If you intend to enforce your rights, enforce them when you have them, not after giving them up. Lease agreement is still in force, landlord asked to vacate on fancy excuse and you are vacating by texting something. When you are forced vacate against the terms of agreement you do have right to seek compensation for damages, mental agony and expenses incurred due to unscheduled eviction. Keep your copy for further action, you need not obey whatever landlord asked. But my advice is don’t vacate when you are planning fight then why not now. That will be more pinching to landlord .
How to terminate a Rental Agreement without waiving legal rights?
How to retain the right to take our landlord to court after we vacate by handing over the keys and collecting our advance amount from the landlord? If my father mentions "without prejudice" is it good enough to file a case in civil courts under the Contract Act and the Law of Torts *after* we vacate the rented house? *Before* the keys are handed over, if my father sends the below via WhatsApp, to the landlord, will it help to file a civil case later? Without prejudice. My constructive eviction over my wife clipping her nails on our footsteps is unfair and unwarranted. You are unilaterally terminating the rental agreement before its expiry for an unjust reason and without any written notice. Without prejudice and without waiving any rights whatsoever, I will collect from you my advance amount less any deductions. Without prejudice and without waiving any rights whatsoever, I will handover the keys to you. Tenant The landlord wants both copies of the agreement to be destroyed. I have told him that my father likes to keep our copy of the agreement. The WhatsApp message might serve as evidence of my father's protest over the termination of the rental agreement. Though I'm not a signatory to the rental agreement, I have been aggrieved by the landlord and his wife. What legal remedies are available to me? Can I file a police complaint on behalf of my parents and me? Will a NCR help us to file a civil case later on? Background: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ My father is the signatory to the rental agreement. Over a petty issue, the landlord has asked us to vacate(evict?) the rented house. I have shifted some of my items to another house. The landlord wants us to vacate tomorrow itself. I do not want to waive our legal rights. Hence, I want to keep evidence that our vacating the house was forced not on own accord. Please indicate what steps I need to do *before* leaving the house?
Asked 5 years ago in Civil Law
7 Answers
Landlord has to issue you one month notice or so as per terms of your rental agreement
2) you are not bound to vacate premises in absence of written notice
3)oral demands to vacate premises is not binding on tenant
4) inform landlord that you will vacate premises on expiry of notice period after it is given in writing by landlord
After vacating the rented premise you cannot establish your rights.
You have no locus standi or reasons to file any case against the landlord after delivering the vacant possession of the rented premises.
Instead you may not vacate the house and remain there itself, because your rental agreement has not expired neither you have defaulted in the monthly rental payment to the landlord.
You need dance to tunes of the landlord at his whims.
Your tenancy is legally protected since the agreement is for 11 months and it has not expired as on this date.
If you are vacating the house for any reason then you don't have any rights to sue him or even file a criminal complaint against the landlord with the police after vacating the rented house.
You can issue a legal notice and approach court with a suit for injunction seeking to restrain the landlord from forcibly evicting you from the rented premises other than by due process of law.
The landlord cannot act at his whims and fancies, he has to follow the law of the land in this regard and cannot act on his own to evict the tenants at his will and wish
If you have not vacated, then you do not do it, let him go to police also, the police cannot interfere in the civil matter especially if the rental agreement is still in force.
Maybe, I was not clear. They are making staying in the rented house intolerable. My senior citizen parents do not want confrontation. This would be Constructive eviction. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/constructive_eviction My concern is that by accepting our advance amount or handing over the house keys should not been viewed as being "with prejudice" in later court proceedings to ""seek compensation for damages, mental agony and expenses incurred due to unscheduled eviction"" What I want to do are the below steps: Step 1: Send the above WhatsApp message. Step 2: Send him a picture of our copy of the rental agreement. Step 3: If the landlord allows it, I aim to have the words "without prejudice" written on both copies of the rental agreement. (He wants both copies to be torn.) Step 4: Collect our advance amount. Step 5: Hand over the house keys. Step 6: Send a legal notice seeking damages for breach of contract. Basically, when the rental agreement gets terminated after the advance amount is collected and the keys handed over, can I later sue for breach of contract? Can I ensure that I have a right to sue for breach of contract by using the words "without prejudice"?
Asked 5 years ago
You can sue the landlord for breach of contract
however please note that suit for damages take 15 years to be disposed of
In an actual eviction, the landlord evicts the defaulting tenant, whereas in a constructive eviction the landlord fails to provide the necessary services so the tenant then is legally entitled to cancel the lease.
A tenant has certain rights which are protected by the law. He can approach the court and seek a legal remedy in case of illegal eviction by the landlord.
Almost all states have rental control laws pertaining to the protection of tenants. Each state has given certain grounds under which the landlord is legally allowed to evict the tenant. However, the violation of tenancy laws are commonplace in cities where it is not easy to find a rental home immediately if the landlord asks his tenant to vacate. As per the law, a tenant has a legal right to go to the court and defend himself against an illegal eviction.
In Rai Churn Das Mazumbar Vs. Administrtor general of Bengal of Calcutta high court:
The basis of the defence, where the lessor has obstructed the lessee's enjoyment, is that in case of continuous relationships involving mutual rights and obligations, a party who repudiates and acts in violation of his obligations cannot claim to enforce his own rights against the other party. Hence a lessee who abandons his lease is not entitled to complain of dispossession by his landlord. See Obhoya Charam Bhoora v. Koilash Chunder Dey (1887) I.L.R. 14 C. 751. To use the language of Mr. Adam in his Landlord and Tenant, "a rent service is something given by way of retribution to the lessor for the land demised by him to the tenant and consequently the lessor's title to the rent is founded upon this, that the land demised is enjoyed by the tenant during the term included in the contract; for the tenant can make no return for the thing he has not. If therefore the tenant be deprived of the thing, the obligation to pay the rent ceases; because such obligation had its force only from the consideration which was the enjoyment of the thing demised." In England, the defence is raised in the form that the tenant has been evicted from the premises and is therefore entitled to suspension of the rent during the period of eviction. See Woodfall's Landlord and Tenant, page 476. Foa on Londlord and Tenant, page 134. But eviction has been found not to be an appropriate word; and the Courts hold that there is constructive eviction where the landlord without turning the tenant out of possession commits unlawful and wrongful acts which deprive the tenant of the beneficial enjoyment and use of the property; such wrongful acts amount in law to constructive eviction and the tenant enjoys immunity from the payment of rent until the londlord again permits him to have quiet enjoyment. This principle has been enunciated in a series of cases. See Dhunput Singh v. Mahomed Kazim Isphain (1886) I.L.R. 24 C. 296 Harro Kumari Chowdrani v. Purna Chandra Sarabogya (1900) I.L.R. 28 C. 188 Rai Charan Shar Mazumdar v. Administrator General of Bengal (1909) I.L.R. 36 C. 856. Mahomed Jeanblya Mean v. Sukheannessa Bibi (1910) 14 C.W.N. 446 Puma Chandra Sarbajna v. Rasik Chandra Chakraborti (1886) 13 C.L.R. 119. We are clearly of opinion that the transfer of property act has made no modification of the law in this respect. The learned vakil for the respondents contends that, as the obstruction in this case was only for a short time and the tenant obtained possession of the villages afterwards and was in enjoyment during the remainder of the fasli, she is not entitled to withhold payment of the whole of the rent. We do not deal with this contention at present, because, before disposing of the case finally, we consider it desirable to request the District Judge to submit a clear finding on the question--what damage did the defendant sustain in Fasli 1315 in consequence of the plaintiffs' obstruction of her enjoyment? And we accordingly do so.
Dear Sir/Ma'am,
If you are a tenant and have had a rent agreement, your landlord wouldn’t be able to evict you before the lease period terminates just because the two of you had an argument. Similarly, the landlord would be within his legal right to evict a tenant if they find them involved in wrong doings.
Steps to escape the pest of forceful eviction
- Firstly, as per the Rent Control Act, a tenant has the legal right to approach the court and defend himself against an illegal eviction.
- Secondly, often non-payment of rent, rent agreement violation, property damage and illegal activity are the key grounds for eviction. The tenant must refer to the provisions of the State Rent Control Act to find out the grounds for eviction. If the landlord has evicted the said tenant on any ground otherwise or other than the ones specified in the Act, it will amount to unwarranted eviction. The tenant must thereafter seek the help of law and the enforcement bodies to prevent such eviction.
- Thirdly, circumstances may arise when a tenant cannot vacate the house (medical or financial emergency). In such cases, the tenant may file a suit for injunction in an appropriate court to legally impede the landlord from evicting the tenant. This step arises in case the landlord forces the tenant to leave the premises without any appropriate notice.
- Fourthly, the Rent Controller of the appropriate jurisdiction can be visited in case of eviction on false grounds. stating his/her reasons to challenge the notice of eviction. The Court will summon the tenant and he/she will be required to present his/her case and reasons supporting the requisite evidences.
Certainly you can sue him and can recover the security and compensation as well. You are not bound to hand over the keys in your absence or to make special arrangement for the same. But you should serve a pleader notice first.
Also, Secure the rent agreement and the payment receipts with yourself. Do not hand them over to the landlord in any case as he could destroy it. You can send him a legal notice against the brutal torture caused by him to you and your family.
What action may the tenant take if the landlord breaches the lease agreement?
When the landlord materially breaches the lease agreement or does not fulfill his or her obligations as set forth by the lease agreement, the tenant has the following remedies.
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Terminate the Lease. If the landlord’s breach of a lease agreement is of a material nature where the health or safety of the tenant placed in jeopordy, then the tenant must provide the landlord written notice of the act or omissions constituting the breach. The tenant must also provide notice that if the act or omissions constituting the breach are not remedied with seven days then the agreement will terminate at such time. -
Abate the Rent. If the landlord breaches the lease agreement through failure to perform his or her obligations, the tenant has the right to request an abatement of rent. If the rental becomes entirely uninhabitable the tenant may choose to terminate the lease. However, if the tenant chooses abatement of rent as the remedy for breach of lease, then the tenant may not choose an alternate remedy. -
Seek Damages. One of most common remedies for landlord default is to sue for damages. This remedy is appropriate for wrongful eviction, failure to repair and maintain the premises, and in the case of breach of a commercial lease agreement the tenant may seek damages in a number of other default type situations, including wrongful removal of sign, breach of covenant of quiet enjoyment, unreasonably withholding consent to lease, and failure to deliver possession, among others. -
Sue for Performance. A tenant may seek a court order requiring the landlord to perform specific express obligation found in the lease agreement or implied under common law. This may be an attractive option for a tenant who cannot fine another residence that meets their needs and does not wish to terminate the lease agreement. -
Seek Injustive Relief. If the landlord’s breach of contract is something that can be remedied through a court ordered injunction, then seeking such an injuction may be the best remedy for a tenant who wished to stay in the lease under the current terms.
- As per law both parties are bond with the clauses mentioned in the rent agreement .
- Further, even no clause is mentioned in the agreement , then also one month notice is mandatory for evicting the tenanted premises.
- Hence, if no notice of termination issued by the landlord , then your father is not bond to vacate the premises.
- Further, your father can take stay order from the court ,against the landlord , if forcing for evicting premises without giving a valid notice of termination of tenancy and before the expiration of agreement period.
