Property dispute is one of the common disputes in India. If you take an apartment, home or other unit on rent than here you must know what rights you may have and what your landlord’s responsibilities are. The renter rights protect you legally and create a good working relationship with your landlord. Understanding rules and how to impose them if necessary, can help you be a better tenant, ensure that your living space is in fact livable and provide you genuine peace of mind.
Here are things you should keep in mind when renting a apartment or house:
A written Agreement: A written agreement is an agreement that has to be done essential between tenants and owners for the law to protect the interest of both the parties. An oral agreement is not legal agreement and no one should ever settle for it. For a legal form of the agreement, it is necessary the agreement must be signed by both the parties. The owner/landlord gets to keep the original form and the tenant receives the duplicate. Until such time that the owner/landlord does not provide any copy of the agreement to the tenant, the tenant are not obligated to pay the rent. However, it will not be advised to not pay the rent if the agreement is still in process because the owner can ask you for vacate on the grounds of non-payment of the rent.
Maintenance of the property: Once the tenants occupy the house/apartment, the tenant is responsible for maintaining the same in original conditions apart from the normal wear and tear both the parties the tenants and the owners are jointly responsible for the maintenance of the rented property unless the agreement specifies different conditions.In the case where due to tenant’s mistake the rented property got damaged than it is tenants duty to pay for it. If the tenant refuses to pay for the repairs, the amount can be deducted from their security deposit and if the owners refuse to pay, the amount can be deducted from the periodic rent.
Examine the Lease Carefully: Don’t just sign the agreement without reading. It is necessary to read agreement or lease carefully before signing the document. If you want any kind of changes in the agreement/lease, discuss the terms of the lease with your landlord and suggest alternatives. If the landlord objects for it than explain him that why you think certain provisions are unacceptable and offer to be flexible. If the landlord still won’t agree you’ll have to decide whether you can live with the rental terms or if you should walk away.
Uninhabitable conditions: In case the price of maintenance crosses 50% of the agreed rent than the house is considered to be ‘uninhabitable.’ If the owner/landlord refuses to act upon it, the tenant has a right to vacate their premises with a 15 days written notice to the lessor. It is also considered to be unlawful for owner/landlord to disconnect essential services such as water, electricity etc to restrict a tenant from using common facilities for recovery of rental dues or for other reasons. If the owner/landlord executes any such brutalities the tenant can approach the local Rent Authority to act upon the matter or restore essential services.
The owner or landlord cannot entire the premises without prior notice: The tenant has the right to privacy. The owner/landlord cannot walk into the house without prior information or permission of tenant unless there is a true emergency.The landlord/owner must inform you of their arrival beforehand and cannot carry out surprise checks whether you are a set of bachelors renting the house or a family.
Harassment by landlord: If the owner/landlord harasses the tenant by asking to evict the house or rented premises without any lawful reason and fails to accept rent, the tenant can first issue a notice in writing to the owner/landlord asking for details of a bank into which the tenant can directly deposit the rent to the credit of the landlord. If the landlord fails to respond the same, the rent can be sent via money order to the landlord. But this attempt to pay the rent is also fails than the tenant must file an application before the competent authorities. Handling an Eviction: If the owner/landlord is clearly in the wrong and you can prove it then you must fight against an eviction notice to protect your rights as a tenant. Sometimes it is just not worth the time and hassle to fight an unpleasant landlord so it is always better simply moving on.
Eviction of tenant: The landlord would have to file a petition before the competent authority to seek eviction of the tenant. As per the Rent Control Act landlord can evict tenant only under specific grounds like as default in rent payment on time, subletting the premises without the prior consent of the landlord and causing nuisance or if the landlord himself requires premises for his personal use.
Security deposit: Security deposits are the most disputed cases between the landlord and the tenant so it is important to make sure that your lease clearly written out with the exact manner of which you are depositing. Once the premises are vacated by the tenant it is landlord’s duty to refund the security to the tenant.