OUR SERVICES >
Landlord
& Tenant
This Law regulates the cases of Rent Control and stipulates the rights and the liabilities of both the Tenant and the Landlord. The Statutory Tenancy contained in this Law is applicable only in some areas of the island - i.e. some cities, Municipalities or Communities such as Platres, Ayia Napa and Paralimni - and in buildings erected or completed before the end of the year 1999, although hotels and vacant land are excluded therefrom.
A statutory tenant is a person who holds possession of the property even after the expiration of his first Tenancy agreement and such person cannot be easily evicted after the expiration of his tenancy agreement.
A Tenant can be evicted in case one of the following cases applies:
1.The tenant has failed to pay the rent
2.The Landlord needs the property for himself or a member of his family
3.The landlord needs to demolish and rebuild the property or make necessary modifications, therefore he needs the property’s possession.
It is worth mentioning that in the past, it was quite hard to evict a tenant, due to the fact that for a case to be set for hearing in the Court, the parties would even have to wait for years.
On the 31st of January 2020, the Republic of Cyprus passed on a new amendment to the Rent Control law of 1983 (the Law) which involves the process of evicting tenants on a “Fast Track” basis, especially those who fail to pay their monthly rent. The said amendment (N.3(1)/2020) uplifts obstacles and accelerates time-consuming processes of the Rent Control Court, to recover unpaid rents and secure evictions of tenants when breaching their contractual and statutory obligations.
Further, the amendment shifted the burden of proof for tenants. From now on, a tenant can prove that he/she has complied to his/her obligations and statutory duties, by providing receipts of the actual rent payments. Otherwise, if a tenant breaches his/her contractual obligators, the Landlord has the right to raise an action and the tenant may be evicted within 90 days.
Nevertheless, the easiest and most convenient way to avoid future problems and conflicts, is for the landlord to draft with the help of a knowledgeable advocate a legally binding tenancy agreement, which shall be signed before the tenant occupies a property. If the building where the property in question is located was erected after the year 1999, then the Landlord has the right to raise an action against the tenant for unpaid rents and proceed with an eviction.
