So where would you start to find the rule book for Landlords and Tenants?
You won’t find a comprehensive set of rules in any of the legislation. What is in there is usually to protect the Tenant. It is a type of consumer protection law. You might find some of it in the Common Law – cases decided by Judges in situations that might be sort of similar to your own situation. You won’t always find the right case, and sometimes the Judges don’t agree with each other.
So the best place to make the rules is in the Lease. It is in black and white. Everyone agrees to it at the start. It should be a complete record of everything you agreed to. You should be able to just follow it step by step during the life of the lease. In the unlikely event of a dispute you can present it to the Judge. Many of your rules and rights will not exist unless they are written in the Lease.
A real life story
A client brought a letter to me:
“Dear Mr. X.
Your dogs Fang and Satan are dangerous, bark and scare everyone. Your heavy metal music is disuturbing the other Tenants. You refuse to lock the front gate when you leave. The wrecked cars are an eyesore. Tenant B. said that you hit him the other day. You are on a monthly lease. You must leave at the end of next month.
Your Landlord”
The response was that there was no written lease. None of this was any business of the Landlord. There was no restriction as to what my client did on the premises. Under the Retail Commercial Leases Act he was now deemed to be a Tenant for 5 years. My client didn’t intend going anywhere.