VACANT POSSESSION HANDOVER LETTER AND NO-DUES CERTIFICATE
Signed at __________ on __________
Between
1. __________, of __________ — referred to as the Landlord
2. __________, until now the tenant of the Property and now residing at __________ — referred to as the Tenant
The Landlord and the Tenant are together referred to as the Parties.
1. What this letter is about
1.1 The Landlord let out the property described in Schedule A (the Property) to the Tenant under a tenancy agreement dated __________ (the Tenancy Agreement).
1.2 The tenancy has come to an end. __________.
1.3 The Tenant has moved out and handed the Property back. This letter records what was handed over, the condition and meter readings on that day, that all dues are cleared, how the security deposit has been settled, and that neither Party has any further claim against the other arising out of the tenancy.
1.4 This letter is the record of a completed handover. It does not create, continue, extend or renew any tenancy, licence or other right of the Tenant in the Property.
2. Vacant possession (kabza) handed over
2.1 The Tenant handed over, and the Landlord accepted, quiet, peaceful and vacant physical possession of the Property on __________ at about __________ (the Handover Date).
2.2 On the Handover Date the Property was free of the Tenant's belongings and of every person claiming through or under the Tenant. Nobody is left in occupation.
2.3 The Tenant handed over the following keys and access items, and the Landlord confirms receiving all of them: __________.
2.4 The Tenant has not kept any key, duplicate key, access card, remote, fob or access password for the Property, and will not enter the Property after the Handover Date except with the Landlord's permission.
2.5 If the Tenant has left anything behind, the Landlord will hold it for the Tenant for seven days from the Handover Date. If it is not collected within that time, the Landlord may remove or dispose of it, and the Tenant will have no claim for it or for its value.
3. Joint inspection, inventory and condition
3.1 The Parties inspected the Property together on the Handover Date, room by room, before the keys changed hands.
3.2 __________.
3.3 The inspection record — the fixtures, fittings, appliances and furniture checked, and anything found missing, damaged or replaced — is set out in Schedule B.
3.4 The Landlord accepts that the Property has been returned in the condition recorded in Schedule B, allowing for normal wear and tear from ordinary use over the period of the tenancy. The Landlord will not make any further claim about the condition of the Property, its fixtures or its contents after signing this letter. This does not apply to a defect that the Tenant deliberately concealed and that a reasonable joint inspection could not have revealed.
3.5 Photographs of the Property and its meters taken by either Party on the Handover Date, and kept with the signed copies of this letter, form part of the agreed record.
4. Meter readings and utilities
4.1 The final meter readings were taken jointly on the Handover Date and are recorded in Schedule C.
4.2 __________.
4.3 Every electricity, water, piped gas, internet, DTH, cable and telephone charge for the period up to and including the Handover Date is the Tenant's responsibility. Everything for the period after the Handover Date is the Landlord's.
4.4 Where any utility connection or utility security deposit stands in the Tenant's name, the Parties will sign whatever the utility provider requires so that the connection is transferred back to the Landlord, or the utility's own security deposit is refunded to the Tenant, as the case may be. Neither Party will unreasonably delay doing this.
4.5 The Tenant will not apply for disconnection of any utility connection serving the Property.
5. Rent
5.1 All rent payable under the Tenancy Agreement has been paid in full up to and including __________. No rent, arrears, late payment charge, penalty or interest is outstanding for any period of the tenancy.
5.2 __________.
6. Society, maintenance and other charges
6.1 __________.
6.2 So far as the Tenant is aware, the Tenant has complied with the rules of the society or resident welfare association, and no notice, penalty, fine or complaint against the Tenant is pending.
6.3 Both Parties will co-operate in obtaining any gate pass, moving-out permission, NOC or clearance that the society or the building management requires.
7. Security deposit account
7.1 The Landlord was holding a refundable security deposit of __________ paid by the Tenant.
7.2 The deductions agreed between the Parties are: __________
7.3 Total deductions: __________.
7.4 Balance of the security deposit payable to the Tenant: __________.
7.5 The Tenant has had the opportunity to inspect the Property, examine the supporting bills, quotations or estimates for each deduction, and question them. The Tenant accepts the deductions in clause 7.2 as fair and final.
7.6 No further deduction, set-off, damage, repair cost, penalty or charge of any kind will be made from the security deposit or claimed from the Tenant over and above it.
8. Payment and receipt of the balance
8.1 The balance of __________ is being paid by __________, on or by __________. Payment reference:
8.2 __________.
8.3 Where the Tenant has confirmed receipt under clause 8.2, this clause is the Tenant's full and final receipt for the security deposit, and no separate receipt need be given.
(If the balance exceeds Rs. 5,000 and is paid in cash or by cheque, affix a Re. 1 revenue stamp next to the Tenant's signature below and have the Tenant sign across it.)
8.4 If the balance is not paid by the date in clause 8.1, the Landlord will pay it together with simple interest at 12% a year from that date until actual payment, without affecting any other remedy available to the Tenant.
9. No dues — both ways
9.1 The Landlord certifies that as on the Handover Date the Tenant owes the Landlord nothing — no rent, maintenance, utility charge, repair cost, penalty, interest or any other amount — and that the Landlord has no claim of any kind against the Tenant in respect of the Property or the tenancy.
9.2 The Tenant certifies that as on the Handover Date the Landlord owes the Tenant nothing in respect of the Property or the tenancy, except the balance of the security deposit dealt with in clauses 7 and 8.
9.3 This letter is a No-Dues Certificate in favour of each Party, and either Party may produce it to a society, a utility provider, an employer, a bank or any authority as proof that the tenancy ended clean.
10. Full and final settlement and mutual discharge
10.1 Once the balance in clause 8.1 has been paid in full, the settlement recorded in this letter is in full and final settlement of everything arising out of the Tenancy Agreement, the tenancy and the Tenant's occupation of the Property.
10.2 On that happening, each Party releases and discharges the other, absolutely and for all time, from every claim, demand, dispute, action and liability, present or future, known or unknown, arising out of the Tenancy Agreement, the tenancy or the occupation of the Property.
10.3 Neither Party will start, continue or support any complaint, suit, arbitration or other proceeding against the other in respect of any matter released by clause 10.2, and this letter may be produced as a complete answer to any such proceeding.
10.4 Clauses 10.1 to 10.3 do not apply to:
(a) an obligation created by this letter itself, including the payment in clause 8 and the co-operation promised in clauses 4.4 and 6.3;
(b) a claim arising from fraud, or from a fact deliberately concealed by the other Party; and
(c) a bill, demand or penalty raised by a utility provider, the society or a government authority for the Tenant's period of occupation, that neither Party knew about on the Handover Date and that is raised within six months of the Handover Date. The Tenant will pay any such amount, or reimburse the Landlord for it within fifteen days of being shown the demand.
11. Documents and cheques returned
11.1 Each Party has returned to the other every original document, security cheque, post-dated cheque, undertaking, identity proof and other paper belonging to the other that it was holding in connection with the tenancy.
11.2 If any cheque given by one Party to the other in connection with the tenancy is traced later, it stands cancelled, will not be presented, and the holder will return or destroy it.
12. Confirmations by both Parties
12.1 Each Party has read and understood this letter, or has had it read and explained in a language they understand, and is signing it freely, without pressure, coercion or undue influence.
12.2 Each person signing on behalf of another person, or on behalf of a company, LLP, HUF, trust or partnership, confirms that they are duly authorised to do so and to bind that person or entity.
12.3 Where there is more than one landlord or more than one tenant, each of them is bound by this letter individually and all of them jointly.
13. Notices
13.1 Any notice under this letter must be in writing and sent to the address of the other Party given at the top of this letter, by hand against acknowledgement, by registered post or by courier, and may also be sent by email to the email address that Party has actually been using for this tenancy.
13.2 A Party who changes their address must inform the other in writing. Until they do, a notice sent to the address in this letter is treated as validly delivered.
14. Governing law, forum and jurisdiction
14.1 This letter is governed by the laws of India.
14.2 The Parties will first try to settle any dispute about this letter by talking to each other in good faith.
14.3 If that fails, the courts at __________ will have jurisdiction. Where the State in which the Property is situated has a Rent Authority, Rent Court or Rent Tribunal with jurisdiction over tenancy disputes, either Party may instead approach that authority.
15. Copies
15.1 This letter is signed in two originals. Each Party keeps one signed original. A scanned or photographed copy of a signed original may be used as evidence to the same effect as the original.
SCHEDULE A — The Property
__________
SCHEDULE B — Inventory and condition on handover
__________
SCHEDULE C — Final meter readings on the Handover Date
__________
SIGNED BY THE PARTIES
LANDLORD
Signature: ______________________________
Name: __________
Date: __________
TENANT
Signature: ______________________________
(affix Re. 1 revenue stamp here where clause 8 requires it, and sign across it)
Name: __________
Date: __________
WITNESSES
Witness 1
Signature: ______________________________
Name: ______________________________
Address: ______________________________
Phone: ______________________________
Witness 2
Signature: ______________________________
Name: ______________________________
Address: ______________________________
Phone: ______________________________
Before you sign — a short checklist
- Walk through every room together and take date-stamped photographs, including a photograph of each meter with the reading visible. Keep them with this letter.
- Both Parties should initial every page and both should initial each Schedule.
- Count the keys physically against clause 2.3 before signing.
- The Tenant should not sign the "already received" option in clause 8.2 until the money is actually in hand or in the bank account.
- Print two copies, sign both, and let each Party keep one signed original.
- Where the deposit balance is over Rs. 5,000 and is being paid in cash or by cheque, affix a Re. 1 revenue stamp beside the Tenant's signature and sign across it.