The Washington herald., 1918-06-01
TENANTS NOW
FREE TO STAY
AT OLD RENTS
Salisbury Resolution, Sign.
ed by President, Pre-
vents Rent Raising.

with the signing yesterday by the
President of the Salisbury anti
eviction resolution an entirely new
status was conferred upon rented
or leased property in the District
Agreements and leases in force
before the bill was signed, rega rd-
| less of their terms or conditions are
| continued automatically until the
war ends unless the tenant of the
premises or property chooses to
| sign a new lease.
No person can now be put out OF
any room. apartment. hotel. Office
building. store. garage, storage
place or warehouse. or from any
place whatsoever. as long he pays
his rent and behaves himself on
the premises in question.
Just what the law means, what
1t does and does not do, whom II
regulates and how. and all about
it. is explained in the following:
what srenant- Means.
The word tenant" means anyone.
plural or single. male or female.
I who rents or leases a room, or an
apartment in a hotel or apartment
house, a room or rooms in a private
house, whether It Is a rooming house
or not. a person. firm, or corpora
| ton who is renting or leasing a room,
| rooms or suite of rooms in any
building whatsoever for business pur-
! poses.
The word Landlord" means real
estate firms or companies, tenants
who are subleasing rooms or build
ings, property owners, trustees Of es-
tates, or guardians or anyone who
acts in the capacity Of a landlord
Real Estate Definition.
The word real estate" means any
room. house, apartment. hotel rooms,
garages or garage space, desk room
in Office buildings, rooms or suites
! Of rooms in Office or business build
ings, stores. storage rooms-in fact,
any place or places that are leased
or rented by a person or persons
for any purpose whatsoever
The terms ot-leases, written or YER
bal. that expire between now and the
end of the war, on any property what
soever must stand unless the ten
ant Of his own free will agrees to
sign a new written lease or enters
into a new spoken agreement to lease
or rent the premises he or she has
been occupying at the price stipulat-
ed in the old lease or agrees to pay
what the landlord asks.
The tenant may move out II he so
desires at the end of the lease or he
may move out any time thereafter as
he chooses. The landlord can do moth
ing as long as the tenant Is paying
the price agreed to in the old lease
or spoken agreement or has SO mis-
behaved himself on the premises so
leased as to be a nuisance.
Courts Function.
The courts
Cannot force a tenant to vacate
any room, apartment house. store,
or any premises whatsoever as long
as he pays his rent and behaves him
self on the premises;
Cannot grant landlord relief
where the tenant has refused to va
cate after notice has been given up
on the expiration of the lease or 9TH
er agreement whereby he first secur-
ed possession of the premises, except
lin such cases where the premises
have been sold and the landlord Is to
occu ~ them himself or has sold them
TO bona fide purchaser. Such pur-
chaser is himself required by law to
occupy the premises.
Tenants Privilege.
The tenant
Can snap his fingers at the land
lord as long as he pays the rent
1 he agreed to pay before the bill
became a law and is behaving him
self on the premises he is occupy
ing;
I Cannot be thrown out legally
even If his lease expires, or a writ
ten agreement between himself and
his landlord has terminated. He may
get out when he is ready. There
is nothing binding him after a lease
or agreement expires. He may con-
tinue to reside in or occupy or do
the business on the premises until
the war Is over IL he cares to, at
the same price he was paying when
the lease or agreement expired.
Unoccupied Premises.
! Properties that were not rented
\ when the bill became a law and
are occupied afterward do not come
under the law until after they have
been occupied q month. There is
no provision in the bill as to the
price to be paid. That will have
to be agreed upon by the landlord
and the tenant New leases will
| have to be made. Until the passage
OF the Pomerene-Johnson anti-proh-
teering rent bill, premises now
unoccupied that may be occupied
| later may be rented for any figure
] that may be agreed upon by the
cpptracting plytiess