I have given my flat in Andheri on a Leave & Licence agreement to a person and he had been living in my flat since the last 7 years. The first agreement was for 2 years and on expiry new agreements were signed for the next 2 year duration. I am happy with the person but concerned whether having the same person for a number of years as Licensee will create problems when I want to end the agreement. Is Section 24 of Rent Control Act still be applicable. I found out that any L&L agreement more than 5 years will have to be registered as Lease but in my case the individual agreements were always for a period of 2 years.
First answer received in 30 minutes.
Lawyers are available now to answer your questions.
1) your agreement with licencee was fir only 2 years
2) it has been renewed from time to time for period of 2 years
3) I presume leave and license agreement has been regd
4) you would not face any problems in eviction of licencee
5) if your leave and license was for more than 5 years at a stretch then it would operate as lease
you are issuing leave and licence for 2 years at a time it means its need renewal after expiration of two years. section 24 will apply when licence is given for the period of 5 or more years at a time. continuous possession for the period of 5 years creates right in the property and you have to prove personal necessity for the eviction of tenant.
1. Leave & license for more than one year is required to be registered,
2. This is the reason why people enter in to LL Agreement for a period if 11 months and thereafter renews it for next 11 months,
3. Continuous stay as licensee creates problem since the licensee starts claiming to be a Tenant as per Tenancy Act which gives him tenancy right,
4. So, it is always advisable to execute the LL agreement for 11 months and thereafter break the continuityfor a month for executing the LL agreement for the next 11 months and so on and so forth,
5. This time take a letter from him stating that he has willfully vacated the premises taken by him as per the LL agreement after the tenure has expired and thereafter get a LL agreement executed with his wife giving a gap of 1 month and continue this procedure. For the gap period of one month, collect license fees (never call it rent) in cash.
1. UNDER Section 55 (1) of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999, any agreement for Leave and License or letting of any premises entered into between the landlord and the tenant or the licensee as the case may be should be in writing and should be registered under the Registration Act, 1908. Section 55 (2) imposes the responsibility of getting such agreement registered on the landlord. It further provides that in the absence of a written registered agreement, contention of the tenant about the terms and conditions on which the premises have been given either on leave and license or even let out shall prevail.
2. If he does not vacate after the expiry of the agreement you may file a suit for eviction.
Dear Mr.Ajay, Thanks for the answers, they were precise, I have given more details for each of your points 1) Yes each of the agreements were only for 2 years 2) There was no renewal clause but we entered into a new agreement for the next 2 years each time the agreement expired. There were no gaps between the expired and the new agreement 3) yes the agreements were registered 4) Its is good to know that there will not be any issues and does it matter if I continue the same arrangement for the next couple of years or is it time that I looked for a new Licensee 5) if your leave and license was for more than 5 years at a stretch then it would operate as lease - I understand in my case the Licensee has been living in the flat for more than 5 years at a stretch but there are multiple agreements during the period
to be on safe side keep a week or 15 days gap before you renew agreement with the licensee
2) you can continue with the same licensee
Any rental agreement, whether L&L or lease or just rental agreements are to be registered in Maharashtra, otherwise it is not valid.
If you are continuously renewing the L&L on each expiry term, then there is no need for converting it into lease agreement but instead of renewing the L&L after two yeas, it is better to enter into a leas agreement for five years and can be renewed if need be.
