Tenancy registration made compulsory

However, this registration won’t absolve one from registering under the Registration Act and Stamp Act which is a separate process.

Image used for representational purpose.

CHENNAI: Now, your tenancy agreement will have to be registered under the tenancy registration portal www.tenancy.tn.gov.in, which was launched by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday. 

This comes after the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Rights and Responsibilities of Landlords and Tenants Act, 2017 was notified by the state government on Friday, making it one of the first major states in the country to implement it.

Interestingly, the portal opened by the TN government in this regard is also the first-of-its-kind one launched in the country, says a top Housing department official. Under this, both landowners and tenants have to register their rental agreements following which they will be provided with a tenancy registration number.

However, this registration won’t absolve one from registering under the Registration Act and Stamp Act which is a separate process. All data from the Registration department could be transferred to this database through the registration number, the official said but ruled out the merger of both databases as of now.

This could also force the landlords, who either enter into agreements for a period of 11 months or not enter into any written agreements at all to avoid registering agreements and paying due stamp duty and fee, to register now. Interestingly, the new portal has links to rent authority, courts and tribunals. The official said that the new Act will help unlock the vacant houses, wherein the owners were shy of renting it out. In TN, there is a total of 4 to 5 per cent of houses that are unoccupied, said the official, and now with the implementation of the Act, owners will feel their house is secured.

How the new Act helps

• TN Regulations of Rights and Responsibilities of Landlords and Tenants Act 2017 has been enacted on the lines of the Model Tenancy Act indicated by the Union government 
• The Act repeals the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 
• The new legislation aims to regulate the tenancy of buildings as per the terms and conditions of the tenancy agreement executed by the landlords and the tenants and also to safeguard the interest of the landlords and the tenants in case of disputes 
• As per the provisions of this law, all tenancy agreements should be written agreements and shall be compulsorily registered with the Rent Authority 
• The registration of the tenancy agreement with the rent authority is independent of the registration requirement of the tenancy agreement under the Registration Act, 1908 
• Since most of the transactions are done through the tenancy registration portal with minimum interface of the Rent Authority, the tenancy registration portal eases the process of registration
• Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised State in India having an urban population of about 3.5 crore, which is 48.44 per cent of the total population 
• The growth rate of urban population in the last decade has been 27.16 per cent. With rapid pace of urbanisation, one of the biggest challenges is the availability of affordable housing in urban areas 
• As per 2011 census, Tamil Nadu is having 23.4 per cent of rental housing. In order to regulate the rental housing stock, the government has enacted Tamil Nadu Regulations of Rights and Responsibilities of Landlords and Tenants Act 2017