Rent

Money or other consideration paid by a tenant to a landlord in exchange for the exclusive use and enjoyment of land, a building or a part of a building.

This is, in a lease contract, the consideration paid by a tenant to a landlord in exchange for the exclusive use and enjoyment of land, a building or a part of a building.

Bryne, in his 1923 Law Dictionary, defines it as:

"Rent is a periodic payment due by a tenant of land.... It is usually payable in money but it may also be reserved in fowls, wheat, spurs or the like.

"When land is let free of rent and the landlord wishes to be able to obtain an acknowledgment of the tenancy ..., a nominal rent is frequently reserved, consisting of one peppercorn a year to be paid when demanded."

Under normal circumstances, rent is paid to the lessor in advance, in money or bill of exchange and at regular intervals, such as the first of every month.

The word has also come to be used as a verb as in to "rent an apartment", although the proper legal term would be to "lease an apartment."

REFERENCES:

• Duhaime, Lloyd, Residential Tenancy: A Glossary