saurabh (advocate) 08 February 2010

property on lease

well there was a property on lease and i am from tenant side..landlord gave a property on rent to a trust for rent of 1,05,000/- per month and after reducing TDS we have to pay 98,000/- and gave security of 315000/-.. according to agreement we have to pay monthely rent on 5th of every month but due to problem we have a bit latter and landlord accepted it. now we gave landlord 2 chques as a monthley rent which was bounced latter we(tenant) gave cash insted of cheque and now chq lying with them nlly....

now after 1 year there was a clause of 15% hike...oct and nov 2009 tenants didt pay the rent and on 10th dec..we left the premises handing over key to chokidaar which was appointed by landlord but acrdng to agreemt we have to pay the rent...now chokidaar left to village without handing over key to landlord and landlord sent legal notice in jan 18 2010 after more than 1 month levng the premisses....she demands rent of not nlly dec but also of jan and feb...which tenant is saying tht they left the premises on dec. 10 2009 and not want any secruity back which is of 3.15 lacs...and rent shold be adjusted in the secruity which landlord is not agreeing and saying need rent of jan and feb also...she sayng she cannt enter in the rented house which is in safderjung residential area delhi without keys...tenant also agreeing to pay additional 80,000/- towards electricity charge above 3.15/- lac..which landlord not agreeing and demanding rent of jan, feb and march with 24% intrest. .....please help me how to proceed with the case or any judgemnt regarding it...which benifit tenants...

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R.R. KRISHNAA (Legal Manager) 08 February 2010

Well it is the sole domain right of the landlord to adjust the pending rent amount with the security deposit. The tenant cannot insist to deduct the pending rents from the security deposit unless there is a strict clause in the lease agreement.

As regards 24% interest towards pending rental amount, there should be a clause in the agreement specifying the interest in case of delayed payment. Even if there is no clause the landlord is entitled to claim 24%.

It appears from your query that the landlord is not ready to accept anything but still stands on his demand. If such be the position, you can issue a legal notice stating that your client (tenant) has vacated the premises on december itself and seek refund of security deposit, failing which you may approach the court for recovery of security deposit by way of civil suit. The landlord shall take a defence of pending rent amounts and with the help of the court/judge both the amounts shall be mutually adjusted between the parties.

As final measure try for negotiation. If negotiation fails issue a legal notice.