants have absconded and are not traceable.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27453 Answers
726 Consultations

Hi

First basic requirement is your Rental Agreement, the same needs to be perused for terms and conditions. Based on which an effective reply can be given.

However, going by the contents of your post, below mentioned options may be worked-out:

1. First you send notice to your tenant to the last known address through, Standard Courier, RPAD and retain acknowledgements and office copies for your records. The notice shall contain all your pending dues and also terminate the tenancy.

2. Send “SMS & WhatsApp” to all the mobile numbers of your tenant and his family members available with you, take copies of the same. Lodge complaint with local police about the status of your tenant.

3. After expiry of notice period take help of local police and break open the house in their presence, they will conduct panchanama and you need to provide storage space for the belongings of your tenant wherein the available belongings will be kept by police and it will be kept under lock and key by them.

4. Pay the due bills through bank and retain acknowledgements.

5. Add the names of his friends / well-wishers as witness to the transaction.

6. Finally you should issue a public notice in two local news papers i.e., one in vernacular language and the other in English language within the territorial limits of your property. The same should cover at lease 100 km radius.

By doing above activities you will be safe and the same will come for your rescue in case of any untoward which may come up in future.

Good Luck !

S Srinivasa Prasad
Advocate, Hyderabad
2876 Answers
9 Consultations

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