Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 483

Summary: - The particulars which the judgment awarding the auction and its operative part must contain. Their nature. Article 276 of the Civil Procedure Law. - Service of this judgment is unnecessary. Its enforcement is effected pursuant to Article 276/2 of the Civil Procedure Law by notifying the debtor of the day and hour fixed for delivery. Delay by the successful bidder in enforcement procedures does not affect his recovery of his entitlement to the fruits and revenues of this property from the date of the judgment. - Award of the auction in a compulsory sale. Its effect: transfer of ownership of the thing sold from the debtor or possessor to the successful bidder in return for the price he paid. - The tenant's obligation to pay rent. Payment is required on the agreed date, or at the beginning of each month in the absence of agreement if the tenancy is monthly, or at the beginning of each contracted period. Articles 10, 20/1 of Decree-Law 35 of 1978, or deposit of the rent in the treasury of the Enforcement Department. Conditions for this deposit: lawful tender of the rent and that it occur within 20 days of the rent's due date. - A request for eviction for non-payment of rent necessarily includes an implicit request for rescission of the contract. Its implication: the tenant's possession is deemed that of a usurper from the date of the eviction judgment. Its effect: requiring him to pay compensation for use until eviction is completed. Rule: It is established—in the jurisprudence of this Court—that Article 276 of the Civil Procedure Law, prescribing the particulars which the judgment awarding the auction and its operative part must contain, does so in view of the special nature of that judgment as a means of compulsorily transferring ownership of the property from the debtor whose property has been attached to the successful bidder. Accordingly, once the judgment awarding the auction is issued, there is no need to serve it in any form, and enforcement proceeds in the manner detailed in paragraph 2 of the same Article, by notifying the debtor of the day fixed for delivery to attend at the specified place and hour of delivery. Delay by the successful bidder in completing this notification has no effect on the request to recover his entitlement to the fruits of the property from the date of the judgment awarding the auction. This is because, once the sale has been effected—by issuance of the judgment awarding the auction—the fruits and revenues of the property belong to the successful bidder, since his personal right to the property and its fruits arises on the day the judgment awarding the auction is issued; that is, the award of the auction in a compulsory sale entails transfer of ownership of the thing sold from the debtor or possessor to the successful bidder in return for the price he paid.. The legislature, under Articles 10, 20/1 of Decree-Law No. 35 of 978) concerning Property Leases, as amended by Laws 2 of 988) and 8 of 1994, required the tenant to pay the rent due on the agreed date, or at the beginning of each month in the absence of agreement if the tenancy is monthly, and at the beginning of each contracted period in other cases. It granted him a grace period of 20 days during which it permitted him to deposit it in the treasury of the Enforcement Department after lawfully tendering it, deemed such deposit within the time limit a payment discharging his liability, and made failure to pay rent within the time limit give rise to the landlord's right to request eviction of the leased premises together with requiring him to pay the rent arrears due from him. Since the appellant's ownership of the property containing the apartment in dispute was established under the judgment awarding the auction No. 26/2010, 87/2009, Sales, issued on 8/11/2010, and he notified the respondent of the transfer of ownership to him by notice No. 111661950 dated 4/8/2011, but the latter provided nothing evidencing payment of the rent for August and September 2011, whether to the appellant or by depositing it in the treasury of the Enforcement Department within the time limit, the request for eviction of the premises described in the statement of claim and the lease dated 15/7/2007, delivery thereof free of occupants and encumbrances, and an order to pay the rent arrears amounting to KWD 800, representing the rent arrears for the period from 1/8/2011 to 30/9/2011, is founded on a sound basis in fact and law and must be granted. This is not undermined by the respondent's claim to have paid that rent, since his assertion is a bare statement unsupported by evidence in the papers. As regards the request for rent accruing until eviction is completed, it is established—in the jurisprudence of this Court—that a request for eviction for non-payment of rent necessarily includes an implicit request for rescission of the contract. The Court has concluded above that the respondent is to be evicted from the premises in dispute, which implicitly includes rescission of the contract. Accordingly, the latter's possession becomes that of a usurper, and he is required to pay compensation for use from 1/10/2014, which the Court assesses, adhering to his request, at 400 dinars monthly until eviction is completed. Since the appealed judgment departed from this view, it must be set aside and judgment entered granting the appellant his requests.