I have rented a flat in Chennai for the first time in July '12 and paid Rs 70K to the landlord as advance deposit . The landlord has not made anf formal rental Agreement but only made an affidavit on a Rs 20 Stamp Paper in July 2012 .Now i am Findind thathere are many anomalies the agreement.Since I was looking for the place to live very urgently due to medical condition of my family members, I missed out on reading the fine print in the agreement .
The landlord had provided a used sofa( about 5 years old) in the house and included it the agreement with Value as Rs 25000. On enquiring outisde I find the sofa is not even costing Rs 15000 in new condition. There are some small cracks in the rexin fabric matrial which I repaired by patching it up with a same material and color. Can the landlord still claim the entire Rs 25000 as damages ?
The agreement also says that they have whitewashed the house before handing over to me. This is not the case. When asked he said that In Tamil Nadu the format is standard for all rental agreements and cannot be changed. It is very evident that the wall colour is at least 6 to 7 years old. In case I decide to vacate in a few months with proper notice period can the landlord claim damage to the color and/or the sofa set and deduct from y advance amount ? If he does what are my options to get the money back ?
Please help
