Are There Any Pitfalls In Paying/ Accepting Rent?In the current economic climate this question might seem somewhat bizzarre.!! A tenant's main aim is to preserve his business including occupation of any premises by paying rent. The landlord's main focus is to maintain a rental income Noun 1. rental income - income received from rental properties income - the financial gain (earned or unearned) accruing over a given period of time stream by accepting rent. The reality may be different. Often the first signs that a tenant is experiencing problems is by making late or irregular payments of rent. If rent is not paid then a remedy for the landlord is to end the lease (by way of legal forfeiture The involuntary relinquishment of money or property without compensation as a consequence of a breach or nonperformance of some legal obligation or the commission of a crime. The loss of a corporate charter or franchise as a result of illegality, malfeasance, or Nonfeasance. ) In recessionary times this is not such an attractive proposition for many landlords so many prefer to accept rent as and when paid. But what is the legal effect of doing so and more importantly what practical consequences does this have for both landlord and tenant?? The Situation C onsider this not uncommon situation, the tenant is obliged to pay rent monthly but in fact fails to pay November, December and January's rent. The tenant then suggests payment by specific instalments specifying instalments to pay off December and January's rent (but not November!) and then makes payment and the landlord accepts the money. The Landlords Perspective T he legal consequences are: that the landlord is bound by the tenants apportionment The process by which legislative seats are distributed among units entitled to representation; determination of the number of representatives that a state, county, or other subdivision may send to a legislative body. The U.S. of rent; it is not open to the landlord to say that the monies paid are in fact rent for November and December and that January's rent is unpaid and its rights to end the lease are intact. Why would this be of concern to a landlord? Is the right to end a lease worth preserving in the current economic climate? Certainly landlords do need to preserve their rights and to do so must make clear to tenants how they apportion ap·por·tion tr.v. ap·por·tioned, ap·por·tion·ing, ap·por·tions To divide and assign according to a plan; allot: "The tendency persists to apportion blame as suits the circumstances" any rental monies received. In essence by leaving the most recent rental payment in arrears Adv. 1. in arrears - in debt; "he fell behind with his mortgage payments"; "a month behind in the rent"; "a company that has been run behindhand for years"; "in arrears with their utility bills" behindhand, behind the landlords right to terminate the lease are intact. A landlord will then have greater flexibility and more options. The Tenants Perspective The law gives you the upperhand. If you tell a landlord which payments relate to which arrears then the landlord can either accept this and lose its right to terminate or refuse payment of rental altogether and preserve its rights. Final Note - landlords wanting to end a lease for payment of rent do not accept rent on any terms! The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. Ms Hilary Harrison Anthony Collins
Anthony Collins (June 21, 1676, Old Style - December 13, 1729, Old Style), was an English philosopher, and a proponent of deism. Solicitors 134 Edmund Street Edmund Street is a street located in Birmingham, England. Edmund Street is one of a series of roads on the old Colmore Estate which originally stretched from Temple Row in the city centre, around St Phillip's Cathedral, to the northern end of Newhall Street. Birmingham B3 2ES UNITED KINGDOM URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. : www.anthonycollins.com Click Here for related articles (c) Mondaq Ltd, 2009 - Tel. +44 (0)20 8544 8300 - http://www.mondaq.com |
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