“出租方”和“承租方”的英文译法

何季明 2012年3月8日

        合同中常见的一类合同是房屋租赁合同。这类合同中涉及到的甲方和乙方往往指“出租方”和“承租方”，如何用英文表达“出租方”和“承租方”呢？这里首先推荐的一组词是"landlord"和"tenant”。如果从字典中查landlord，它的中文解释中还有“地主”的含义，不过，在英文中，尤其在契约类文件中这个词是个非常中性的词。

       "landlord”和"tenant”的一般定义。"A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant. "在租约背景下的定义。"The two parties step into relationship under the law of real estate property by signing a contract called lease. With this contract the one party, which has superior title to the property, ie., the landlord, grants possession and use of it for a limited period to the other party, ie., the tenant. The landlord/landlady may not be the actual owner of the property but keeping in some way the right to sub-lease."注意"landlord"可以不是房屋的实际所有方，并且有分租权。美国华盛顿州的相关法律文件中这样定义："Landlord" means the owner, lessor, or sublessor of the dwelling unit or the property of which it is a part, and in addition means any person designated as representative of the owner, lessor, or sublessor including, but not limited to, an agent, a resident manager, or a designated property manager."与landlord相对的一个词是tenant，它的定义是这样的，"A 'tenant' is any person who is entitled to occupy a dwelling unit primarily for living or dwelling purposes under a rental agreement."用来约定各方权利义务等的协议，即租赁合同，可以用“rental contract”，或"lease contract"或"tenancy contract"来表示。A rental agreement, or lease, is the contract defining such terms as the price paid, penalties for late payments, the length of the rental or lease, and the amount of notice required before either the homeowner or tenant cancels the agreement.

因此，在房屋租赁合同中，“出租方”和“承租方”翻译成"landlord"和"tenant"是可以的，另外，还有一组词在英文租约中也是常用的，即"lessor"和"lessee"。