Forfeiture is how a landlord ends a lease early when a tenant breaches its obligations and takes back possession. It is the most drastic remedy in the landlord-and-tenant toolkit, and it follows strict rules: get the procedure wrong, or act carelessly, and the right is lost. For solicitors it sits at the heart of property disputes, where you may be acting for the landlord trying to forfeit, or for the tenant, sub-tenant or lender trying to hold on. This lesson builds your understanding from the ground up.
What this lesson covers:
- Nature of and Right to Forfeit — what forfeiture is, what it destroys, and how a landlord acquires the right in the first place.
- Procedure and the Section 146 Notice — the steps a landlord must follow, including when a notice is needed and what it must say.
- Waiver of the Right to Forfeit — how a landlord can accidentally lose the right by treating the lease as continuing.
- Methods of Forfeiture — the two ways to forfeit, and when each is lawful for residential and commercial premises.
- Relief from Forfeiture — how a tenant can ask the court to restore the lease, and what the court weighs up.
- Relief for Sub-Tenants and Mortgagees — how third parties protect their own interests independently of the tenant.