The old rent law has become a contentious issue in Lebanese society, as the tenant—given the failure to take rising living costs into account—has effectively become the “landlord.”
Despite the outcry from those who own their homes and buildings yet, at the same time, do not truly own them, the response has not matched the scale of the problem, due to the overlap between politics and law.
A pivotal milestone
The Landlords’ Syndicate affirmed, on the first anniversary of the non-residential rent law entering into force, that “this law marked a pivotal milestone in the course of correcting a historic injustice.”
It continued: “After they endured for decades heavy burdens and severe losses as a result of exceptional laws that restricted the right to property.”
In a statement, it said: “The passage of one year since the law took effect proves conclusively that the choice to return to the natural legal rules and to respect the right to private property is the correct, irreversible choice.”
Attempts at intimidation have fallen
It added that “all attempts at exaggeration and fearmongering that preceded its adoption have fallen in the face of the fact that justice cannot be achieved by continuing to confiscate landlords’ rights.”
The syndicate considered that “the time has come to move fully toward ending all forms of exceptional legislation in the rental sector.”
It said: “What is required today, more than ever, is to unify rent laws under a fair and clear legal framework that ends the exceptions.”
To restore principles to contracts
It called for “restoring due regard to the fundamental principles of contracts and the right to property, in a way that enshrines legislative security and legal stability through Law 159/92.”
It urged the judicial authorities to “apply the laws in force firmly, and to confront any attempts to obstruct their implementation or circumvent them, in a manner that preserves the authority of the law.”
It affirmed that “the state is not built on permanent exceptions, but on respect for legal texts and the equal rights of citizens.”
It concluded: “The time has come to close the file of old rents once and for all, and to move toward a new legal phase based on justice, balance, and respect for private property.”