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Baba Metzia 8:7-8

Baba Metzia 8:7

If one person rented his house to another, the landlord must provide the tenant with a door, a bolt, a lock, and whatever requires a skilled craftsman. Whatever does not require a craftsman, the tenant must provide for himself. The manure in the courtyard belongs to the landlord; the tenant only has rights to the ashes from the oven and the stove. (These things were used in cooking.)

Baba Metzia 8:8

If one person rents a house to another person for a year (at a flat rate), and the year is later declared to be a leap year (i.e., of 13 months rather than 12), the renter benefits (from an extra month at the agreed-upon rate). If the house is rented by the month and the year is declared a leap year, the landlord benefits (by collecting another month’s rent). A person in Tzippori once rented a bathhouse for 12 gold dinar for the year at the rate of one gold dinar per month (combining both of the aforementioned aspects in a single arrangement). Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel and Rabbi Yosi heard the case and they ruled that the parties should split the leap month (i.e., half a month’s rent for the extra month).

Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz