No leave license or any written agreement
2 years ago
3 years back My father purchased a shop in Thane . By the previous owner the shop was given on leave license basis for 33 months and a period of 10 months was still due for expiry of the leave license period. We therefore allowed the tenant to continue and accepted the rent , duly issuing RENT ACCEPTANCE receipt. After expiry of leave license period of 10 months , we did not enter into any fresh Leave License agreement or any written agreement & we let him continue the occupation and kept on accepting the rent for one & half year . We orally asked him to enhance the rent and he accepted and increased the rent . Two more years passed and we kept on accepting the rent and issued him RENT receipts. We have not entered into any leave license agreement or any written contract etc. There is nothing on papers. Kindly clarify –
Now -If we want to the tenant to vacate the shop , what is our legal position ?
If the tenant can approach the Govt. under Rent Control Act . ?
A.Dear Sir,
You can exhaust local rent control Act provisions and If not applicable then file suit for recovery of possession as he is in illegal possession.
Even though a landlord might be able to leverage out several benefits over a tenant in the absence of a rental agreement, there are several setbacks too.
For instance, if there is no rental agreement, a tenant can still prove his/her tenancy by showing the rent receipts.
Also, in the absence of a rent agreement, if any damage is done to the property or the appliances in the house/flat, the landlord cannot enforce the tenant to pay for the same.
A landlord cannot force the tenant to extend their stay if there is no rental agreement restricting it.
Since a rent agreement also states the penalty for delaying the rent payment, a tenant is not liable to pay any additional charges for the same in the absence of a lease agreement or a rental agreement.
Thankyou
Jagannath S Pawar
Responded 2 years ago
You accepting the rent without nay objection will be considered as having a rent agreement which was made orally after the expiry of the first one made with the older owner. So you got to tread your path cautiously to evict the tenant. Get in touch with a good lawyer in your location and move the court for eviction.