> States signing for contract must for rentals above Rs 10‚000 a month
> Makes day-to-day repair responsibility of tenants

Civil Law (Amendments and Codification) Bill, being considered by the Parliament, proposes to prohibit the renting of a house or an apartment that is not safe for habitation. If the Bill is enacted into law, it will be the first step to regularise the house rent procedures in the country. As there is no comprehensive house rent law at present, landlords are often tormented by unruly tenants and vice versa.

The Bill states that the landlords should rent out their houses only after signing contract wherein both parties mention their personal details, date and duration of the contract and the responsibility to pay for the electricity, drinking water and telephone charges. But such requirement will not apply for a rent less than Rs 10,000 a month.

A tenant seeking a house for industrial and commercial purpose will have to insure the house, states the Bill.

The Bill clearly mentions the duties and responsibilities of landlords and tenants.

It proposes that the landlords will have to shoulder the responsibility of supplying drinking water and electricity to the tenants and arranging sewerage and sanitation system, apart from the responsibility placed on them in the house rent contract.

Similarly, the tenants will also have to take care of the rented accommodation as if it’s their own, clean it and ensure the safety of the property. The Bill proposes to prohibit tenants from doing anything that could disturb peace of the neighbours, create disturbances and pose security challenges for the neighbours.

The Bill proposes that the tenants will have to do the necessary repair if the contract does not place the onus on the landlord. It adds that if a landlord mandated by the contract to do the repair work does not do so, the tenant can do the repair work and deduct the money spent on it from the rent amount.

Tep Prasad Dhungana, a joint secretary at the Ministry of Law and Justice, said the Bill’s intention was to place the responsibility of day-to-day repair work on tenants. If the Bill is enacted into law, the landlords will have the right to terminate the contract if the tenants violate it or commit a crime. Otherwise, the landlords will have to serve an advance notice of 35 days to the tenants. Landlords, who get their house vacated this way, cannot re-rent it for three months.

source: the himalayan times,5 nov 2014