1. I live in a chawl which is approx. 80 years old in Mumbai suburbs. The present landlord of the building consists of a large family of several brothers and sisters. The original landlord expired many years ago. We presume there is some internal dispute amongst the heirs of the landlord. So we are not aware who is the present landlord.
2. We have been tenants since inception (the original tenant was my grandfather). I currently reside in the building with my widowed mother. The rent receipt is in the name of my late father who expired in 2009.
3. The landlord refuses to collect any rent from any of the tenants. The last rent received by the landlord and for which receipt given (in my late father’s name) was in 1990.
4. Subsequently rent has been received by cheque by the landlord (one of his heirs) and debited from my account, for the period September 1990 to December 2007. However no receipt has been provided by him.
5. No rent collected since January 2008. I have been sending rent by cheque but the same has not been cleared.
6. With passage of time the building has deteriorated. The landlord has not carried out any maintenance work nor permits us to carry out maintenance work.Whenever approached, the landlord has been saying that he will discuss with his family and get back to us. Though I have done minor waterproofing work on my own but the building requires structural repairs. Other tenants of the chawl are least concerned (lack of education) as they too have been living here since the past 60 to 80 odd years. The landlord has never asked anyone to vacate they seem to be least interested.
Questions :
a. How do i a tenant know who is the real landlord
b. Can rent be deposited in court without the knowledge of the landlord. As we do not want to spoil whatever relations we have with the landlord.
c. Can I transfer my tenancy rights even if no NOC / permission given by landlord and be compensated.
