Ketan (Finance Consultant) 22 December 2021

Owner forcing out in lock in period

Hi,

I have a rental agreement with my landlord, starting from 9th October, 2021 for 11 months with 3 months lock in clause, as follows :

Termination clause

That this Lease Agreement has a lockin-period of 3 months and cannot be terminated by either party before the completion of three months of this lease agreement. Lease may be renewed for a further period of mutually agreeable terms and conditions.

"After completing first three months of this lease agreement, both the parties shall be entitled to terminate this lease deed by giving a one month notice to the other party on first day of the month." The monthly rent not adjusted in notice period. If the LESSEE'S fails to vacant the premises after complete of notice period he has to pay Rs. 1000/- over and above monthly rent.

Question :

My lock in period will be over by 9th January, 2022, and since the notice can be initiated only on 1st of the month. so I am not expecting to get a notice before 1st February, 2022. But the owner is threatening to initiate a notice before lock in period is over, i.e., on 1st of January 2022 and push me out by 9th Feb, 2022.

1. Is owner legally allowed to initiate a notice before the expiry of lockin period, i.e., on 1st of Jan' 2022 ?

2. Can he initiate the notice on 9th of Jan(after expiry of 3 months lockin, but not on 1st of the month) and push me out by Feb 9, 2022 ?

Reply Follow

5 Replies

Advocate Bhartesh goyal (advocate) 22 December 2021

Legally landlord can not initiate any proceedings to evict you until the lock in period expires.

Ketan (Finance Consultant) 24 December 2021

Can landord initiate notice in the middle of the month after lockin expires or does he need to wait for first of the the next month before initiating it ?

Advocate Bhartesh goyal (advocate) 24 December 2021

Landlord can issue notice for eviction just complete of expiration period , he need not to wait further.

Ketan (Finance Consultant) 24 December 2021

But, the agreement says that

""After completing first three months of this lease agreement, both the parties shall be entitled to terminate this lease deed by giving a one month notice to the other party on first day of the month."

Also there is a clause that the rent has to be transferred before the 5th of every month.

So, why should the first of the month be not aligned to 1st of the month after expiry of lock in, since the lockin is expiring in the middle of the month.

Megha 14 January 2022

Hi,

As per the Rent Control Act, a tenant can be evicted only after giving a valid notice of 30 days or as perthe terms of the agreement between your landlord and you. And since your notice period specifically states 3 months as the lock in period, your eviction notice will have to be after the expiration of such period.

With regard to the clause stating "After completing first three months of this lease agreement, both the parties shall be entitled to terminate this lease deed by giving a one month notice to the other party on first day of the month...", it id to be noted that as per section 3(35) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, a month refers to a month as per the British calendar. So accordingly, 3 months as per your agreement end on 31 December 2021 instead of 9 January 2022.

In the light of the above, the owner's action of issuing you a notice dated 1Jan 2022 is permissable.

However, if you are still wish to contest your eviction, you may always approach theRent Controller Authority of your state and file a complaint against alleged arbitrary eviction after due consultation from your lawyer.

Best regards,
Megha