Rental Agreement: A Legal Overview

The ongoing migratory trend to cities and metros from rural areas has aggravated the demand of rental accommodations all across the country. Be it students or young professionals, people looking for better a better future and prosperous lifestyle end up in metros or upcoming big cities that offer both of these things. However, the only thing which is hard to find in these cities is accommodation, and finally they have to settle in for a Rented Accommodation. However a Rented Accommodation also has numerous legal provisions to be dealt with. Below you will find some useful tips to handle these legal aspects with ease and efficiency.

Backgrounder

A Rent Control Act, was proposed by the government of India to eliminate and control the exploitation of the tenants. However, this created more problems than it solved. In 1992, the central government proposed a model rent control legislation that could solve major legal confrontations between landlords and tenants. This also met with failure. Finally in 1997, several state governments adopted their own Rent Control Acts that had all the provisions for solving any dispute among the landlords and tenants. The main among them are listed below:

• Maharashtra Rent Control Act
• Delhi Rent Control Act
• Tamil Nadu Rent Control Act
• Karnataka Rent Control Act

What is a Rental Agreement?

• A Rental Agreement refers to a legal contract between the landlord and the tenant that clearly defines the right of the tenant to use the rented property.
• It also clarifies the time for which the property is rented after which the tenant losses its possession of the property.
• A Rent Agreement also defines the amount of rent, which is to be paid by the tenant to the landlord for using the property.

Importance of the Rental Agreement

Rental Agreement is of pivotal importance to both the parties because of it establishes a formal legal relationship between both the parties.

For the Tenant

The Rental Agreement not only decides the rights of the tenant but also decides the terms of use of the property along with timeframe for which the property is leased out, at the end of which the tenant loses right over the possession of the property. It also ensures that that as far as the tenant is complying by the terms of the agreement, the Landlord can't evict him from the property until completion of the lease period.

For the Landlord

Like the tenant, this agreement holds great importance for landlord. It defines his rights over the property. Even after completion of the lease period the landlord can ask for monetary remuneration if the property leased by him is not returned in acceptable form. For instance:

• Any damage in terms of tiling, plumbing, flooring or electrification
• If any major changes in terms of construction are done to the premises that are not acceptable to the landlord, the latter can ask the tenant to undo these changes
• In case of renting out furnished property, the landlord has to check the s tate of furnished items
• All major electricity and telephone charges have been cleared from the time of possession till today.

Keeping this basic information about rental laws in mind, will help you to make a more informed and profitable legal agreement with your landlord or tenant.