Duties of the lessor

Question 1

Name the 4 important duties of the lessor

Answer 1

A) delivery of the leased property
B) maintenance of the leased property
C) ensuring the lessee’s undisturbed use and enjoyment of the leased property
D) compensation for attachments and improvements

Question 2

Discuss delivery of the leased property

Answer 2

The lessor’s primary responsibility is to make the temporary use and enjoyment of the property available to the lessee. In case of a long lease where the lessee desires registration, the lessor has to give his full co-operation in the regard

Question 3

What condition should the property be delivered?

Answer 3

In the condition agreed upon. The thing delivered with the attachments and additions required to make it suitable for the purpose for which it was hired.

Question 4

Is symbolic delivery sufficient?

Answer 4

Sometimes, as in case of movable which are easy to handle

Question 5

What occurs when agreement is not reached as to the condition in which the property has to be delivered.

Answer 5

It must be delivered in the condition the property was in at the time of contracting, if the property is let for a specified purpose, however, it must be reasonably suitable for us that purpose.

Question 6

Discuss maintenance of the leased property

Answer 6

A lessor’s duties do not end at the delivery of the leased property. Unless the parties have agreed otherwise, the lessor must maintain the property for the duration of the lease. The scope of this duty depends on the arrangement between the parties and in the absence of an agreement, the property must be maintained in such a way that it is suitable for the purpose for which it was hired.

Question 7

What are the provisions which the duty of maintenance upon the lessee is construed strictly?

Answer 7

It infringes upon the common law rule that the duty of maintenance is incumbent upon the lessor. If the agreement stipulates that it is incumbent upon the lessee to maintain the leased property in the condition that the lessee has agreed to maintain.

Question 8

In which situations problem arises from maintenance of leased property?

Answer 8

Where the lessor agrees to maintain the outside of it building and the lessee the inside. Unless an agreement to the contrary has been concluded, a lessee who has taken the duty of maintenance upon himself is also obliged to effect the repairs necessitated by wear and tear and arising inevitably by effluxion of time and as a result of the use of the property.

Question 9

Is the lessor obligated to repair damage caused by lessee or by persons for whose actions the lessee is responsible? Yes/No

Answer 9

No

Question 10

What repairs is the lessor responsibility to replace?

Answer 10

Minor repairs that cannot be attributed to the age or quality of the property have to be undertaken by the lessee since they are presumed to have been caused by the lessee or by the persons for whose actions he was responsible

Question 11

What rights does the consumer protection act provide consumers?

Answer 11

“Right to the timely performance and completion of services” undertaken to be performed by the supplier as well as “timely notice of any unavoidable delay” in the performance of such services. Also the act states that consumers with the right to expect suppliers to perform or carry out services in a manner and of a standard of quality that persons are generally entitled to expect

Question 12

Name the different types of remedies available to the lessee

Answer 12

A) Specific performance 
B) Rescission 
C) Damages
D) Reduction of rent
E) Lessee himself undertakes repairs
F) Specific remedies under the Consumer Protection Act

Question 13

Explain remedies available to the lessee

Answer 13

In terms of the common law, should the lessor fail to comply with his duties to deliver and maintain the leased property, he is in breach of contract and the lessee is entitled to the general remedies for breach.

Question 14

What is specific performance?

Answer 14

Is the general remedy for breach of contract.

Question 15

Explain rescission

Answer 15

If the leased property is defective in respect of an essential aspect, the lessee may rescind the contract. The defect must be of such a nature that a reasonable person would not have continued with the lease. Rescission also appears to be available in certain circumstances where the property is delivered late. If the lease agreement contains a lex commissonia , the lessee may also rescind the agreement on this basis

Question 16

Discuss Damages

Answer 16

Should the breach of contract not be of an essential nature, but one which was caused by the lessor’s actions and which was foreseeable at the time of contracting, the lessee may insist that the lessor place him in the position in which he would have been had no breach of contract occurred. It is uncertain whether the lessee claim damages where the lessor did not have any real or imputed knowledge of the defect

Question 17

Explain reduction of rent

Answer 17

If the breach of contract is not sufficiently serious to justify rescission, the lessee may insist on a reduction of the rent in proportion to the extent of the diminished use and enjoyment of the leased property. Should the breach of contract be of a minor nature, the lessee is not entitled to a reduction of the rent

Question 18

What happens when lessee himself undertakes repairs

Answer 18

If the lessee has given reasonable notice that repairs are needed and the lessor fails to act, the lessee may undertake the relevant repairs himself and recover the costs of having done so from the lessor or he may deduct the costs from the rent. This remedy enable the lessee to achieve specific performance in an indirect manner

Question 19

Discuss specific remedies under the CPA

Answer 19

The lessee is entitled to require the lessor to remedy the defect in the quality of the services performed or the defect in the leased premises or to refund to the lessee a reasonable portion of the rent paid by him, having regard to the extent of the failure.

Question 20

Discuss providing undisturbed use and enjoyment

Answer 20

Is required of the lessor to guarantee that the lessee will have the undisturbed use and enjoyment of the property. The lessor must guarantee no third party with better title will disturb lessee in his use and enjoyment

Question 21

What is disturbance by lessor?

Answer 21

frequent hunting, expeditions on the premises without the lessee’s consent, gathering the produce of the property or changing the locks of a leased flat

Question 22

Explain what occurs when non-compliance with disturbance by lessor

Answer 22

It entitles the lessee to the ordinary remedies for breach of contract, namely specific performance, rescission and/or a claim for damages

Question 23

Which ways can specific performance can be achieved?

Answer 23

A) a prohibitive interdict

B) a spoliation order - an order which obliges the lessor to restore the lessee to his occupation

Question 24

Is a lessee entitled to a reduction in the rent? True/False

Answer 24

False

Question 25

What happens when a third party with a better title infringes upon the lessee’s occupation?

Answer 25

The lessee must inform the lessor in order to enable the latter to defend the former’s right in the property or assist him in his defence.