The relationship between landlord and tenant has its roots in feudalism, a system of land use and ownership that flourished in Europe between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. Under feudalism, land was owned and controlled by a military or political ruler. This ruler gave parts of the land he owned to another person called master. The Lord, in turn, could allow another person, called a vassal, to use smaller portions of his country. The vassal swore allegiance to the Lord and military or other service in exchange for the right to live and work on the land. Right of access: The (very limited) right of a landlord to enter premises that have been leased to a tenant, usually only in emergency situations, to show the unit to a potential tenant or to make repairs (in the latter two cases, appropriate notice from the tenant is required). A lease may be implicit by law. This means that landlord and tenancy law can apply even if there is no written and signed lease agreement between the owner of the property and the person living on the property. Whether a court involves a relationship depends on the facts of the case. The court will consider a number of factors, including the owner`s consent to occupy the property, the length of occupancy and the exchange of funds, goods or services. A court`s finding that there is a landlord-tenant relationship between two or more people is important because the law imposes obligations on both parties in such a relationship.
Created by FindLaw`s team of writers and legal writers| Last updated: 20 June 2016 A tenant can avoid eviction for non-payment of rent by paying the overdue rent as well as the registration fees incurred by the landlord. If the tenant is unable to pay the rent before the hearing date, they can still defend the eviction in court. For example, the tenant may argue that rent is not due because the landlord did not make the necessary repairs. If the tenant is unable to successfully defend the non-payment of rent, the court will order the tenant to vacate the premises by a certain date in the near future. To collect the unpaid rent, the landlord usually has to take a separate action against the tenant. “Lease Term”: Indicates the duration of the lease in months or years. It should also be indicated when the tenant is entitled to possession. English law – and the laws of Scotland and Ireland agree with him on this point – does not recognise absolute private ownership of land.
The absolute and final owner of all land is the crown, and the greatest interest a subject can hold in it – namely, a fee simple estate – is only a lease. But this aspect of the law, according to which the landowner, with the exception of the crown, is himself always a tenant, is beyond the scope of this section, which is limited to property arising from the rental and leasing of land. Originally, the right of landlord and tenant was essentially the same as that described for England. But modern land laws have reregulated the relationship between landlords and tenants, while land acquisition laws aim to abolish those relationships by allowing the tenant to become the owner of their business. The way for these changes was paved by the existence of a local custom in Ulster, which had practically the force of law, which had two main characteristics: the fixing of ownership and the tenant`s free right to sell his interest. These principles were gradually introduced by the Land Acts of 1870 and subsequent years, and the whole system was transformed by the Land Purchase Acts (see Ireland). Some leases allow either party to break the agreement and set an amount of damages that the defaulting party must pay to the other party in the event of a breach. Landlord-tenant relationships governed by such agreements are called distress leases. Courts usually review these agreements to ensure that they are not unscrupulous. The Eviction Act differs for tenants of social housing. Social housing is low-income housing provided by the federal government to people in need.
Under the National Public Housing Asset Forfeiture Project (28 U.S.C.A. Section 881(a)(7)), the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice may evict people from public housing without notice and without a hearing in urgent circumstances — that is, if the eviction is immediately necessary to secure an important government or public interest. and that there is a particular need for immediate action. An eviction from social housing can only be initiated by the competent government authorities. Whether there are compelling circumstances justifying immediate deportation and a hearing depends on the facts of the case. The mere use or possession of illegal narcotics, for example, does not justify summary deportation. However, if an apartment in a public housing complex is used for constant and high-level drug trafficking, this activity may constitute an emergency situation (Richmond Tenants Organization v. Kemp, 956 F.2d 1300 [4th Cir. 1992]).
Although social housing tenants are at increased risk of eviction, the additional eviction procedures that governments must follow make evicting social housing tenants a longer and more complicated process than evicting private tenants. A tenant is a person who occupies another person`s property by signing a lease or lease. Even if tenants do not own the property, by signing a rental or rental agreement, they have certain rights over the property they occupy.