Influence of Corona Virus on Rent Agreements

In this paper we will study about rent and eviction norms in light of the circumstances created by the coronavirus pandemic all around the world. The worldwide imposed lockdown due to the spread of coronavirus all around the world has led to the economy taking a hit which in turn has led to billions of people losing their jobs. This in all and all has led to the development of the situation that the tenants of the property are not able and willing to pay the rent due to their landlords for either living in their property or using it as a workspace. The non-payment of rent by the tenants has compelled the Landlords to force tenants to evict the property which is being fought on various ground comprising of both legal and moral grounds such as the Force Majeure, i.e. the circumstances have prevented a person from doing the thing which had officially planned to do earlier and Frustration of Contract as enshrined under section 56 of Indian Contract Act, 1872. Though, it is considered as morally wrong to evict tenants over the issue of rent and suggested by government to not evict tenants in situation like this, it is also important to consider both the sides of the coin, i.e. the business of putting property on rent or lease acts as a source of earning bread for a number of landlords without any other source of income and the situation of not receiving rent puts them into a complex position in terms of feeding their family. It is due to these issues mainly that the government had stated that in case of default of payment of rent by the tenant, it would be paid by the government to landlords to maintain status quo. We in this paper we will study all the concepts relating to the issue of rent and effect of coronavirus on the laws