Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

Section II   The obligations and rights of the lessor

  1.  

    1519.   The lessor is bound by the nature of the contract:

    1.  

      1.     To deliver to the lessee the property leased;

    1.  

      2.     To maintain the property in a fit condition for the use for which it has been leased;

    1.  

      3.     To give peaceable enjoyment of the property during the continuance of the lease.

  1.  

    1520.   Unless it be otherwise stipulated, the property must be delivered in a good state of repair in all respects, and the lessor is obliged, during the lease, to make all necessary repairs, except those which the tenant is bound to make, as hereinafter specified.

  1.  

    1521.   The lease implies a warranty against all defects and faults which prevent or diminish the use of the property leased, whether they be known to the lessor or not.

  1.  

    1522.   The lessor cannot, during the lease, change the form of the property leased.

  1.  

    1523.   The lessor is not bound to warrant the lessee against disturbance by the mere trespass of a third party not pretending to have any right upon the thing leased, the lessee having a right of damages against the trespasser. But if the right of action for damages against the trespasser be ineffectual, by reason of his insolvency or of his being unknown, the rights of the lessee against the lessor are in accordance with the provisions of article 1563.

  1.  

    1524.   If the disturbance be in consequence of a claim concerning the right of ownership, or other right connected with the property leased, the lessor is bound to suffer a reduction in the rent proportional to the diminution of the enjoyment, and to pay damages according to circumstances, provided the lessor be duly notified of the disturbance by the lessee; and upon any action brought by reason of such claim, the lessee is entitled to be dismissed from the cause, upon declaring to the plaintiff the name of the lessor.

  1.  

    1525.   The lessor has, for the payment of his rent and for the fulfilment of the other obligations of the lease, a privileged right upon the movable effects which are found upon the property leased.

  1.  

    1526.   In the lease of houses the privileged right covers the furniture and movable effects of the lessee, and, if the lease be of a warehouse, shop, or manufactory, the merchandise contained in it. In the lease of farms and rural estates the privileged right covers every thing which serves for the labour of the estate or farm, the furniture and movable effects in the house and other parts of the property, and the fruits produced during the lease.

  1.  

    1527.   The right covers also the effects of the under tenant, in so far as he or she is indebted to the lessee.

  1.  

    1528.   It includes also movable effects belonging to third persons, and being on the premises by their consent, express or implied, but not if such movable effects be only transiently or accidentally on the premises, as the baggage of a traveller in an inn, or articles sent to a workman to be repaired, to an auctioneer to be sold, or to a warehouse to be stored.

  1.  

    1529.   In the exercise of the privileged right the lessor may seize the property which is subject to it, upon the premises, or elsewhere within 8 days after it is taken away. If the property consist of merchandise, it can be seized only while it continues to belong to the lessee.

  1.  

    1530.   The lessor has a right of action in the ordinary course of law, or by summary proceeding, as prescribed in the Code of Civil Procedure:

    1.  

      1.     To rescind the lease: First, When the lessee fails to furnish the premises leased, if a house, with sufficient furniture or movable effects, and, if a farm or estate, with sufficient stock to secure the rent as required by law, –unless other security be given; Secondly, When the lessee commits waste upon the premises leased; Thirdly, When the lessee uses the premises leased for illegal purposes, or contrary to the evident intent for which they are leased;

    1.  

      2.     To recover possession of the premises leased in all cases where there is a cause for rescission, and where the lessee continues in possession, against the will of the lessor, more than 3 days after the expiration of the lease, or without paying the rent according to the stipulations of the lease, if there be one, or according to article 1515, when there is no lease;

    1.  

      3.     To recover damages for non-fulfilment of the obligations arising from the lease or from the relation of lessor and lessee.

  1.  

    He or she has also a right to join with any action for the purposes above specified a demand for rent, with or without attachment, and attachment in recaption when necessary.

  1.  

    1531.   The judgment rescinding the lease by reason of the non-payment of the rent takes effect at once without any delay being granted by it for the payment. (Amended by Act 13 of 1989)