Non-payment of rent and incomplete tender on the first hearing date sustained eviction despite an unregistered rent note.

An unregistered rent note could not be relied on to prove a lease from year to year, but the tenant's liability under the rent law continued after expiry of the contractual term as a tenant holding over on a month-to-month basis. On the facts found, the tender made on the first date of hearing did not cover the full arrears then due, leaving at least two months' rent unpaid. The statutory ground of eviction for non-payment of rent was therefore made out, and the eviction decree was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the tenant was liable to eviction for arrears of rent when the rent note could not be used to prove a lease from year to year, and whether the tender made on the first date of hearing satisfied the statutory requirement.

Analysis: The rent note, though referring to yearly rent in advance, was held to be only a lease for one year and not admissible to establish a lease from year to year in the absence of registration. Even so, after expiry of the contractual term the tenant was at best a tenant holding over and remained bound to pay rent month to month under the rent law. On the facts found, the amount tendered on the first date of hearing did not clear the arrears then due, as rent for at least two months remained unpaid.

Conclusion: The tenant was in arrears of rent and did not tender the full arrears on the first date of hearing; the decree for eviction was therefore justified and the challenge failed.

Final Conclusion: The statutory ground of eviction for non-payment of rent was upheld, and the tenant's appeal was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: A tenant who remains in arrears on the first date of hearing cannot avoid eviction merely because an unregistered rent note cannot be used to prove a longer lease term.

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