Q: I have a tenant who refuses to pay the rent on the grounds that the yard was not maintained, but the lease agreement states that she has to maintain the yard. Can I breach the contract and give her notice of eviction?
A: The inclusion of yard maintenance in the lease agreement is a positive covenant and it can be enforced by the Landlord/lady. If she refuses to do that, it is a breach of the lease agreement and only compounds the other breach of not paying rent.
Giving notice isn't breaching the contract, so don't worry. Give her notice of 45 days to vacate and do not try to physically remove her yourself, or else you won't get any of that unpaid rent if it goes to court.
Monday, 28 February 2011
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Thanks for this post. It Very nice Blog. It was a very good Blog. I like it. Thanks for sharing knowledge. Ask you to share good Blog again.
ReplyDeleteHi, my family has been renting a house since August 2000 to present (11 years and 5 months). The landlord called today to let us know we have 2 months to move. I would like to know if that is legal or if there is anything we can do?
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteYou could be renting for 100 years and still get evicted. That's the Landlord/lady's right and he/she can do it for any reason.
hi, i`m renting this place and was giving 6months to leave i have not found a place yet but the landlady wants us to pay rent upto 1month before we leave the rent is to high and to have to ave money for the next place will be hard. they gave us no written notice. what rights do we have in this case?.
ReplyDeleteHi my fmily and I have living in a two bedroom apartment from april 2010, for the past couple of months I have been tardy in paying my rent maybe a week or so late. Though my rent is up to date my landlord gave me an eviction notice of 14 days to move is this legal
ReplyDeleteOf course. You were late; you breached the lease. The Landlord has every right to evict you.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the notice MUST AT LEAST be the same period as the rent payments, eg., weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.
Based on what I understand, your tenancy agreement is monthly, so your notice must be a month.
First off, GREAT blog! Building on this issue, if the tenant refuses to leave after the 45 days has elapsed, what would be the next step? I see you made it a point to avoid physically removing the tenant. Is it that the can live in your property rent free until a court makes a decision?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately...
DeleteYea, unfortunately, that's the downside to it.
ReplyDelete45 days is not necessary, you can give the same amount of notice as the schedule pay. If they pay every month, they can get a notice to leave in a month. 45 days is really for people with no agreement... like a family member.
As soon as the period is up, get cracking on the court order.
can i be given an eviction notice for 30days with false reasons stated on a made up eviction notice typed by someone in an e-mail format or can i ask the law to have it extended. also im i still entitled to my half of the deposit even though the other tenant renting with me has decided to stay and renew the contract in her name
ReplyDeleteI have had a worker in my Business try to overthrow me, and I had him evicted, however he has decided to come open a business just like mine next door to me, what I want to know is , Is this legal or illegal????
ReplyDeleteA person in Trinidad rents an office and has not paid rent for 6 months. It is a commercial month to month tenancy. I gave him 30 days to vacate. If he does not vacate after 30 days what are my options ? In TT via common law can I have a bailiff put his stuff out on the street ?
ReplyDeleteIf you get a Bailiff to evict the tenant without a court order, it will be an illegal eviction.
ReplyDeleteThe procedure:
1. Eviction notice (minimum period of the rent payments)
2. Application to court to order tenants departure (hearing in about 3 weeks and the tenant is usually given 45 days to leave)
3. Bailiff can be called in if tenant ignores order.
Always follow proper procedure to evict a tenant.
Mine is complicated, my grandmother died 12 years ago and left a tenant in common will, the survivors are mom and her brother all reside elsewhere (US,Montreal). Her brother(in trindad) and sister(US). My aunt's children reside on the property and basically destroyed the house. We would like to get the off like tomorrow. The will has never been probated and my mom just received a copy today. Could you probate a copy of a will? Would greatly appreciate any feed back that I can get. Also do they have shares in this types of will? Especially when they destroyed the home ( have pictures to prove it.)
ReplyDeletehave been renting a building for the past ten years, the landlord has suddenly given me notice that the rent is being doubled within two months, from $3000.00 to $6000.00 is that legal?
ReplyDeleteIt depends on if it's fair. Assuming that there has not been an increase in 10 years, if similar properties are renting at that amount, then he may be entitled to do so as well, to keep up with inflation.
DeleteHave been renting a lot for five years now,the landlord sell the land without contacting me saying their is no structure on the land is that legal
ReplyDeleteDo you have a lease? If not, what is the agreement?
DeleteDH
ReplyDeleteI am renting a place but i was not given a rental lease. This place includes electricity. the place is hot because no breeze passes through. I would like to put in an AC unit at my cost and increse my payment of my rent by $100. per mth but my landlord does not want me to do it. also sometimes i may pay my rent about week late. and this cause my landlord to qurrel with me. please let me know it I have any legal ground because I am getting a feeling that he is going to give me notice.
It's the Landlord's property, so it's up him to decide what alterations can be done. If he does not want ac installed, you can't force him.
DeleteIf your rent is a day late, your Landlord can give you notice because you breached the terms of the lease. If the rent payment date is the 1st and you pay on the 2nd, you can be given notice to leave.
Some Landlord's are more lenient and understanding, but there are some who don't tolerate late payment at all. It's their choice.
Hello we are renting a house for some time now my wife is a teacher she aks the landlord if we could use part of the garage for some of her classes note we didnt build anything. She told us we will have to pay $1000.00 extra is this the legal. We are already paying for the hold place why should we have to pay extra. What do you think
ReplyDeleteIt depends on what is in your original lease.
DeleteDoes she restrict the premises from being used for business purposes?
She is simply seeing an opportunity to make more money seeing that you will also be earning more. Even if what she's doing isn't ethical, it isn't illegal, because she can raise the rent every year.
hi i have a store in a mall. there is no written agreement,when i first took the place 6 months ago the landlord and i had a verbal agreement . he said if i wanted ac in the store i can either put my own ac and pay $300 more and if i want to rent the ac from him id pay even more more.. i agreed to the greater sum as i didnt want the headache of putting it and maintaining it ,the ac now needs servicing and he says forget what agreement we had in the past.. i must pay to fix it, i dont think its fair i spend money to repair something that isnt mine.its a survice im paying for and he said then he is evicting me when the month is up i have to leave.. i invested alot into fixing up the place also wit advertising .ive always paid my rent on time,can you pls tell me what rights i have in this situation? thanks in advance
ReplyDeleteI cannot understand why a business person takes a store in a mall without a written agreement. Does that really make sense?
DeleteYou don't have anything in writing, so unfortunately you have no recourse. It's simply your word against his.
I don't think business is for you.
HI we have renting on a piece of land for the past 40yrs without a written agreement. we pay on average $60 a year. However the landlady died and her children got control of the property. An add came out in the papers concerning leased lands must be renewed. My mum never filled out the form cuz she was of the assumption that this was not for her since and agreement was never in place. Because of the expiry of this add and the fact we never filled out a form the landlady's children wants to raise the fee to $4800 a year. Mind u the property has no proper drainage and the landlady never did anything to this land. COULD SHE JUST INCREASE HER RENT TO ANYTHING? IS THERE A AGENCY SET UP TO PROTECT PPL FROM THIS TYPE OF THING?
ReplyDeleteThe was a board in place, but it's no longer there.
DeleteHowever, how I supposed to help you when you rent without an agreement? I don't understand why people do that craziness! And then you saw the ad and instead of confirming, you ignore it!?!?
If you feel the rent is unfair, you can bring litigation... otherwise, as it stands, they can raise the rent.
Hi
ReplyDeleteI have a house that my father gave to me as a gift, however he declined to remove the two non paying Guyanese people living in the house.
What should I do to get them out?
hi my boyfriend's landlord called this morning and gave him notice to leave the same day because he don't believe in her religious beliefs what can he do about this
ReplyDeletehi my boyfriend has been renting an apartment for the past three years now and suddenly his landlord called today and said he need to move out by tonight. what shall i tell him to do??
ReplyDeletehi! I have an apartment, an i rent it out to a family member, i had done up a rental agreement without a lawyer, it was done for 1 year. but the tenant(family member) never keep the place clean, always drinking, an 1 of his friend drove a car into the house, breaking down a wall. so i did up an eviction notice by my self for 1 month, but he refuse to leave on the end of the month. I change the locks in the house, an told him he could come collect his stuff when ever he is ready. will i legally get into an trouble for that??
ReplyDeletehi! I have an apartment, an i rent it out to a family member, i had done up a rental agreement without a lawyer, it was done for 1 year. but the tenant(family member) never keep the place clean, always drinking, an 1 of his friend drove a car into the house, breaking down a wall. so i did up an eviction notice by my self for 1 month, but he refuse to leave on the end of the month. I change the locks in the house, an told him he could come collect his stuff when ever he is ready. will i legally get into an trouble for that??
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteMy family of 3 have been renting a 2 bedroom, upstairs apartment since 2009. We always pay our rent on time and never missed a month. The problem is: The Land Lady sold the property without giving us any sort of notice. Two months ago, the land lady contacted my husband and told him someone was interested in buying the property and if she decides to sell, she would be sure to give us a month's notice. However, no notice was given. The new owner of the Property advised us to not pay this month's rent since we paid a month in advance when we took the place. However, this land lady have been demanding we pay her the final month's rent even though we paid a month in advance at the beginning. Yesterday, the new owner told us we are expected to move out immediately since he wants to rent the place out commercially rather. According to him, he made his down payment 4 months ago and last month finalised everything whereby the deed etc. is in his name. He also stated as the new owner, he has no legal agreement with us. Do we have any rights in this matter? Please advise what can be done. We do need time to find somewhere good and convenient....
Thank you!
hi i have a tenant but we only had a verbal agreement or rental occupancy....it is a one bedroom place and when she moved in it was only her that was to be living there. her sister died so she took her niece to live with her, i understood that and it was fine. now she has another person sharing rent with her. can i give her 3odays to vacate the property or can i increase the rent to double the amount cause she has someone else living there without my consent
ReplyDeletewe are paying our rent on or before time. We do have a one year lease and it been only six months. The Landlady came to us and asked what are problems are being experience. She noted and spoke to the manager. we the tennants received an email shortely after when she left the country, a message evicting the tenants, giving two months notice. Reason given that the complaints from the tennats "it seems as though major problems need to be done and it is not feasible for all the repairs being requested to be don at this time and the issues of bathroom tiles and supply of rain water seem to be hazadous to your health it is not feasible for me to do all the repairs requested at this time and so that all the tenants to vacate the property." the deposit minus costs neeed to repair any damages to the property will be refunded."
ReplyDeleteWe have observed that persons are coming to look at the apartments. Is this legal or what can be legally done.
Great Post people.
ReplyDeleteI live abroad and had someone living in my place and they would pay a minimum stipend into my account. They have not paid for the last 6 months. I would like them to vacate, what are my rights. There is no written agreement or lease and the house is mortaged to a mortgaged company.
Give notice, and if they don't leave, apply to the court to have them legally evicted.
DeleteYou may need someone to act on your behalf in Trinidad, so you may need to either appoint an agent (friend or family) or hire a Lawyer.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteWhen I left Trinidad I had someone move into my house and they in turn would pay a monthly rent which is next to nothing. They have not paid for the past 6 months and I would like to evict them. What the the best way to go? There is no written agreement.
I do not care about the money, I just want them out.
hi i have a family member living in my downstairs apartment he does not pay any rent however i asked him to pay the light bill recently he refused i disconnected the lights and would like him to move what are my options
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteWe have been renting an apartment for almost a year. Unfortunately we fell behind on payments, and our landlord is threatening to change the locks without notice. Is this legal? From what I have read here, he must give us a notice of one month (our agreement is monthly).
Thank you for your help.
Must a land lord purchase an illegal dwelling house from the so tenant, if he wants his property back.
ReplyDeleteShould a landowner pay for an illegal structured build by an illegal tenant.
ReplyDeleteShould a landlord pay for an illegal structure build by an illegal tenant.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't even make sense...
DeleteHI
ReplyDeleteI have been renting a house for the past five years and i have a lease with the owner which does not expire for another 8 months also i have never been in breach of the lease, i was given a 60 day eviction notice,and now i am being threatened by the landlord to still pay the rent and i quote "there is ways and means for me to get my rent from you" he said.
Can he do this ? is this legal ? can i take legal action against him for this ?
Hi, I have been rentinga piece of land for the past 27years without a lease, now the landlady has raised the rent( No problem with that) however she has now requested that I sign a lease for one year to be rewnewed every year if she decides to, there is 2 domestic buildings on this land which was built with her permission, the majority of the (land 4 acres) is described as agricultural lands, which have noew become prime property if with a little development will bring in a good return, my question is can she refuse to renew the lease although I obey all the rules? Can she enter this land and take possession of all or part of it even though I have'nt done anything contrary to her wishes ? thanking you so much.... florie
ReplyDeleteMy landlady has evicted me. I Payed the deposit and that was returned. I also payed the rent at the begin of the 30 days notice. Am i obligated to pay rent for the last month as i am being evicted?
ReplyDeleteHello
ReplyDeleteHow do I evict a sibling from my parent house who is deceased. They do not pay and rent or bills.
if a tenant is in an apartment for alomst a year and a fixture (toilet) is broken. according to the landlords contract the tenant is stated to fix it. who should fix the fixture if the tenant doesn't want to fix but complaining that the landlord should?
ReplyDeleteThe Tenant only pays if he/she caused the damage. If it is normal wear & tear that caused the damage, it is the Landlord's responsibility.
Deletewhat are the fixtures required in an apartment by law? (fixtures: toilet, sink, etc.)
ReplyDeleteWhatever is necessary for the rental property to be habitable. Therefore, toilets, sinks and showers should be in every property.
DeleteHi, I hope you are still answering questions. I have recently renewed a lease with a 2 month notice from my landlord. She does not live on the premises, though she has lied many times to try to make me believe that she does. She is extremely unpleasant. Her automatic gate malfunctioned and damaged my car and she refused to fix it (luckily my friend passed some chemical on my car and the mark disappeared). She has unplugged my dryer (which is plugged inside her house)so I cannot use it (and never admitted to it); never fixed a leak in the bathroom which is causing very low flow in water (WASA only send a couple days a week); tried to prevent me from parking and refused to answer any messages or phone calls about why she was doing it (I had to leave a letter asking her not to do so on the logs she placed to block me from parking). She has workers pounding on the other side of the apartment at early hours of the morning without giving any notice (for many weeks). One of her workers pounded the wall so hard that it put a hole on my side and messed up my couch and the kitchen. About four days later (with no word to me about it) she sent me a vague text the night before and came into the apartment with her workers without giving me the 24 hours notice that the lease stated. I want to leave here badly and not give any 2 months notice. Would I be able to do so or would I be forced to pay her 2 months rent upon leaving?
ReplyDeletehi i have been renting an apartment for the last 3 years, my contract is expired and I have been asking for a reissue for sometime, my landlord indicated tonight that I need to vacate on jan 1st
ReplyDeleteis this legal
Hi
ReplyDeleteI have been renting a building for 5 years and the lease came to an end.However the landlord continued to collect rent after the lease ended for another month.then the following month evicted me without a court order.
whats are my rights?
A written lease is not necessary for renting. As long as the eviction was done legally (.i.e., sufficient notice), there are no rights to be had.
DeleteNR
ReplyDeleteHi my parents have died and i cannot find the least agreement for the tenants who have being living on the premises for the past eleven yrs. The renters are very noisy,destructive and one of the sons uses drugs on a regular basis on the premises. I want to do some renovations and raise the rent, can i evict them without this least being present. please help these people are overbearing.
hi,
ReplyDeletei have a tenant for about 6 months now...i give her verbal notice infront a police officer because her husband threatened the life of my husband. we further give her notice in writing and she refuses and say that we have to give her a month free and give her back a cash deposit. she did not pay any rent ffor the current month as she is supposed to be using out her deposit.what can i do as i am asthmatic and she is threatening and being verbally abusive to me. i am also afraid of my husband and my life.
Hi, My family has been living in a two bedroom apartment for about 17years. Our rent has been five hundred at the time. Our landlord die a few years ago and his wife took over. She meet with us once introducing herself and told us her brother will be collecting our rent. they began adding on 100 dollars to the rent every year without any repair. Late last year they painted the building. Today he came to collect our rent and said that he was adding on 700.00 to our rent, can they do that? Mind u we live in a down stairs apartment close to the road and we have missing louvers due to rusty window panes and no bugler proof. What should we do?
ReplyDeletehi,
ReplyDeletei have been renting for six months now. i have no written agreement with the landlady. two days ago, 28th January, she told me that the rent is being increased effective 1st February. can i give her notice that i am vacating effective 31st January although it is not a month's notice?
Hello, great blog, very informative.
ReplyDeleteMy mother gave me the family home since I was the only child living in Trinidad. So the deed is now in my name. My husband and I have rebuilt the house and purchased the land it is on. Now my mother has invited my older sister to live with her downstairs against my wishes. What can I do to get my sister out. She has been here for 3 months now and refuses to work. She spent 9 month here last year also against my wishes.
HELP!! What can I do?
My sister and her two children have been living at my parents home for around 3 years. I presently live abroad and would be returning home sometime this year. The house legally belongs to me because it was given to me through a DEED OF GIFT. What is the procedure to get my sister and her children to leave?
ReplyDeleteI am renting an apartment for a couple years and after a while was unable to work due to an injury. After 6 months of not being able to find other employment and unable to pay rent, the landlord agreed to take my vehicle for compensation. the vehicle value was $25,000. They took the vehicle, damaged it, and now don't want to accept it as compensation. what are my rights? I do not have any rental contract.
ReplyDeleteIs that vehicle agreement in writing? If not, can you prove by their actions that that was the agreement?
DeleteHi
ReplyDeleteI have someone on my property whom I allowed to put up a building,they agreed to pay a rent and demolish the building when they leave. They breached the contect by having excessive noise,obscene language and even illegal drugs. A lawyer advised me to tell him he has breach the contract and give him a certain amount of time to leave. If he doesn't then I have the right to demolish the property. My question is,do i need a letter from a lawyer or can I just tell the person they have to leave?
Based on your description of the person and his engagement in illegal activity, for your safety, you should let the Lawyer deal with it. It should have more effect than a letter coming from yourself.
Deletecan a person who is not the owner evict you
ReplyDeleteOnly if he/she is on your lease as the owner's agent.
DeleteI am late on my rent by 2 weeks. The landlord sent a cell phone text that if i don't pay in 4 days time , he would send a baliff to change my locks and seize the contents of my apartment when I am not there . Is it legal for a baliff to enter my apartment when I am not there and seize the contents.
ReplyDeleteNo, a Bailiff cannot enter when you are not there. Even if a Bailiff comes to your door and you don't open to let him in, he cannot do anything. Your Landlord cannot change the locks unless he has given you an eviction notice in writing, giving you 30-45 days and you have refused to leave.
Deletei have been renting a nightclub for the past four years the rent went up every year the only thing before the month is up i paid my rent a little late sometimes but with interest always now my contract is up and landlord told me he does not want to renue the contract and does not want to give me back my 20,000 dollars deposit and i have to vacate in two days because someone offered him more money for the premises what are my rights
ReplyDeletei have a 2 year lease with my tenant and the lease is ending soon and i would not be renewing it, how much notice should i give my tenant to evacuate the house?
ReplyDeleteOne month is sufficient
DeleteLet me rephrase my question,
ReplyDeletei have an illegal person living on my land he gone and built a house without my permission,
i want back meh land .
should i the landowner pay for the house he built when i gave him letters to seize building the said house.
If someone is living illegally on your land, that is trespassing and you should get the court to make an order to have them removed.
DeleteYou don't have to pay for the house at all. You can have that house bulldozed if the court orders them to move.
My landlord has listed fines in the contract such as - having visitors after 12 midnight you will be fined $450.00 Is this legal to include fines in a contract?
ReplyDelete