Hiring, Renting, and Lease: Ruling on Early Eviction, Withheld Rent Refund, and Unagreed Decoration Costs

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Hiring, Renting, and Lease: Ruling on Early Eviction, Withheld Rent Refund, and Unagreed Decoration Costs

English:

Question #1631:

A person rented property for a given rent and period. He paid the landlord an advance and an increased amount for the renewal of another period provided that the landlord would not demand that he vacate the property for a particular period. Otherwise, the rent of the second period should be treated on a par with the first period and the extra amount returned to the tenant.
However, prior to the expiry of the agreed period, the landlord demanded that the tenant vacate the property and withheld from the tenant the payment of the extra amount in question. What is the ruling in this matter? And is the landlord justified in demanding from the tenant the payment of a sum of money which the landlord incurred as a result of redecorating the house, despite the fact that there is no agreement to this effect between the two parties?

Answer #1631:

If it was stipulated in the tenancy agreement that the tenant pays, for the second period of rent, an amount equivalent to the rent of the first period provided that he vacates the property before the agreed date, the landlord has no right to demand any extra payment contrary to this. He should, therefore, return this amount, if he has already received it, to the tenant. The tenant does not have to pay the landlord anything towards the cost of repairing or redecorating the property.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Hiring, Renting, and Lease