'Fileleftheros' newspaper has recently published an article by Marina Vassiliou, Associate of Elias Neocleous & Co LLC. The article examines the key changes wrought by the Rent (Control)(Amended) Law of 2020 which entered into force on 31 January 2020. She notes that the chief effect of the legislation should be to provide proper redress for landlords faced with tenants who consistently and unjustifiably refuse to pay their rent. Previously a landlord faced with a tenant who failed to pay his rent within 21 due days of the due date could file an application with the Court for recovery of his property. Unfortunately, however, the landlord might have to wait several years before his application was heard and in that period the tenant could continue to reside in the property rent free if they had filed a defence to the application. It was common in such defences to claim that the rent had been paid even though no evidence was supplied.
The amended law now requires that any defence to an application must be supported by evidence. If it is not then no defence to the application may be filed and the eviction process may begin. The Court can then determine the time of compliance with the eviction order which must be a minimum of 90 days. Additionally, service of any notices related to the application or eviction may now be effected by any manner provided by the Civil Procedure Rules including electronic service. Thus, both time and cost of evicting a recalcitrant tenant should be greatly reduced.
The link to the full article is here.
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