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Fatwa CenterHis friend misled him into a verbal contract
Question
I wanted to rent a house from 1st July. End of May an old friend offered his 3 bedroom house for £950 month. His house is 4 yrs old. I last saw his house when it was brand new. (just once). He assured me that the house was still in tip top condition and that the rents in his area were £1000 +. As a Muslim brother I trusted him and I did not see the house this time and so we had a verbal agreement. I asked him that we should sign a contract but he declined.
Some 10 days before shifting into this house, I went to drop some luggage in it but to my surprise it was in a poor state. 4 yr old dirty carpets, never washed, 3 bedroom house with just 2 beds (not 3), some broken furniture etc. and most of all I also found that the rents in that area are just £800-850. In fact, a friend of mine rented a 4 bed house for £900 in same area. So I rang him and I said to him that i will not take his house. He now wants me to pay him £900, for wasting his time/ breaking contract. Shall I pay him? In fact, he wants me to pay him June and July rent. I had a hard time looking for a house in the 10days left before 1st July. I now have (al-hamdu Lillaah) a brand new house with excellent furnishing, excellent equipment, And in a better locality for same cost (£950). Shall I pay him or shall I ignore him or shall I ask him to compensate me instead?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
Among the conditions that the scholars set for the validity of the rent contract according to the most preponderant opinion-is to know the subject matter of what is being rented, either by seeing it or having it described in such a way that one knows the subject, if the subject matter can be exactly described. Therefore, the rent contract that had taken place between you and him is not correct and you are not obliged to pay the rent to the landlord. It is also not correct to ask him for compensation for looking for another accommodation because you had rented this house and the furniture that it contained without seeing it, except when it was new and you did not see it after other people used the furniture. It is known that it is not possible to describe it. Moreover, it came to light that the facts were different from the description of the landlord. Imaam 'Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad, Ibn Qudaamah
said: 'It is a condition to know the rented place by seeing it if it can not be described. Since it is permissible to buy something just by having it described, then by analogy it is permissible to rent the house by having it described. However, the tenant can cancel the contract if after seeing the accommodation he found something other than what was described to him; this is the view point of the
Allaah knows best.
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