We explain what a landlord is, what is the relationship it has with an owner and the obligations of a tenant.
What is a landlord?
One of the two figures participating in a lease or rental contract is called a landlord. It is, specifically, the natural or legal person that is owner of an asset (movable or immovable) and who gives it for rent, transferring the right of use (usufruct) of the same to the lessee, in exchange for the agreed monthly payment of an amount of money.
That is to say: in the event that an individual rents an apartment, the lessor will always be the owner of it, while he will be the lessee. Other terms used for both positions are renter and rented, home and tenant, etc.
The terms of the legal arrangement between the landlord and the tenant will always be stipulated in a lease or rental contract, protected by the judicial authorities and in accordance with the protocols established in the legal framework of the country where they are located. Under no circumstances what is proposed and accepted there may be illegal, under penalty of making the contract invalid.
Among these agreed terms are: the time of the lease, the specific conditions in which it must occur, the ways to resolve unforeseen events or disagreements and also the amount of the rental payment and its possible modifications over time.
In the event that the terms of said mutual agreement are breached by either party, the law has the necessary mechanisms and institutions to resolve the conflict and do justice.
The assets leased in this way can be diverse: buildings, apartments, offices, parking lots, empty lots, cars, airplanes, etc.
Landlord and owner
Every landlord must be the owner of the leased property, or in any case you must have the necessary powers to carry out the rental process in question. No one can lease other people’s or public property (except the State itself), as this would constitute a case of alienation (theft).
Secondly, the rented property will never become the property of the tenant, unless the lease becomes a purchase-sale commitment. The lessee only acquires the rights to use the property (live in it, transport in it, etc.), but it will always remain the exclusive property of its owner.
In some laws, however, in the event that the landlord decides to sell the property that the tenant has used for some amount of time, the lease contract may be taken as a purchase obligation in favor of the lesseeIn other words, the latter must have the first purchase option in case the owner wishes to offer the property for sale.
In some cases, a percentage of the amount paid for rent is even considered as a partial payment of the sale price of the asset in question.
Lessee
The tenant is the opposite figure to the lessor in a lease or rental contract: it is the person, natural or legal, who acquires the rights of use of a certain movable or immovable property, under contractual conditions of mutual agreement and for a specified time, and which undertakes in exchange for the regular and monthly payment of an amount also determined.
In less words, a tenant is the one who rents something, and acquires the right to use that which he rented, although this will never make it its legitimate and definitive owner.
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