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Fatwa CenterTenant refuses to vacate rented property
Question
AssalaamalaikumI am a landlord and have rented my house to a Muslim family. We both signed a tenancy agreement in September 2013 via an agency, which states that I must provide 2 months written notice. I then dismissed the agency in February 2014 to deal directly with the tenant. Since that time we have not had a written agreement and only have a verbal agreement to continue under the same terms. Since February 2014 he has not paid any rent and, due to his financial difficulties and my relative financial security, I agreed to defer payment until 1st June 2015 (first installment), although he still has not paid anything.I wrote to my tenant on 16th April 2015 with a notice to vacate by 30th June 2015 (more than 2 months), but he is refusing to vacate. My understanding of the Islamic position in such cases is that the primary reference point is the written contract (and I fully admit my mistake in not having a written contract). However in the absence of a written contract, then the local laws and customs apply.Under the local laws, such cases are classified as a Periodic Assured Short Term Tenancy, which requires the landlord to provide 2 months written notice.My questions are:1. Is my understanding of the Islamic position correct? If not, then please advise the correct understanding.2. If it is correct, then what is the position after the notice period expires? Is there any Islamic justification for him to remain in my property or is he sinful to remain there?3. Can he impose conditions on me to vacate, i.e. his position is that he will continue to refuse to vacate indefinitely unless I go through the court eviction process. This is so that he can declare himself “homeless” and secure free government accommodation.JazakAllah khair
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His Slave and Messenger.
The contract serves as the law of the contracting parties even if it is oral and has not been registered with state authorities. Just because the contract is not documented and officially registered does not mean that any of the contracting parties is allowed to deceive the other or defer their rights.
In your situation the tenant is obliged to vacate the rented property after the tenancy contract expires according to the agreed-upon terms and he has no right to stipulate any condition for vacating the property so as to exploit the landlord's circumstances and the absence of a legally registered contract. The landlord is entitled to refer the case to the concerned authorities, if necessary, to have him evicted. It is not permissible for the tenant to delay vacating the property as described in the question. This is an obvious injustice.
Allaah Knows best.
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