Legal Issues Relating to the Relationship Between the Landlord and Tenant in Malaysia

Abstract

It is crucial to safeguard the interests of tenants and landlords in their tenancy agreements to achieve the concept of justice and equality. Malaysia has not yet had a specific law to govern the relationship between tenants and landlords whereby the rights and obligations of both parties are stipulated inside their tenancy agreement. Suppose there is a breach in the contracts. In that case, the jurisdiction to settle such disputes will be referred to the relevant laws in Malaysia, such as the National Land Code (Revised 2020) (Act 828), Contracts Act 1950, Specific Relief Act 1950, and Distress Act 1951. Even so, such legislation remains vague in resolving specific issues about the entrance of parties into a tenancy agreement which will be further discussed in this study. Further discussed are the rights and obligations of both parties based on their contractual agreement and, subsequently, the proposed solutions. A comparative study is made with Australia and New Zealand on the legal issues relating to the relationship between the landlord and tenant. The findings from this study portray a need to adopt a single statute to govern the relationship between tenants and landlords in Malaysia, namely the Residential Tenancies Act.