2. Can the rent receipt or utility fees receipt issued to a tenant by a landlord be proof of a tenancy relationship between two parties?

2. Can the rent receipt or utility fees receipt issued to a tenant by a landlord be proof of a tenancy relationship between two parties?

A rent receipt can serve as written evidence that the tenant has paid rent to the landlord.

For a tenancy of domestic premises falling under Part IV of the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) Ordinance (Cap. 7), it is a mandatory requirement under section 119RA that the landlord shall give the tenant a receipt setting out the amount of the rent paid, the period for which the rent was paid and the date of payment.  A landlord who fails to comply commits a criminal offence and is liable to a fine of HK$2,000.

Utility fees receipt is rather neither here nor there.  An occupant of the property not in the capacity of a tenant may also be willing to pay for the utilities for its day-to-day use.

In either case, however, proof of a tenancy relationship is no substitute for a properly drafted tenancy agreement.  Taking a typical rent receipt as an example, other than the identities of the landlord and the tenant, the location of the property and the amount of rent, it discloses almost nothing else about the terms of the tenancy.