10 questions on leases & property. Each answer starts with the bottom line, then gives the condition or detail that changes it, and every question has its own link to copy and send. Where the answer turns on your own papers, you will find a button to ask about your case.
No. A leased property may be sold, and the sale does not affect the tenant's rights, so the tenant keeps the use of the property under the lease.
SourceCivil Transactions Law, Art. 428 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)
Yes, if the defect deprives the tenant of the use of the property in whole or in part. The tenant may then ask for the lease to be terminated or the rent reduced, and may still claim compensation. The landlord is not answerable for defects that custom tolerates or that the tenant knew of when the lease was signed.
SourceCivil Transactions Law, Arts. 425 and 426 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)
Read moreTermination and compensation: defining your remedy before the dispute starts
No. Rent is not due for any period that passed before the property was handed over, unless the delay in handover was the tenant's doing.
SourceCivil Transactions Law, Art. 429 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)
Not necessarily. The landlord must carry out the repairs needed to keep the property fit for use, including fixing any fault that affects its intended use. The tenant must maintain the property during the lease as custom requires. The parties may agree a different split. If the landlord delays after formal notice, the tenant may get the court's permission to do the repairs and recover a customary amount for them; urgent or minor repairs he may carry out without permission and deduct the cost from the rent.
SourceCivil Transactions Law, Arts. 419 and 433 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)
No. A tenant may not sublet all or part of the property, or assign the lease, without the landlord's permission or later approval. Even with permission, the tenant cannot pass on more than the type and period of use he himself holds.
SourceCivil Transactions Law, Arts. 437 and 438 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)
No. The tenant must return the property in the condition in which he received it, apart from what ordinary use entails. He owes no compensation for normal wear and tear, only for damage caused by his own misuse or negligence.
SourceCivil Transactions Law, Arts. 430 and 435 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)
Yes. If the tenant keeps the property without right, the landlord is entitled to the market rent, without prejudice to any claim for compensation. But first make sure the right to stay has really ended. A lease renews automatically unless one party notifies the other at least 60 days before it expires that he does not wish to renew, and in Riyadh a landlord may refuse a renewal the tenant wants only in a closed list of cases.
SourceCivil Transactions Law, Art. 435 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Statutory Provisions Regulating the Relationship between Landlord and Tenant, items 4 and 8 (Umm Al-Qura gazette)
Read moreRenting in Riyadh: Your Rights and Duties on the Freeze, Renewal and Eviction
No. A lease does not end on the death of either party. The tenant's heirs may ask, within a reasonable time, for it to be terminated if they show that his death has made its burdens too heavy for their means from the estate, that it goes beyond what they need, or that it was made for reasons personal to him. The landlord may also seek termination if the lease was made for reasons personal to the tenant.
SourceCivil Transactions Law, Art. 441 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)
Yes. If the lease ends and the tenant carries on using the property with the landlord's express or implied consent, the lease is treated as renewed on the same terms and security, except security given by third parties. The new term follows the period by which the rent is set, such as a month or a year; otherwise the court fixes it by custom. Quite apart from this, leases in every city now renew automatically unless one party notifies the other at least 60 days before the term ends that he does not wish to renew, with limited exceptions. In Riyadh, the landlord may not increase the total rent on renewal while the freeze lasts.
SourceCivil Transactions Law, Arts. 413 and 440 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Statutory Provisions Regulating the Relationship between Landlord and Tenant, items 2 and 8 (Umm Al-Qura gazette)
Read moreRenting in Riyadh: Your Rights and Duties on the Freeze, Renewal and Eviction
Yes. If the property is completely destroyed during the lease, the lease is dissolved automatically. Partial destruction, or anything that reduces the use of the property through no fault of the tenant, lets the tenant ask for termination or a lower rent.
SourceCivil Transactions Law, Arts. 420 and 421 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)
These answers are brief general information. They are no substitute for a review of the facts and documents of a particular matter.
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