Rental contract

Answer: You should go to the landlord and tell him that in view of what you have seen, you do not wish to continue with the contract. Tell him, what you witnessed, that you are planning to file a case with the Rents Court if he does not agree to end the contract in view of the activities going on in the building. If he knows or is even remotely aware of what’s going on, he will not want things to come out in the open and will agree to your request.

If he insists on your paying the rent, you should file a case with the Rents Court, even with the police if you want. That’s the only way out although the easier way is just to pay the one month’s rent. But it is you who has to decide on the route to take.

I just made a contract to occupy a flat in Salmiya from November 2012 onwards and paid an advance of KD 30/- to the company (receipt available) and KD 40 to the haris. After signing the papers, they gave me a copy of the keys and we put our stuff in the building last Thursday. On the same day we noticed that there was a lot of illegal activity going on openly in this building. Two men and women were drunk inside the lift and vulgar things were happening. They were not even concerned about us and were continuing their activities inside the lift. We noticed another man and woman carrying liquor and came to know from the neighboring shops that this is usual on all Thursdays. We fear this embarrassing situation can happen to my family while using this lift.

Now the building people are saying that we should pay one month’s rent and leave the building if we don’t want to stay. So we request your help on how to cancel this contract, as we have not utilized this flat for even a single day.

Name withheld