A housing society's rule reads: 'A flat may be let out to a tenant only if the owner has cleared all outstanding maintenance dues.' Which of the following follows from this rule?

'Only if' states a requirement: letting out cannot happen unless the dues are cleared. So from the fact that a flat has been let out, clearance follows. The first option turns the requirement into a permission, ignoring any other condition the society may impose; the third invents a substitute the rule never allows; and the fourth reads the rule backwards.