Do real estate owners have right to evacuate tenants?

This news has been read 9896 times!

KUWAIT CITY, Apr 18: In light of the exceptional circumstances in the country, with the worsening of the coronavirus crisis many of them have lost their source of livelihood due to the disruption of work in mostly in private companies and commercial activities as a precautionary measure to reduce the spread of infection, which was reflected on not being able to pay the rent for their apartments which led to confrontation with the landlords.

There are many questions that need to be answered with these generating crises.

Do real estate owners have the right to evacuate tenants who are not legally liable?

What are the legal options for landlords in this case?

These questions were put forward to the legal experts, who gave their views on what is currently happening under the heading emergency situation, stressing at the same time that if the issue was clear in the law of the entitlement to reduce rents or exempting tenants for their inability to pay the rent.

Lawyer Ibrahim Al-Kandari stated that in these emergency conditions and the decisions issued by the authority and measures taken have a profound financial impact on the capabilities of tenants who rent shops and apartments. Financial losses will accumulate and expand on the tenants unless both the parties commit and agree to reduce or exempt or resort to the judiciary to estimate the effects of those conditions

Some honorable owners exempted their tenants of restaurants and cafes in their complexes from paying the rent throughout the period of suspension. He wished that other real estate owners would follow their example, and if not exempt, at least reduce them during this difficult period so God will bless them for their kindness.

As for whether it is possible to exempt from rent or reduce it at the current circumstance, lawyer Mohsen Busalib answers by saying, “The tenant is committed to pay rent in exchange for the accommodation/stay, and accordingly. If the tenant does not benefit then he is not obligated to pay the rent based on a agreement”

Lawyer Busalib states that “The law stipulated in forced majeure (act of God) in authorizing the reduction of wages or stopping the rent until the emergency ceases the matter is ultimately subject to the discretion of the court as it has the license to implement the theory of emergency conditions, so stopping rent or obligations in general is not an acquired or automatic right Indeed.

As a result of exceptional circumstances subject to the discretion of the court, it will examine the facts in the event of a dispute and decide to implement the theory of emergency circumstances of force majeure or not, advising to cooperate cordially with the owner and if he does not agree the court has the final say.

Lawyer Fatima Al-Qenaei confirms that the legal basis of the contract is the law of the contractors and “therefore the lawmaker provided for exceptional cases as is the case at present, where the state issued decisions to confront the spread of coronavirus infection, and the health organization decided that we are in a state of epidemic and we are part of the global system. ”

Al-Qenaei states that the public authority has the right to stop business. In this case, the law gave business owners (tenants) the right to request a reduction of the amount or termination of the contract, and the reason for this is that the value of the amount equals the benefit from the leased property and at the present time the benefit is almost non-existent for many as the activities of the sector due to a reason that is beyond the control of the tenant (the beneficiary), which is the decision of the public authority to suspend the works.

Therefore, the legislator allowed the tenant to terminate the contract or agreement with the landlord to reduce the agreed rent to a period agreed upon by both parties.

Private housing
On issue of private housing, Al-Qenaei has found that the exceptional order does not apply to housing lease contracts “because the benefit is complete,” despite opinions contrary to this view, under the pretext of what happened at the time of the 1990 invasion and its analogy to the current crisis.

Al-Qenaei says: “The solutions are many, as it is not a complicated matter. For example, it is possible for the landlord to agree with the tenant on the exemption for a period to be agreed upon in a written letter signed by the parties, and there are other solutions such as the lawmaker’s intervention by legislating new laws. The state may also issue a decision to compensate the affected”

Lawyer Mai Al-Kazemi answers the question regarding whether real estate owners have the rights to vacate tenants who are defaulting by whether or not,

“Realtors have rights and have obligations towards others, especially banks that do not reduce the amounts of debts and installments due, as well as the lives of family members and other obligations, Including escort, maintenance and water expenses. ”

She added: These obligations have been arranged in the light of rental income according to lease contracts, and the owner of the property has the legal right to claim the rental value specified in the rental contract, but in light of the current circumstances, the housing tenant spends and benefits from the leased property over 24 days and consumes water Electricity requires spending a number of hours per day more than the rest of the year, and the tenant must pay the agreed rental value resulting from his use of the leased property. The landlord has the right to claim the rental value, go to court and claim the amounts owed, including vacating the leased property.

This news has been read 9896 times!