What should I do in the event of a breach of the rental contract?
Real Estate
The rental contract is an agreement between the landlord (owner) and the tenant (tenant) and is governed by the autonomy of the will, that is, by the will of the parties. Therefore, the clauses of a lease contract become essential and necessary to regulate the various legal consequences, and of course, also to establish the regulation in case of non-compliance with the rental contract.
How to act in the event of a breach of the rental contract?
We are facing a typical situation, in which both the landlord and the tenant do not know how to act when these two types of situations occur:
1)- The tenant who decides to unilaterally terminate the contract.
In this case we must differentiate whether the term set in the rental contract has ended or if, on the contrary, it is a resolution prior to the term stipulated for the rental. If the tenant wishes to terminate the rental contract early and at least 6 months have not elapsed since the beginning of the rental relationship, the tenant, as stipulated in the contract, must compensate the owner with an amount equivalent to monthly rent for each year of the contract that remains to be fulfilled, according to art. 11 of the LAU (Urban Leasing Law 29/1994 of November 24).
With which, the owner will have the right to claim said amounts and to be able to file a prior burofax claim through representation of a lawyer and subsequently a possible claim drafted by a firm specializing in Real Estate, due to a contractual breach.
A different requirement is that the tenant, after this period of 6 months, decides to unilaterally terminate the contract. In this case, it will only be necessary for the tenant to notify the landlord by means of a reliable communication drafted by a law firm, that he wishes to terminate the contract, provided that the Notification is made within a minimum period of 30 days' notice to the owner before the scheduled date to vacate the home.
This would be the case of a tenant who wants to leave the home on January 1, for this tenant to act legally, it will be necessary to send a burofax notification at least before December 1, to understand that the legal deadline is respected. minimum notice of 30 days.
2)- The owner who decides to unilaterally break the contract.
In the event that the owner decides to terminate the contract to recover the rental property, the landlord must notify the tenant with a minimum period of 2 months in advance of the termination, since otherwise the tenant will not have the obligation. of leaving the home. It is advisable to notify this communication to be made through a law firm, so that the wording and content of the communication comply with the law, since otherwise it may not have legal effects.
In cases of non-compliance due to non-payment, damage to the property, etc., this communication can be made immediately. However, to guarantee the period included in the legislative reform to protect tenants, it is preferable to offer a period of 30 days, so as not to subsequently violate the tenant's rights and not be involved in a judicial procedure for not respecting the minimum required deadlines.
We can give as an example the situation in which the tenant does not pay the monthly payments agreed in the contract, in which after several unsuccessful collection attempts there is no payment. In this specific case it will be necessary to go to a law firm so that action can be taken as quickly as possible and an eviction procedure can be initiated.
Therefore, before filing the respective eviction lawsuit, it will be necessary to file a prior burofax request and after the passage of 30 days, it will be possible to begin the legal process, presenting the corresponding lawsuit requesting the abandonment of the home and the payment of accrued and unpaid rental and supply fees.
Is it possible to end the rental contract early, that is, before the contract ends?
The answer is affirmative, but it is always subject to compliance with the legal system, in the absence of agreement between the parties.
In the event that the tenant wishes to leave the home due to a change of address, he or she must notify the owner at least one month before the end of the contract year. Otherwise, there will be consequences for failure to comply with the rental contract, consequences set out in the first part of this article.
It is important to know that if the parties do not stipulate any period in this regard, it will be understood that the contract has a duration of 1 year and therefore, this minimum period of stay of 1 year in the home must be respected. Since if the tenant decides to terminate the contract early, he must compensate the landlord. The same rule would apply for those contracts that have an indefinite duration.
Is there any alternative offered so that the owner can request the termination of the rental contract in advance?
The owner may exercise this right in the following cases:
At Forcam Abogados we have offices in Barcelona, Tarragona, Reus and Tarrega.
How to act in the event of a breach of the rental contract?
We are facing a typical situation, in which both the landlord and the tenant do not know how to act when these two types of situations occur:
1)- The tenant who decides to unilaterally terminate the contract.
In this case we must differentiate whether the term set in the rental contract has ended or if, on the contrary, it is a resolution prior to the term stipulated for the rental. If the tenant wishes to terminate the rental contract early and at least 6 months have not elapsed since the beginning of the rental relationship, the tenant, as stipulated in the contract, must compensate the owner with an amount equivalent to monthly rent for each year of the contract that remains to be fulfilled, according to art. 11 of the LAU (Urban Leasing Law 29/1994 of November 24).
With which, the owner will have the right to claim said amounts and to be able to file a prior burofax claim through representation of a lawyer and subsequently a possible claim drafted by a firm specializing in Real Estate, due to a contractual breach.
A different requirement is that the tenant, after this period of 6 months, decides to unilaterally terminate the contract. In this case, it will only be necessary for the tenant to notify the landlord by means of a reliable communication drafted by a law firm, that he wishes to terminate the contract, provided that the Notification is made within a minimum period of 30 days' notice to the owner before the scheduled date to vacate the home.
This would be the case of a tenant who wants to leave the home on January 1, for this tenant to act legally, it will be necessary to send a burofax notification at least before December 1, to understand that the legal deadline is respected. minimum notice of 30 days.
2)- The owner who decides to unilaterally break the contract.
In the event that the owner decides to terminate the contract to recover the rental property, the landlord must notify the tenant with a minimum period of 2 months in advance of the termination, since otherwise the tenant will not have the obligation. of leaving the home. It is advisable to notify this communication to be made through a law firm, so that the wording and content of the communication comply with the law, since otherwise it may not have legal effects.
In cases of non-compliance due to non-payment, damage to the property, etc., this communication can be made immediately. However, to guarantee the period included in the legislative reform to protect tenants, it is preferable to offer a period of 30 days, so as not to subsequently violate the tenant's rights and not be involved in a judicial procedure for not respecting the minimum required deadlines.
We can give as an example the situation in which the tenant does not pay the monthly payments agreed in the contract, in which after several unsuccessful collection attempts there is no payment. In this specific case it will be necessary to go to a law firm so that action can be taken as quickly as possible and an eviction procedure can be initiated.
Therefore, before filing the respective eviction lawsuit, it will be necessary to file a prior burofax request and after the passage of 30 days, it will be possible to begin the legal process, presenting the corresponding lawsuit requesting the abandonment of the home and the payment of accrued and unpaid rental and supply fees.
Is it possible to end the rental contract early, that is, before the contract ends?
The answer is affirmative, but it is always subject to compliance with the legal system, in the absence of agreement between the parties.
In the event that the tenant wishes to leave the home due to a change of address, he or she must notify the owner at least one month before the end of the contract year. Otherwise, there will be consequences for failure to comply with the rental contract, consequences set out in the first part of this article.
It is important to know that if the parties do not stipulate any period in this regard, it will be understood that the contract has a duration of 1 year and therefore, this minimum period of stay of 1 year in the home must be respected. Since if the tenant decides to terminate the contract early, he must compensate the landlord. The same rule would apply for those contracts that have an indefinite duration.
Is there any alternative offered so that the owner can request the termination of the rental contract in advance?
The owner may exercise this right in the following cases:
- When there is non-payment of rental payments by the tenant.
- If the tenant is subletting the rented home.
- If the tenant damages the rental property, or even if the tenant carries out work on the property.
- If a use is made that is contrary to that of living, that is, if activities contrary to the law or activities not permitted according to the contract are carried out, or even activities that are considered annoying, dangerous or illegal.
- In the event that the landlord himself needs its recovery so that the same owner, a first-degree blood relative, can live. In this specific case and given this need to recover possession, the tenant will need to be notified of these reasons and circumstances within a minimum period of two months.
At Forcam Abogados we have offices in Barcelona, Tarragona, Reus and Tarrega.