BAHAMAS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alistair Chisnall and Erica Paine, Graham Thompson
a lease. A lease may also typically be terminated by either the landlord or the tenant if the leased real estate is substantially destroyed or dam- aged and not repaired within a specified period. 6.20 Registration Requirements As noted in 6.15 Specific Regulations , a non- Bahamian tenant may have an obligation to register long-term leases in excess of 21 years with the Investments Board under the Interna - tional Persons Landholding Act, 1993. Except for such long-term leases, there is no require - ment to obtain government approval to lease real estate, nor to record the lease in the Registry of Records. Parties predominantly elect not to record leases (whether commercial or residen - tial), unless they represent or comprise part of a very significant investment and are long term in nature. 6.21 Forced Eviction A standard lease would have provisions enti - tling the landlord to evict the tenant in certain instances. A tenant that alleges wrongful dis - tress or eviction may commence an action to seek relief and defend their interest in the real estate and to the right of possession. The tenant may often also seek an interlocutory injunction to restrain the landlord’s action in the interim, until the matter can be brought to trial. Given the steps involved in such applications and that a hearing is dependent on the court’s calendar, the timeline of an eviction process can vary con - siderably. 6.22 Termination by a Third Party The Bahamas government or any other third par - ty cannot terminate a lease agreement between private parties, except when exercising the gov - ernmental rights and powers noted in 2.9 Con- demnation, Expropriation or Compulsory Pur- chase , which must be exercised in accordance
with statute law and (in the case of compulsory acquisition) with suitable compensation being paid to a landowner or occupier. 6.23 Remedies/Damages for Breach In the event of the tenant’s breach, the landlord will typically seek to terminate the lease by for - feiture, and will seek to recover arrears of rent and/or damages for breach(es) of covenant out of the deposit held by the landlord. It is standard for the landlord to require payment of a security deposit in cash at the outset of a lease (usu - ally equivalent to one month’s rent). In the event that the amount of the deposit is insufficient to cover arrears of rent/damages, then there are no restrictions on the landlord pursuing an action to recover the balance due. 7. Construction 7.1 Common Structures Used to Price Construction Projects There is no commonly accepted market stand - ard of contract, so parties are free to agree terms as they see fit, with the format and complexity of the contract often being driven by the sophisti - cation of the parties, the type of project and the third-party consultants required by the customer (eg, independent certifying architects, quantity surveyors or project managers). However, most larger construction contracts will typically follow a US style (such as that of the American Institute of Architects), a UK style (such as that of the joint contracts tribunal), a combination of the two, or even the contractor’s (or developer’s) own standard terms.
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