PROPERTY GUIDE: FROM ABC ATTORNEYS

Hello ABC Attorneys, I am Leah. I live in a rented apartment. Unfortunately, I have been transferred to another region, yet there is still 9 months remaining on my lease. I have talked to my landlord about the possibility of refunding the rent for the remaining months, but he has refused, what are my options?

Well Leah, the law regulating lease transaction in Tanzania the Land Act (Cap 113) provides for the transfer or assignment or subleasing. These are options that you may consider given the circumstances facing you.

The law requires you to obtain consent of your landlord before you can take any of the actions above. This flows from the obligations you have as a lessee, which are provided for under Section 89(1)(i) of the Land Act, which stipulates that:

“Not to transfer, mortgage, charge, sublease or otherwise part with possession of the leased land or buildings or any part of it without the previous consent of the lessor”.

However, the law has construed this obligation to seek consent from your landlord as requiring your landlord not to unreasonably withhold consent to your taking of any of the actions above, that is, transferring, assignment or subleasing.

Where your landlord unreasonably withholds his consent thereby leading you to suffer any loss in connection with his refusal or any unreasonable precondition given by him, you may recover your loss and seek damages for the loss suffered from your landlord.

Although the law allows such measures, it does not, however, prevent the inclusion in a lease agreement a term binding a lessee absolutely not to take any of the actions you may wish to take. It is important, therefore, to look into your agreement to see if there are any terms, which may limit your taking any of the actions mentioned above.

Hi, ABC Attorneys, I’m Ali. I have troublesome tenants, they do not honour the terms of our agreements and I wish to terminate their leases. What are the legal procedure for terminating the leases and getting them off my property?

Hello Ali, a lease is an agreement like any other agreement. However, the procedure for its termination is provided for under the Land Act (Cap 113). The procedure depends on whether their breach is related to payment of rent or breach of other terms and covenants contained in the lease.

If the breach is related to arrears in payment of lease, Section 114 of the Land Act provides for a procedure, which requires you to provide them with a notice of your intention. The notice must not be less than 30 days and it must clearly inform your tenants of the nature and extent of breach complained of, the amount, which must be paid to remedy the breach, the period within which to remedy the breach (which must not be less than thirty days) and the notice must include a statement that if the breach is not remedied within 30 days from the service of the notice the lease shall terminate.

If the breach is related to some other conditions, Section 105 of the Land Act, 1999 provides for a procedure. The first thing is you must serve them with a notice of your intention to terminate the lease. The notice must clearly inform them of the nature and extent of breach complained of and if you think it can be remedied you must also include in your notice the action(s) that your tenants should take or refrain from taking to remedy the breach, the amount of compensation, if any, which your tenants must pay to remedy the breach or to reimburse you for the expenses you incurred in connection with the breach, however, that amount must be reasonable and you should also afford them reasonable time, that is, not less than thirty days to do what you have asked them to do in your notice. You must also include that failure to do the required actions within 30 days from the date of service, the lease shall terminate.

After the expiry of the notice period without their compliance, you may seek a court order for termination if they do not want to leave out of their own free will. The court then will consider the matter and may grant the order of termination or any other order that the court deems fit in the circumstance of your case. Courts have wide powers as they may extend the time for your tenants to comply or vary the amount to be paid as compensation or substitute the action, which you required your tenants to take or refrain from taking with another action that the court deems feet.

You must also be aware that your tenants are empowered by the law to seek reliefs from the court from any and all of your demands. Alternatively, you can just notify them that you will not renew their current leases after their expiry, however, you should notify them earlier so that they make arrangement to look for other accommodation.

For further assistance please contact your real estate lawyer.