seek legal advice asap!! contract of lease

i just started to run an apartment business and i made a contract of lease and it was signed with the tenants and me. this however is not notarized. some of the conditions of the contract are below:

- The LESSEE agrees to pay the LESSOR a monthly rental of ___________________ without the need of demand from the LESSOR.

- The LESSOR has the right to terminate the contract of lease upon breach of the terms and conditions by the LESSEE and the LESSOR will voluntarily vacate the premises.

my question is will this be a valid contract of lease even if it is not notarized?

can i use this contract of lease w/o notary as an evidence for barangay purposes?

can i give a contract of lease with validity of 6 months only? Because the law states it should minimum of 1 year.

continuation:

this apartment is under loan sa banko. and my tenants has back account of 2 months plus water and electricity bills. hope you can assist hindi po kasi ako
magaling sa documents. salamat po

yes it is valid even if it is not notarized, it can be less than 1 year. are you trying to evict the tenant?

yes attorney, we want to evict this tenant and they are not paying their utilities. this property is under loan and we have to pay the monthly ammortation also. ang sabi po nila under sa laws ng ph 3 months daw po dapat silang hindi bayad sa monthly rent at after nun 3 months din po ang notice to vacate ang naaayun sa batas.

so all in all 3 months of no monthly pay after only that we can serve the notice to vacate na 3 months notice = 6 months!! tama po ang sinasabi nilang ito?

i also gave two written notice to vacate which they refuse to sign.


my actions:
sent a notice to vacate last april 19 na 1 month notice to vacate until may 19, 2011
sent another notice to vacate to remind them of the voluntarily evacuation last may 10, 2011

my questions?

how to evict the tenant w/o breaking any laws?
can i file any legal charges against them?
what is the role of the barangay just in case pinatawag namin sila?
i plan to padlock the apartment so they can no longer use it is this legal being the owner?
can i cut all the basic utilities like water and electricty because they are not paying?

maraming salamat po this website is a big help.
I pray that the LORD will empower you more and continue to be a blessing to other people.
mabuhay po kayo at saludo po kami sa inyo.

they are probably referring to RA 9653 or the rent control act. coverage is 10,000 monthly for urban and 5,000 monthly for rural area. indeed it says ejectment can be done only after 3 months.

however, 3 months notice does not apply in ejectment, only when you will be using the unit yourself.

your first legal step is indeed to send a demand letter demanding payment and arrears and to leave within 5 days.

if you have other units for rent, i recommend you consult a lawyer so you will have more protective clauses in your contract. unless it is in your contract, i do not recommend you padlock or cut off utilities. you can try to ask the utility companies to cut off power and water, but as long as it is paid for, the are obligated to continue the service.

Hi atty,
I have the same dilemna @karen_apartment.
I have sent a demand letter to the tenants to vacate the property since they broke the contract of not paying rent for more than 3months. How can I evict them, they wont leave the place!
If I also informed them that my family wants to use the condo unit, is 5day notice reasonable for them to vacate?
Can brgy extend any assistance on this?

attyLLL wrote:they are probably referring to RA 9653 or the rent control act. coverage is 10,000 monthly for urban and 5,000 monthly for rural area. indeed it says ejectment can be done only after 3 months.

however, 3 months notice does not apply in ejectment, only when you will be using the unit yourself.

your first legal step is indeed to send a demand letter demanding payment and arrears and to leave within 5 days.

if you have other units for rent, i recommend you consult a lawyer so you will have more protective clauses in your contract. unless it is in your contract, i do not recommend you padlock or cut off utilities. you can try to ask the utility companies to cut off power and water, but as long as it is paid for, the are obligated to continue the service.

first step is demand letter, then bgy, then court.