The tenant must either indicate whether he accepts the notice of expiry and accepts an extension of the residential lease according to the terms set out in the notice of expiry, or whether he wishes the residential lease to expire at the end of the specified period. If the tenant does not communicate to the landlord one way or the other, it is assumed that the lease will continue from month to month according to the terms and conditions set out in the notice of expiry. It may be desirable for landlords to incorporate the automatic termination of the residential lease into the contract at the end of the term (however, note that there are different legal opinions as to whether this is permitted under the CPA, as the wording of section 14 is ambiguous; therefore, this is something that can be clarified by the courts in a timely manner or by Parliament). However, if the latter has not taken place and the tenant has not chosen to terminate the residential lease, this will continue from month to month in accordance with the provisions of section 14 of the CPA. Each tenant and the landlord then have the right to terminate a monthly residential lease by one calendar month`s written notice. Beating an eviction in court does not relieve a tenant of the responsibility of paying the rent. A landlord may collect unpaid rent as part of an eviction proceeding or through a breach of contract action separate from eviction. Many state laws require a landlord to mitigate the damage caused by a breach of lease. For example, a landlord cannot charge 12 months` rent from a tenant who violated a one-year lease after only a few months. Most leases include a provision for lump-sum damages, such as .B. one or two months` rent if the tenant violates it. Before the arrival of the APC, the rental landscape was littered with leases that resembled ancient volumes, with prehistoric languages (Latin), illegible paragraphs (fine print), tons of incomprehensible gossip (legal German), and seemingly unrelated thought processes (endless cross-references).
The CPA now requires that leases be written in plain language so that the average tenant with average literacy skills can understand the document. Many lawyers are still struggling with this requirement, which is responsible for many incomprehensible leases that are still circulating in the apartment rental industry. Fortunately, our leases are written in plain language, so landlords and tenants can easily understand their rights and obligations – without paying an arm and a leg for legal translation services! (We`ll address the issue of tenants refusing to free up rented living space when cancelling and evicting in a separate article.) Additional Note: For informational purposes, we will provide additional articles on this website in a timely manner that deal with residential leases related to the other categories of rights mentioned above. Once these articles have been uploaded to this website, we will create hyperlinks for you from this article to facilitate reference. It helps you visit this site regularly and read the legal information we place here. «What I mean is that if the state is a tenant – that is, the landlord rents to the government, then there is no CPA that protects the government. Even if a legal person is a tenant and exceeds the threshold of R2 million in assets or turnover, the CPA does not apply; Thus, any company, trust, private company, company or partnership that has assets of R2 million or more or that operates a business with a turnover of R2 million or more does not have the protection of the CPA,» he continues. The enactment of the new Consumer Protection Act No. 68 of 2008 (CPA) brings about far-reaching changes to real estate lease agreements.
Especially for normal people, the changes affect the maximum duration of a lease and grant the parties certain termination rights. 1. Significant non-compliance by the tenant with the provisions of the rental agreement; and once a tenant has exercised their right to early cancellation, the landlord has the right to impose a reasonable cancellation fee and demand any amounts unpaid in relation to the rental agreement. Residential leases between owners who are natural persons and large corporations, as discussed above, are not regulated by the CPA at all. «The landlord should accept the tenant`s termination because paragraph 14(2)(b) of the CPA states that a tenant may terminate a lease with 20 business days` notice to the landlord despite the contrary provisions of the consumer contract. Under section 14 of the CPA, landlords also have a duty to notify tenants that a residential lease is expiring («notice of expiry»). You must do so at least 40 business days, but not more than 80 business days before the end of the residential lease term (which cannot exceed 24 months, unless there is a demonstrable financial benefit to the tenant), and the forfeiture notice must also inform tenants of the modified terms of the new residential lease. that is, the residential lease that comes into force after the expiry of the time limit. A tenant has the right to the «silent enjoyment» of the rented premises, which includes the right to exclude other people. The landlord has a limited right of access to the rented premises for repairs and maintenance or other obligations associated with the lease agreement.
This usually requires notice from the tenant. As a general rule, residential leases can apply for a maximum period of 24 months. According to the PCA, a longer period is only permitted if there is a demonstrable financial benefit that the tenant derives from such a limited longer period. The onus is on the landlord to prove a «demonstrable financial benefit.» In pre-CPA times, if a tenant terminated a lease prematurely, the landlord claimed the entire balance of the lease as well as a variety of other costs as damages. This has crippled many disgruntled tenants financially. The CPA is now preventing this practice. Although the tenant has the legal right to prematurely terminate a fixed-term lease, this is not exempt from penalties. The CPA grants the landlord the right to charge a cancellation fee. However, unlike the pre-CPA era, this cancellation penalty has been greatly mitigated. Cancellation penalties imposed by the landlord in the event of early termination of the tenancy must be «reasonable». The landlord must therefore be able to justify the cancellation penalty, such as the cost of advertising a new tenant, the rental agent`s commission, cleaning costs and reimbursement of the time it takes the landlord to find a new tenant, during which the rental property is empty. It is recommended to include a (reasonable) penalty for early termination in your lease to avoid subsequent disputes between landlord and tenant.
If the tenant significantly violates the residential lease, the landlord may terminate the contract with 20 business days` notice, unless the tenant corrects the breach within that period. Please note that ANY agreement between a landlord and a tenant to shorten the 20-business day period is invalid because it is tantamount to depriving a consumer of a right that cannot be withdrawn within the meaning of section 51 of the CPA (see below). Therefore, depending on the facts of each case and whether the residential lease meets the requirements of the legislation in force, a tenant may, based on the provisions of the CPA, have a claim against a landlord for damages suffered that lead to a liability claim. The main method of executing a lease by a landlord is eviction, but this can be an expensive and time-consuming process. Most states require termination and legal process to evict a tenant. This often includes a notice of insolvency with a request to pay outstanding rent on a certain date or to remedy another delay. If the tenant has not complied by this date, the landlord can apply to a district court for eviction. In some situations, the landlord may change the locks or take other steps to exclude the tenant from the property at that time.
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