So
someone asked if he needed to collect his tenancy agreement from his landlord.
He moved in six months ago and is yet to get the document. In practice I have
seen many scenarios like this. People often pay hundreds of thousands for the
tenancy agreement and they don’t bother to get it. This negligence continues
till there's rancour between the landlord and the tenant. These are issues that
the tenancy agreement should have taken care of.
A
tenant needs his tenancy agreement because it spells out the terms of the
tenancy and the responsibilities of the parties involved. The absence of a
tenancy agreement (express covenants) does not mean that there are no implied
covenants between the both parties. Every landlord should have a draft copy of
the agreement and every prospective tenant should demand to see a copy to
peruse before payment is made. For the landlord, please ensure the agreement is
signed before a tenant takes possession. Many will not sign after possession is
taken.
A
friend got a copy after he had paid and moved in. I identified nine clauses
that were not in his favour and could give the landlord the grounds to
terminate the tenancy. One of the clauses had it that the tenant MUST be home
on or before 8pm as the gate will be locked thereafter and not opened.!!!! He
returned the agreement to the lawyer and asked him to effect some corrections.
The
reason it's called an agreement is because both parties are supposed to have an
input and agree on what should guide their relationship. A lot of issues come
up in a tenancy. Matters like repairs, interval of rent increase , length of
notice to quit, compensation for repairs done by tenants etc
An
agreement that foresee and capture every area of possible issues between the
parties will go a long way in settling matters when they arise in the future.
By
Home Edge
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