Rent [fr. reditus Lat.], a certain profit issuing yearly out of lands and tenements corporeal; it may be regarded as of a two fold nature--first, as some-thing issuing out of the land, as a compensation for the possession during the term; and secondly, as an acknowledgment made by the tenant to the lord of his fealty or tenure. It must always be a profit, yet there is no necessity that it should be, as it usually is, a sum of money; for spurs, capons, horses, corn, and other matters, may be, and occasionally are, rendered by way of rent; it may also consist in services or manual operations, as to plough so many acres of ground and the like; which services, in the eye of the law, are profits. The profit must be certain, or that which may be reduced to a certainty by either party; it must issue yearly, though it may be reserved every second, third, or fourth year; it must issue out of the thing granted, and not be part of the land or the thing itself.
Consideration paid, usu. periodically, for the use or occupancy of property (esp. real property), Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 1299.
There are several kinds of rents, viz.:-
(1) Rent-service, so called because it has some corporeal service incident to it, as at the lest, fealty.
(2) Rent-charge, where the owner of the rent has no future interest or reversion in the land. It is usually created by deed or will, and was accompanied by express powers of distress and entry. Small rent-charges were frequently granted for the mere purpose of qualifying the grantee for the parlia-mentary franchise, as a forty-shilling free-holder, under 8 Hen. 6, c. 7, but this kind of qualification was abolished by the Representation of the People Act, 1884, s. 4.
As to the period of limitation after which the right of recovering a rent-charge is barred, see Shaw v. Crompton, (1910) 2 KB 370.
(3) Fee farm rent, one issuing out of an estate in fee, of at least one-fourth of the value of the lands at the time of its reservation.
(4) Rent-seck, a barren rent, which is in effect nothing more than a rent reserved by deed or will, but without any clause of distress. See infra.
(5) Rents of assize, the certain established rents of the freeholders, and ancient copyholders of a manor, which cannot be departed from. Those of the freeholders are frequently called chief-rents, and both sorts are indifferently denominated quit-rents, because thereby the tenant goes quit and free of all services.
(6) Rack-rent, a rent of the full value of the tenement, or near it. See RACK-RENT.
(7) Fore-hand-rent, otherwise called rent payable in advance. See 2 Bl. Com. pp. 14 et seq.; and Harg. Co. Litt. 144 a, note (5).
(8) Ground-rent, the rent reserved on a lease generally in respect of land let on condition that certain buildings are built thereon.
For the purposes of the (English) Law of Property Act, 1925, s. 205 (xxiii.), ibid., declares that 'rent' includes a rent service or a rent-charge or other rent, toll or duty, royalty or annual or periodical payment in money or money's worth, reserved or issuing out of or charged upon land, but does not include mortgage interest; 'rent-charge' includes a fee farm rent.
Rent-seck, rents of assize, and chief rents, to which the Common Law remedy of distress did not attach, because no reversion existed to the land from which they issued, became recoverable by distress [(English) landlord and Tenant Act, 1730, s. 5]; and any annual sum charged on land by way of rent-charge or otherwise, not being rent incident to a reversion, by distress and entry under s. 44 of the (English) Conveyancing Act, 1881, reproduced, together with s. 6 of the (English) Conveyancing Act, 1911, by the (English) L.P. Act, 1925, s. 121, with the additional powers of creating a term to secure payment by mortgage, sale or receipt of income of the land comprised in the term. Quit-rents, chief-rents, rent-charges, and other annual sums issuing out of land may by s. 45 of the 1881 Act be redeemed on requisition of the owner to the Copyhold Commissioners (now the Ministry of Agriculture), who certify the amount of money to be paid for the redemption, and such rents if payable out of former copyholds are manorial incidents to which the enfranchised land is liable until extinguished under the (English) L.P. Act, 1922, ss. 128 and 138-144. See COPYHOLDS.
S. 45 of the (English) Conveyancing Act, 1881, has been reproduced and extended by the (English) L.P. Act, 1925, s. 191, to rent reserved on a sale or on a conveyance (not a lease) for building purposes and to compensation rent-charges for the extinguishment of manorial incidents upon enfranchisement of copyholds.
The rights conferred by ss. 121 1and 191 of the (English) L.P. Act, 1925, only relate to rent-charges or other rents not being rent incident to a reversion. If they are held in fee simple in possession or for a term of years absolute (see LEASE) they are legal estates. All other rent-charges and rents, such as for life or remainder, etc., have become equitable estates [(English) L.P. Act, 1925, s. 1 (8)], but see s. 149, (English) L.P. Act, 1925, converting leases for life or determinable with life into terms of years absolute.
S. 122 of the (English) L.P. Act, 1925, enables a rent-charge to be created out of another rent-charge with power to appoint a receiver of the same charged upon default for twenty-one days.
Rent is not due till midnight of the day upon which it is reserved, although sunset is the time appointed by law to make a proper demand of it, to take advantage of a condition of re-entry or to tender it, in order to save a forfeiture; but, more properly speaking, the demand should be made before sunset, so as to allow sufficient light to count the money; and the person making the demand or tender must remain on the land till the sun has set. It may lawfully be made payable on a Sunday, Child v. Edwards, (1909) 2 KB 753. Where rent is reserved generally and no such mention is made, as is usual, of half-yearly or quarterly payments, nothing is due until the end of the year.
Rent is considered as of a higher nature than even a debt due on an instrument under seal, as between the parties themselves. This is the effect of Davis v. Gyde, (1835) 2 A&E 624, where a distress for rent after a bill of exchange had been given for it was held good; but in Bramley v. Palmer, (1895) 2 QB 405, it was held that the giving of such a bill was some evidence of an agreement by the landlord to suspend his remedy by distress during his currency; but the ordinary words 'yielding and paying' import a payment in cash, Henderson v. Arthur, (1907) 1 KB 10; and see Woodfall, L. & T. Rent in arrear due by the executors of a tenant was, before 32 & 33 Vict. c. 46, of a higher degree than simple contract debts, and of equal degree with specialty debts; but that Act has abolished the priority, see Shirreff v. Hastings, (1877) 6 Ch D 610, and see now the Administration of Estates Act, 1925, s. 34.
As to the apportionment of rents, see the L.P. Act, 1925, ss. 77 and 190, and title APPORTIONMENT.
Rent in its wider sense means any payment made for the use of land or buildings and thus includes the payment by a licensee in respect of the use and occupation of any land or building. In its narrower sense it means payment made by tenant to landlord for property demised to him, State of Punjab v. British India Corporation, AIR 1963 SC 1459: (1964) 2 SCR 114. [Punjab Urban Immovable Property Tax Rules, 1941, R. 18(4)(ii)]
Rent is defined in sub-s. (19) of s. 2 of the Bhopal State Land Revenue Act of 1932 to mean 'whatever is payable to an occupant in money, kind or service by a shikmi for the right to use land', Maulana Shamsuddin v. Khushilal, AIR 1978 SC 1740 (1742): (1979) 1 SCC 121: (1979) 1 SCR 582.
Rent is the consideration moving from the lessee to the lessor for demise of the property to him, D.K. Trivedi & Sons v. State of Gujarat, AIR 1986 SC 1323: (1986) Supp SCC 20: (1986) 1 SCR 479.
In relation to any public premises, means the con-sideration payable periodically for the authorised occupation of the premises, and includes--
(i) any charge for electricity, water or any other services in connection with the occupation of the premises,
(ii) any tax (by whatever name called) payable in respect of the premises, where such charge or tax is payable by the Central Government or the corpor-ate authority. [Public Premises (Eviction of Un-authorised Occupants) Act, 1971 (40 of 1971), s. 2 (f)]
The term 'rent' is comprehensive enough to include, all payments agreed by the tenant to be paid to his landlord for the use and occupation not only of the building and its appurtenances but also furnishing, electric installations and other amenities agreed between the parties to be provided by and at the cost of the landlord, AIR 1957 SC 309 foll.; Abdul Kader v. G. D. Govindara, AIR 2002 SC 2442 (2443): (2002) 5 SCC 51.
Rent, cannot preclude the landlord from pleading that there was no relationship of landlord and tenant. The question depend upon whether or not there was a relationship of landlord and tenant in the sense that there was a transfer of interest by the landlord in favour of the tenant, Banarsides v. Ram Krishna, AIR 1995 MP 147; H.S. Rikhy v. New Delhi Municipality, AIR 1962 SC 554.
Rent, includes all that is payable as consideration for the tenancy. The essential services having been ensured, the tenant is liable to pay it by way of service charge. It is thus duly considered as part of the rent. For the use of the tenancy certain amount has been realized in the form of rent and service charges. Although separate receipts were issued, the service charge are nothing but the integral part of the rent which the tenant is liable to pay, Smt. Promil Mookerjee v. Krishna Dutta, AIR 2007 Cal 37.
Rent, is comprehensive enough to include all payments agreed by the tenant to be paid to his landlord for the use and occupation not only of the building and its appurtenances but also furnishing, electric installations and other amenities agreed between the parties to be provided by and at the cost of the landlord, Karnani Properties Ltd. v. Augustine (Miss), AIR 1957 SC 309.
Rent, may be used in the legal sense of recompense paid by the tenant to the landlord for the exclusive possession of premises occupied by him. It may also be used in the general sense, without importing the legal significance aforesaid, of compensation for use and occupation. 'Rent' in the legal sense can only be reserved on a demise of immovable property, Halsbury's Laws of England, 3rd Edn., Vol. 23, para 1193-94, p. 536-37.
Means whatever is payable to a landlord in money, kind or service by a tenant on account of land held by him, Baba Badri Dass v. Dharma, AIR 1982 P&H 255.
Rent, would include the compensation for use and occupation due and payable by the tenant at the same rate though for the period after expiry of the term of the lease on account of failure of the tenant to surrender possession back in spite of the expiry of the term of the lease. It would be different if the claim is made by the Municipality at an enhanced rate which cannot be said to be due unless determined by process of adjudication, Gangaram v. Municipal Counsel Nagar Palika, Neemuch, AIR 1992 MP 303. [M.P. Municipalities Act, 1961, s. 164(1)(c)]
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