The apartment (in West Bengal , Kolkata within muncipal corporation limits) was taken on rent in the name of my grandmother around 50 years ago . After the death of my grandmother the flat was transferred to my grandfather name .
My grand-father passed away almost 5 years ago . Till such period rent was by cheque from my grandfather bank ac .
The landlord continued taking rent from my mother and father after death of my grandfather for 2 years . rent amount less then rs 3000.
Rents were paid by cheque and the cheque was signed by my mother whereas the bank ac is in joint name of my mother and father.
During the whole period the land lord did not give the bill but issued money receipts in name of original tenant name.
the land lord stays in the same building hence it cannot be argued that he did not knew that my grand father had passed away.
after taking 2 years rent, the landlord refused to take any rent even after we approached him. finally we sent a money order for rent but same was refused on ground that landlord is not available in the house. We did not go the rent control as after this incident the landlord said he will settle our case and take the money, his sweet talks eventually was only to kill time. he even said will revise rent as per the West Bengal Act and gave a schedule as per the lay but finally he did not take the revised rent (he keeps on saying he is busy etc ) .
now he has been hinting of making a new agreement with a very high rent and only for 3 -5 years and extendable with 10- 20%increment at end of each period. he keeps on saying that the law has changed and as per law we are entitled to stay in the flat only till 5 years and thus has no rights whatsoever.
My query is as follows -
- since the land lord accepted the rent for 2 years after death of my grandfather, does it entitles my parent to be the legal admitted tenant and hence the 5 years clause is not valid anymore ? the land lord can always claim that he accepted the rent on behalf of my grandfather and never admitted my parents as the tenant .
- had the scenario been different if the land lord had not accepted any rent after my grandfather death.
- I read in the West Bengal tenancy act (bare act ) that the legal heirs has the first right over the tenancy on paying the fair rent . so will the land lord be found to accept the fair rent? or he can say that he do not want to give the premises on rent to anyone and hence no question of first right of preferences arises.
- if an eviction case is filed by the landlord, generally how much time do such cases take as i hear now there is also fast track court in Kolkata.
- what is the chances of successfully defending the eviction suit if any filed by the landlord ???? the landlord has been creating trouble to almost all the tenants in the building and have legal proceedings going on against them.
- any similar cases to ours and where judgement been in favour of the tenant
- what steps should we take to protect our interests ?
Please provide your views and expert opinion on the above subject .
