When I look back into my college days, I always remember a particular story! A friend of mine tired of living in the village surrounding our college, started looking for a new place in the city although it would be 30 km away from the college. After searching and contacting hundreds of property owners and dealers, he got the rightful flat with rightful location with Rs 3000 rent and Rs 10000 deposit at the start. The owner’s nephew was his roommate, after paying the money he started living with the person. But as few days passed, his roommate started having problems with him and he started complaining and quipping about things to piss off my friend.Knowing that this was not going to work out well my friend decided to leave the room and he went to the owner cum roommate to get his money back. The roommate refused to return the money back, not only the rent of the month but even the deposit saying that it had been forfeited as he had not stayed for the specified time period. We went to the police and court complaining about the issue, but it remained unsolved. Thanks to his mom for being a lawyer, he is still fighting in the court for the deposit money.The main reason behind this catastrophe was his desperation of shifting to the nicer place, lack of legal responsibility and carelessness. Such dilemmas can be avoided in the co-tenancy by following simple tips and advices and legal formalities.NOC of the Housing SocietyThe consent of the landlord is must for the co-tenancy but getting a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the society in which the house is situated is also a great way. The NOC will be given individually to the tenants with proper police verification from the distinct police station. Every tenant will have to go through police verification process as it is mandated by the Indian law. For the Police verification purpose a separate police verification form must be submitted at the local police station along with relevant documents for the verification purposes these documents include PAN card, Lease agreement, address proof etc. The police verification process verifies whether tenant has any criminal background or not. These police verification certificate must be submitted to the society office, and then society can approve the NOC for the tenants.Concern LandlordMost of the times, tenants share the property with other tenants without notifying the property owner. Hence it is very important to check whether the property transaction is with the landowner’s consent or not and look for the properties which involve dealing with landowners instead of tenants. Tenants’ renting the place without any consent of the owner is illegal and it is liable to punishment according to the Indian law. The property owner must be involved with any transaction of the property and the co-tenant must be appointed by the consent of the property owner. In case of families as tenants, it is not necessary to follow the provisions of co-tenancy like individual agreements. In case of co-tenancy, the legal lease agreement should mention the co-tenancy. Landlords are advised to mention in the agreement that the property will house more than one tenant along with the total rental of the property.Agreement registrationHaving a tenancy agreement is an essential aspect while renting a property individually or in co-tenancy, lease agreement must be notarized and registered at a deputy registrar’s office. Lease agreement is mostly made mandatory only if the tenant is planning to stay for more than a year which needs to be registered with the registrar for better security. Registering the agreement provides a legal security to the landlord as well as tenants in case of disputes and agreement must be registered with all co-tenants concerned. Registered lease agreement can prove to be the most important to safeguard your interests and rentals.Agreements can be in both forms- written tenancy agreement and oral tenancy agreement, oral tenancy agreements may also work but it is better if you made it written as it validates the agreement legally. Here we note down some reasons of why a written agreement is important in case of the lease along with co-tenancy. Written tenancy agreements are mandatory for lease transactions which are greater than three years, but it is advised that you always opt for written agreements, even for short tenancies.
- In case of disputes or arguments regarding the terms of tenancy, tenancy agreements can define rules according to the predefined terms and conditions for both landlords and co-tenants.
- Tenancy agreement can safeguard your position and it will also regulate the usage of the property.
- Landlord can insert terms and conditions accordingly and if necessary tenants can also ask for few clauses while staying in the property.
- Landlord can ask tenants for a damage deposit which will be protected under the tenancy agreement. In oral tenancy agreement, there is no provision which can safeguard your deposit legally.
- Agreement shows the share of every tenant in the rental as well as a deposit of the property hence it can avoid complication among the co-tenants.
- Landlord can’t evict tenants from the property within the stated period of the tenancy in the agreement.
Co-tenant liabilitiesWhile sharing the property with co-tenants it includes sharing of the rent, deposit and other maintenance and miscellaneous charges along with responsibilities for the property. The co-tenants are sharing the property on an equal basis then the responsibilities for the property are also shared equally among co-tenants. In case of damage of the property, the liability needs to be shared equally by the co-tenants, as per the mentioned share in the agreement. If the co-tenants are having a lower share of the rent for a smaller room then they are eligible to have a proportionate share of liability as well, but it needs to be stated in the agreement.Tax BenefitsIn case of oral agreements, co tenant can miss out on the tax benefits received through house rent allowance deduction. For reimbursement of house rent allowance deduction co-tenant needs to submit a valid agreement which is registered with registrar’s office. Copies of the agreement and receipts to avail deduction in the tax are needed to be submitted with the tax department. In case of the rent exceeding Rs 1.8 lakh per year you will also have to present landlord’s PAN card with the tax department. The rental amount can also be claimed while filing for the tax returns in case if it is not availed as deduction.займ на карту без отказов круглосуточновзять кредит онлайн