Can A Landlord Kick Out Tenants After They Have Moved In?
It all boils down to your tenancy agreement.
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Every time someone is evicted from their rental homes, for whatever reason, it brings up conversation of nightmare landlords and renter’s rights with a side of bigotry.
Just recently, a young Indian renter claimed he was coerced out of his newly rented room because the owner preferred to rent to Chinese tenants.
He was given only one day to pack up and move out. Naturally, netizens were furious.
While the reasons for eviction may vary from justified to dubious bias, the fact of the matter is: what kind of rights do renters have?
It all boils down to the tenancy agreement you signed. Not all tenancy agreements are written the same, so do your due diligence and check the terms!
However, in almost any case, landlords cannot immediately evict a tenant after they have moved in.
The only way a tenant can be evicted immediately is if they breached the terms of the contract, which is the tenancy agreement. So how does that happen?
Renting from owner
According to a property lawyer TRP spoke to, if there is a breach of contract, a typical tenancy agreement gives both the owner and the tenant sufficient enough time to rectify the problem.
For example, paying your rent on time is part of the contract. However, tenants are given a reasonable time frame to ‘rectify the problem’ of a delayed payment of rent. As such, missing your rent by a day or two doesn’t make it a breach of contract.
Landlords have also signed the contract agreeing to rent the premises to the tenant for a stipulated amount of time, usually for a minimum of 1 year.
During this time, landlords do not have the right to evict the tenant unless the tenant explicitly breached the contract. In fact, according to Mukhtiar Kaur, a managing partner of Messrs Abd Halim & Associates, the landlord cannot simply evict the tenant even if the tenant refuses to pay rent under the Specific Relief Act 1960!
It is only until after the term of tenancy has ended that the landlord can request the tenant to move out, and sufficient time must be provided to do so, usually around 14 to 30 days.
Renting as sublet
Sublet is a practice of renting only one room in a residence. Usually in this case, the actual owner has rented the unit to the primary tenant who signed the tenancy agreement. Then, this tenant will look for other “sub-tenants” to sublet to.
In the case of subletting, there often is no sub-tenancy agreement to sign. Whether or not the actual owner agrees to the sublet, the responsibility of the sub-tenant will fall upon the first tenant whose name is on the tenancy agreement, according to Suraj Singh (Su), a senior real estate negotiator.
In this case, the owner technically has no right to evict the sub-tenant from the premise, as there never was a contract binding the owner and the sub-tenant.
(Credit: Freepik)
However, if the tenancy agreement between the owner and the primary tenant included a clause that the premise cannot be used for sublet, then the primary tenant is in breach of contract.
When that happens, the owner has the right to evict the primary tenant, and subsequently the sub-tenant as well.
What happens if you are asked to leave?
If a tenant is asked to move out without having breached their tenancy agreement, they have no obligation to do so.
In fact, our source mentioned that the best thing for tenants to do during a rental dispute is to stay where you are. If the tenancy agreement was not breached, then the law is on your side. Until the tenant receives a court order to vacate the premise, they have the right to stay.
Tenants also have no fear of being forced out if the landlord threatens to cut the water, change the locks, or have items thrown out. If the landlord does so, they have breached the tenancy agreement instead.
(Credit: Freepik)
While it is true that Malaysia once subscribed to the use of “self-help” eviction, where tenants can be evicted by force, the law was amended on 31 January 1992, which now protects tenants from coerced eviction.
If a landlord is found to have breached their tenancy agreement via unlawful eviction, the landlord may in turn have to compensate the tenant for additional losses such as costs of moving, rental differences, or even costs of a hotel if the tenant was unlawfully evicted at night with no place to sleep!
If you are having disputes with your landlord, now is a good time to check your tenancy agreement. But at least you shouldn’t have to worry about being forced out of where you live.
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