Will TN again notify Landlords & Tenants Act?

CHENNAI: Will Tamil Nadu Regulation of Rights and Responsibilities of Landlords and Tenants Act, 2017, be notified again by the State government? It was in February 2019 that the Act was notified during the previous AIADMK regime  and with the Union government approving the Model Tenancy Act (MTA), the question remains whether the State Act will be notified again.

Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) Tamil Nadu President Suresh Krishn told Express that the State has to amend the existing Act as per the new Act passed by the Centre following the  Memorandum of Understanding signed for obtaining funds for ‘Housing for All’ mission under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. As such, all State and Union Territories will have to adhere to the MTA.

As per MTA, no premises can be rented or let out except by an agreement in writing which shall be informed to the Rent Authority by the land owner and tenant jointly. Builders Association of India State secretary S Rama Prabhu says that the Central Act is not feasible as it is difficult to register each and every agreement. It would have been better if the Act specified that rents above `25,000 or property above 2,000 square feet be registered. “Ensuring that all the agreements are registered online will be a difficult task. The government has to ensure that both online and offline systems don’t run in parallel as it is happening now,” Rama Prabhu said. 

However, the bigger question is whether the State Act will be implemented. As per the new State Act, every tenancy agreement entered into, between the parties after the commencement of the Act has to be registered with the Rent Authority within 90 days from the date of execution of such an agreement. The Rent Authority upon receipt of the application will verify the name, identity and address of the parties and register the agreement and grant tenancy registration number within 30 days from the date of submission of such application. But this clause has hardly been implemented. 

Similarly, TN has set up rent courts in 32 districts of the State, as per a Government Order. In Chennai, the Court of Small Causes X to XVI have been given powers to hear the issues pertaining to rental agreements and other such issues. For other districts, it is the principal district munsif courts or additional district munsif courts or district munsif courts. The notification was to come into effect once the judges take charge. But till now, the judges have yet to be named.