Blog Article

There are some of us who weren’t born to Mr. Deep Pockets, so, it is obvious that we don’t have houses around the globe like our wealthier counterparts and then there are some other group of people, who though have the means to live opulent lifestyles, are rather happy globetrotting and rarely would they be wanting to buy property and settle down. For people who neither have the means nor the inclination to live in their own houses, we do have the facility of rental accommodations.

If you are done scouting for rental houses and have finally found the one that you can call home and are now looking to address the legal formalities that tag along with the rental property, then you have come to the right place. LegalDesk and Rental Agreements are two names that are always taken in the same breath. We understand how in a country like ours, the task of finding a lawyer and drafting a rental agreement can become exponentially difficult. And that is exactly why we are here, create your rental agreement with us and forget about all your worries.

Why Are Rental Agreements Needed In The First Place?

Just imagine yourself being embroiled in legal battles for not having made a rental agreement. In India, there are scores of cases where the tenants refuse to vacate the rented premises when asked to, and such things mostly happen because the tenancy clauses would not have been clearly mediated between the parties to the tenancy, i.e the landlord and the tenant.

This can also be the other way around; imagine you have been living at a place for many years together and have been paying a nominal rent and then suddenly, your landlord hikes the rent and you have no option but to pay. Now, had there been a rent agreement in the first place such a situation wouldn’t have occurred. Hence, the rental agreement is an essential legal document which sets out the terms and conditions of the tenancy and these terms are binding on the parties to the agreement.

By the means of a rental agreement, the tenant is given the occupancy rights of a premise by the owner of the said premise for a set duration of time (as stipulated in the rental agreement). Certain aspects like duration of the tenancy, rent to be paid, pets, subletting, who will pay for the utilities, security deposit to be paid, termination, lock in period, society maintenance charge, parking facilities etc. need to be mentioned in clear and unambiguous terms in the rental agreement. Also, it is essential that the rental agreement is in writing, since a mere oral declaration might not be able to save your skin from those long drawn court cases, if there arises any. Everything that is deemed relevant and worthwhile to include should find a mention in the rental agreement. The roles and responsibilities of both the tenant as well as the landlord need to be set out categorically in the rental agreement.

What Do You Understand By Notarisation of Rental Agreement?

In the process of ‘Notarisation’, a Notary Public verifies and certifies the authenticity of the parties signing the documents. A notary public is a public officer who is appointed as per the provisions of the Notaries Act of 1952, by the Central/State Government as the case may be.

A notary has the right to authenticate the document, administer oath to a person and other such functions. A notary just ensures that the parties are entering into an agreement on their own volition and that they are competent to enter into such an agreement.

Notarisation helps in averting likely frauds of identity. For your rental agreement to have a binding effect, it needn’t be compulsorily notarised. Indian laws don’t mandate a rental agreement to be notarised by a notary public. Nonetheless, if you want to go ahead and get your rental agreement notarised, you may do so by approaching a notary public and presenting your document to him.

Please note, both the parties to the agreement need to be present before the notary. After verification of the document as well as the parties, the notary shall proceed to put his/her seal on the document. The main job of a notary is to verify the parties and (s)he needn’t go through all the terms and conditions mentioned in the agreement.

Notarised agreements don’t have any admissibility in the courts of law and they are not binding. They can be easily printed on a Stamp Paper and produced before the notary public, who may just check and verify the credibility of the parties and put a seal on it to validate the document.

Registration of Rental Agreements

As is stated under Section 107 of the Transfer of Property Act, a lease for a term exceeding 1 year or more can only be executed by way of a duly registered rental agreement. It is mandatory for all rental agreements that are for a period of more than 11 months to be registered.

According to Section 49 of the Registration Act, an unregistered rental agreement shall not be admissible in evidence. Rental agreements which are under 11 months don’t have to be registered or notarised.

All rental agreements that are for a period over 11 months need to be registered at the office of the Sub-Registrar. The Sub-Registrar checks the validity of the entire document and also sees if the required stamp duty has been paid or not, only thereafter does he proceed to register the agreement. Stamp duty and registration charges for lease vary from state to state and reference shall be made to the Stamp Duty Act of the concerned state.

A notarised agreement can only be treated as a valid proof of address in some cases like, getting a new phone connection or a wifi connection etc.However, for any act involving the Government like, passport application or renewal of passport, claiming HRA deductions etc., a registered rental agreement is required.

A corrigendum dated 19th June, 2015 released by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India stated that a rental agreement that has been duly registered as per the provisions of Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 and executed by the landlord in favour of the tenant, may only be accepted as a valid document for address proof while applying for passport.

Registration though more expensive than notarisation, is also a safer way of safeguarding your interests.

Let’s Create A Rental Agreement

Now, that you have all your doubts regarding notarisation and registration of rental agreements answered, why don’t you try creating a rental agreement with LegalDesk. All you need to have is a good internet connection and few important details of both the parties to the agreement, and you are all set to draft your rental agreement in a matter of minutes. Once, you have created the document, leave the task of getting it printed on a stamp paper of requisite value and delivering to us. We will take care of all that and more.

Legaldesk.com has a variety of pre-drafted legally valid documents including rental agreements. And by any chance if you happen to have a pre-drafted rental agreement, you can make use of our Print ‘n’ Deliver facility, where you can upload the document of your choice and have us do the rest of the task for you. So, surely give a shot to our rental agreement and all our user-friendly, ready to use templates of legal documents and deeds.