Q.
Lost your tenancy agreement? Tenancy Agreement - Part 1.
A.
A friend learned that I am studying Estate Agent Examination, so she asked me about tenancy agreement which is lost. It has been years (>3 years) she has lost it, and she could not remember if it was ever stamped. There was a heated argument with her landlord, thus She is concerned if the landlord would take revenge against her. What recourse does she have?
A tenancy agreement is a contract. The elements of contract including offer (from tenant to landlord), acceptance, consideration paid and certainty are all included. It is not that a contract MUST be written. Pursuant to S.10 (2) Contracts Act 1950 - Nothing herein contained shall affect any law by which any contract is required to be made in writing or in the presence of witnesses, or any law relating to the registration of documents.
Hence, a verbal contract is as good as a written contract of 500 pages. Then, why is there written contract? The simple answer to that is - it makes the parties serious and clear about its scope. When a piece of contract is stamped, it means it has paid the government a tax levied (stamp duty) thus, making it an official/legal document. It is like when you pay for income tax on certain income, it makes the income "legitimate".
Do you mean then my friend has no written contract (lost), not stamped, and thus not rights in his tenancy? We see this in another posting as Part 2.