Unexpected Fallout With A Friend

With a landlady like this, the tenant should offer to paint the place herself, get landlady's consent in writing and then paint the whole place black before vacating the premises.
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Dear OP
I actually think that there is some flaw in the rent agreement in first place. If you started a fresh rent agreement with new owner and if it was only for 3 months; then I think 2 months of notice period doesn’t seem to match with 3 month agreement.
It seems to me like having 8 month notice period for a 12 month contract.
In my opinion the agreement had a flaw.
You guys took it lightly as they were friends.
It seems to me they reacted practically and didn’t think of friendship at all.

 

@hridhaya ,

Based on,

but before that ..

There are two types of rental contracts: fixed contract (like yours) and rolling contract (auto-renewed).

In a fixed contract, the terms of the agreement (like: rent, inspection) are renegotiated at the end of the tenancy, wherever applicable, and a new contract is signed. In a rolling contract, unless the agreement terms are altered, no new contract is signed, saving the paperwork. Rolling contracts are favored when the property is managed by a rental agency. Rather than paying the agency fee at every renewal, if it happens to be a fixed contract with consistent agreement, both the parties may favor a rolling contract to dispense with the fee on the flexibility to dispatch to the agency only on likely renegotiation.

On the side, something called a 'break clause' is applicable on both these type of contracts. That 60-day notice period is part of the break clause. Any break clause constitutes two notice definitions contingent on start date.

Start Date: Beginning of the contract (eg: Jan 2018)
Notice Date: How many months into the contract would you avail yourself of the optional early termination agreement (say: 6 months into the contract, which means the mandated stay is from Jan 2018 till June 2018 else you will be fined).
Notice Period: How many months can you continue to stay after exercising that break clause (say: 2 months, which means, if you had exercised the break clause in Jun, you stay till Aug , or, if you had exercised the break clause in Aug, you stay till Oct)
End Date: End of the contract (eg: Dec 2018)

In standard tenancy agreements, the break clause is mutual which means either party (tenant/landlord) can call upon it. In your case no break clause was exercised but the tenancy agreement expired. Break clause is conspicuous on moderate-sized contracts like one year onward. Your contract was not even a short term (standard: 6 months) but a flash-term contract but still the start, break, and end apply. How?

Tenancy Start Date: Sep 01
Break Clause: Oct 01, 2 months
Tenancy End Date: Nov 01

I repeat, you didn't avail yourself of the break clause of 60 days notice period. No notice if the intention was NOT to terminate the contract early but oblige the full contractual period. Technically, your friend cannot fine you over break clause misuse. The contract expired at the end of the period, not optionally exercised for hastened termination during the term of the contract.

I am late to reply but next time with the bamboozling friendly landlords arm yourself with verbal technicality over common sense contention. Your friend is manipulating in her bigoted construal but she cannot refute the prevailing denotation in a tenancy agreement. Next time: Smartify your altercation with 'hey, but we didn't execute the break clause and the contract merely expired. Isn't that the case'. Even Better: Insure yourself. How? Escrow. You lost 45k. Next time draw up a contract with escrowed deposit (third party will hold your deposit and act as intermediary on check out of the property). Indian rentals are facilitating to act only as escrow these days rather than consummate intermediaries. They may charge you ~2k only to act as an escrow. In this case, the deposit is not mishandled with landlord's interpretation of the contract.

General Note: Don't soften in confusion. If you think something is awry, then do post such confusion in forums and someone wayward like me who did a megalith of research before signing her first tenancy contract will intercept. I may be too late but even the most lapsed intervention (that too free) is prophetic in future. Good luck.

 

@hridhaya ,

One more thing ...tenancy agreements are not always intuitive mired in much legalese with rigid phraseology like that flight attendant instructing "stow your baggage", stow? who uses it in common language.

The binding document though initiated by the landlord can be rephrased by the tenant. If you find the text ambiguous then knowing the term structure ask for friendly outline of the 33-page document at the beginning.

Type of the contract: Fixed/Rolling.
Start Date: <dd/mm/yyyy>
End Date: <dd/mm/yyyy>
Notice Start Date: <dd/mm/yyyy, break clause begins to advance termination>
Notice Period : <n days, break clause duration after invocation>

The tenancy contracts are brutally copied from older contracts which may lack execution details on inexpedient clauses (like: what does a 60 day notice period mean on a 90 day contract?)

As long as you are familiar with the tenancy structure and the terms of agreement, ensure that it is reflected and drafted in congruous text. If something isn't clear then don't sign up over implicit understanding but insist the recording in simple English. The reason: one of my friends wasn't aware that the tenancy agreement could be negotiated for "reword" and not just "review". Don't sign up any timed agreement until you are happy with the calendar summary of it to avoid disputation over uncanny interpretation in the text. I always insist on calendar summary for easier grasp on tenancy contracts. Don't be shy to familiarize with your tenancy claim.