• Tenant not paid rent for 8 months and travelled abroad since the past 4 months

Hello Sir/Madam,

There is a tenant who has rent overdue for the past 8 months and we have been calling him, sending messages on mobile as well as by registered post to remind about the same for the past 2 years since he has kept rent overdue (of 2 months to start with).
Every time we get a reply that within the next 2 months he would clear.
But every time the overdue amount only keeps increasing.

Now, since the month of May 2018, he mentioned he is travelling and would be back soon. He also mentioned to pay the rent while being abroad through someone or online. He even refused to share his abroad contact no. 

Now, its been 4 months and he is still abroad, the flat is locked and the rent overdue is now for 8 months. 

Since he is out of contact, when is it legally permissible for a landlord to open the flat or do we just have to wait and let the tenant continue holding the flat without paying rent?

His security deposit with us has also exhausted with the overdue of 6 months rent.

Can you please advise on this.

Thank you for your time.
Asked 5 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Other

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19 Answers

You can terminate leave and licence agreement for non payment of rent

2) send notice by registered post at address mentioned fir service of notice

3) if he refuses to vacate file eviction suit against him and also claim arrears of rent

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94723 Answers
7535 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

It is necessary to peruse your rental agreement to advice

2) you can file eviction suit against tenant for non payment of rent

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94723 Answers
7535 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Terminate the agreement and ask him to pay the outstanding rent with interest and also to vacate the premises within period stated in your notice as agreed in rental agreement

Inform him that if he continues to occupy despite expiry of notice period then he will be deemed to be in unauthorised occupation of premises for which he will be liable to pay damages. There must be a clause in your agreement for this. Check that

If no reply the you will have to file an eviction suit and claim possession, arrears of rent, interest on arrears and damages/compensation for unlawful occupation and also claim cost of legal proceedings

Yusuf Rampurawala
Advocate, Mumbai
7514 Answers
79 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hi, since he has violated the terms of agreement , it has become null and void ... It is advisable to take the posession of the property as through legal proceedings it may be a long procedure to evict him from the same

Hemant Chaudhary
Advocate, Gurgaon
4630 Answers
67 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

1. IRRESPECTIVE of any Rent /L&L Agreement, it would be a Criminal Offence to open a Tenanted residential property, for any reasons whatsoever, WITHOUT the permission of the Court, and which is possible only by the local Police, on directions of the Court.

2. File Civil Suit for Eviction, on grounds of non-occupancy of Tenant and non-payment of Rent. Accumulate data /information about his foreign /domestic trips and any expenditure thereon, which would be useful as evidence in the civil suit.

Keep Smiling .... Hemant Agarwal

Hemant Agarwal
Advocate, Mumbai
5612 Answers
25 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. File a suit for eviction on the ground of bona fide requirement and for default of payment of rent.

2. Since he remains mostly out of the city the suit is likely to be heard ex parte whereby the suit can be decreed really fast.

3. Else after contested hearing the court would pass the eviction decree on passing of it you can execute the decree and take back possession of your flat.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22824 Answers
488 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. You are not legally permitted to trespass in to his rented premise without due process of law and he will continue to hold the said place till he is directed to be evicted by a Court of law.

2. File an eviction suit immediately since you have already delayed the matter.

3. send notice through email which should be considered as valid service of notice by Indian court.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27219 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. If it is a tenancy as per tenancy Act, then you shall have to file an eviction suit before the Court on the ground of his not paying the rent for 8 long months and above.

2. Eviction Suit might take a long time to be disposed of if contested by the tenant.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27219 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

If a tenant has neither given the rent for a long nor is vacating the house, then the landlord can approach a civil court for damages for the loss which he has suffered due to the problem, both physical as well as mental. The landlord can also approach the Rent Control Board, through an application requesting the Board to decide the matter and direct the tenant to either give the complete rent or vacate the house.

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19299 Answers
32 Consultations

4.7 on 5.0

1) You can send normal notice to your tenant and ask to evacuate your flat.

Ganesh Kadam
Advocate, Pune
12930 Answers
255 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

Intimate the local police and put your own lock in the premises.

Regards

Anilesh Tewari
Advocate, New Delhi
18078 Answers
377 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Rental agreement has expired and as such it becomes month to month tenancy.

As advised you may go ahead and occupy your premises.

Also beforehand you may send a notice with regards to this over email.

You will have to use other means to get possession of your premises otherwise court process for eviction will take a long time.

Regards

Anilesh Tewari
Advocate, New Delhi
18078 Answers
377 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

hello

if the flat comes under the rent laws, file a case against the tenant for the eviction. the court would order accordingly. also, show a bonafide need of yours and therefore show that you need the flat for yourself. if the case does not come under the rent act, then give him a notice and file a complaint with the police. in case he does not respond, take help from the police to evict him.

regards

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14088 Answers
65 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Firslty, as you have mentioned hat the contract has been over now, and security deposit also exhausted wholly.

Secondly, in this situation though you can’t open it as of now.

Thirdly, you please give him a notice under section 106 of Trasfet of property act, and then wait for 15 days.

Fourthly, if still he doesn’t reply to it then legally you will have to file a recovery suit before the rent tribunal.

Fifthly, thereafter, you can open it once or would have the ex parte orde rin your favour. Otherwise who knows that he would come and say that you have taken some belongings of him then you may be in trouble that is why told you the legal procedure for the same.

Good Luck...!

Sanjay Baniwal
Advocate, South Delhi
5474 Answers
13 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

HI

1) It is a case where the tenant has not paid rent and is avoiding payment of rents by citing one reason or another.

2) Also not sure whether your lease agreement is still valid and

3) also not sure whether your lease agreement is registered.

4) If the agreement has expired and the lease agreement is not registered, you can still break open the lock in presence of police , after giving a complaint to police of land grabbing and police may direct you to record the eviction in a video camera and submit the same. But by doing so, you will have to forgo all of the rent arrears and electricity payments.

5) If the agreement is still valid or if the agreement is registered, then you will need to

a) Issue notice of eviction to tenant( given that the tenant is away, your notice will return unserved/ addressee left, but still you can file a suit in court of law.

b) File a eviction suit along with recovery of possession in court and

c) claim arrears of rent along with payment of electricity bills etc.

Hope this information is useful.

Rajgopalan Sripathi
Advocate, Hyderabad
2173 Answers
394 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

You issue a legal notice to his address, let it be returned undelivered, you may file an eviction suit instructing him to vacate or request the court to direct him to vacate or to evict him through due process of law.

The default in rental payment is the best reason for eviction.

Dont try to open the premises in his absence and without court permission.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84925 Answers
2196 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Sir, it is not a leave and license agreement, it is the general rental agreement as we do not have the former system in Chennai. Kindly advise, does the above procedure apply in this case too? Thank you again.

You have to file an eviction petition before the rent controller court after serving him a legal notice on this.

The default in rental payment is a substantial ground for seeking to evict him.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84925 Answers
2196 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

It is not legally permissible to break up in the premises rented to the tenant, until and unless there is any specific order of the court in that regard, even if the tenant have defaulted in paying the rent.

Siddharth Jain
Advocate, New Delhi
6303 Answers
102 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

You will have to file an eviction petition in order to evict the tenant from your premises on Grounds of non payment of rent and not occupying the property.

Siddharth Jain
Advocate, New Delhi
6303 Answers
102 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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