When concluding a lease agreement, the parties, except for the subject matter, duties, responsibilities and other essential conditions, provide for the procedure for its termination. The inclusion of the relevant paragraph in the text avoids disagreements and misunderstandings upon termination of cooperation. If the rules are not spelled out in the document, the dispute that arises is resolved in court. In the article, we will consider how the early termination of the lease unilaterally occurs.
General information
The owner of the property may terminate legal relations with the tenant at any time if the validity of the agreement is not established. At the same time, he must first send a warning to the user of the object, and then (in case of non-fulfillment of the requirements) - a notice of termination of the lease unilaterally (a sample notice is presented in the article).
If the agreement has a validity period, termination of legal relations is allowed only by a court decision. In this case, the grounds for termination of the transaction should be valid.
Termination of legal relations at the initiative of the property user
The lease agreement is terminated unilaterally by the lessee if:
- The owner does not provide property, creates obstacles to its operation in accordance with the terms of the agreement or the purpose of the object.
- The values were transferred, but have drawbacks that impede its use, if they were not agreed upon by the legal owner during the execution of the agreement, were not known to the tenant in advance and could not be detected during the inspection / verification of the status of the values when signing the document.
- The owner does not carry out overhaul, which is his duty, within the agreed (or reasonable) terms by the parties.
- The object became unusable due to circumstances beyond the tenant's control.
The specified list is given in article 620 of the Civil Code. This list is considered open. As indicated in norm 620, an agreement may also be terminated on other grounds provided for in the agreement itself.
Termination of a registered lease unilaterally is allowed only in a judicial proceeding. It is, in particular, about the agreement, the object of which is real estate.
Termination of a lease unilaterally by the lessor
The owner of the property has the right to demand the termination of legal relations if the tenant:
- Uses property, significantly violating (allowing repeated violation) the terms of the agreement or not in accordance with the purpose of the object.
- Causes material damage.
- Does not pay a usage fee more than two times in a row at the end of the term agreed upon by the agreement.
- Does not carry out major repairs within the established (reasonable) time period if it is the user's obligation on the basis of an agreement or law.
The agreement may also establish other grounds for terminating the lease relationship.
Before terminating the lease unilaterally, the lessor is obligated to send the user a warning about the need to comply with the terms of the agreement within a reasonable time.
These rules are fixed by article 619 of the Civil Code.
The procedure for termination of the lease unilaterally
622 article of the Civil Code provides that upon termination of legal relations the property must be returned to the owner. In this case, the parties constitute the deed of transfer. It is advisable to draw up this document regardless of the object of the transaction. The deed of transfer is equally important when unilaterally terminating a lease agreement for both a car and real estate.
This document provides information about the parties to the transaction and property, the period of return and the place of transfer of the object.
In order to maximally clearly observe the procedure for terminating the lease unilaterally , it is necessary to include as many property characteristics as possible in the act.
Supplementary agreement
It has special practical significance.
Often, an additional agreement establishing the procedure for terminating a lease unilaterally is attached to the statement of claim if the other party evades its execution. In addition, this document is used if in the main contract the participants fixed its automatic prolongation (extension) or the validity period is not defined at all.
Nuances
In the supplementary agreement, fixing the procedure for terminating the lease unilaterally , it is necessary to provide a deadline for sending a notice on the breakdown of legal relations. He must be reasonable.
Do not rush to the preparation of the document. If you have any doubts about the literacy of the content, it is better to contact a qualified lawyer. The main objective of the supplementary agreement is to minimize risks for both parties to the transaction.
Notification Sample
The general rules for the termination of contracts are fixed by Article 452 of the Civil Code. The rules of the norm apply to rental agreements. In order to comply with the provisions of the article, a notice must be sent before a lawsuit is filed with a court. It should indicate:
- Details of the agreement to be terminated.
- The norm of the Civil Code, on the basis of which the legal relationship ceases.
- The reason for termination of the contract.
- The time period during which the party must send a response.
As a general rule, a party to a transaction sending a notification must wait at least 30 days. A shorter period may be provided only in the contract.
It should be said that the termination of the agreement does not save the parties from repayment of overdue obligations.
Significant changes in circumstances
In some cases, obstacles arise for the further implementation of the contract. The list of features that allow you to identify changes in circumstances as significant.
Evidence must be provided for each obstructive factor. It is worth saying that the judicial practice is very ambiguous on this issue. Quite often, authorities refuse to satisfy claims in which fluctuations in exchange rates and the economic crisis are cited as significant changes in the initial circumstances. These factors can be predicted, and, moreover, it cannot be reliably confirmed by documents.
In general, the number of significant changes include:
- Deterioration of financial condition.
- Lack of funding.
Other conditions for termination of legal relations
Additional grounds for termination of the lease must be indicated clearly and unequivocally. If a party in court will refer to the wording “other grounds”, fixed in the contract, the court will reject the claim. The ability to refuse to execute an agreement without giving reasons must be given in plain text.
According to the Civil Code, the method of claim (extrajudicial) termination of the agreement is called unilateral refusal. However, despite the fact that there is a direct wording in the law, the parties quite often include in the contract a clause on the possibility of termination of legal relations with a notice for the agreed number of days (months, etc.). Most authorities consider this condition admissible. Nevertheless, lawyers recommend formulating it as the right of a party to express an unmotivated refusal in accordance with Art. 450.1 of the Civil Code or as an opportunity to terminate the contract extrajudicially unilaterally without giving reasons.
Important point
The procedure for terminating a lease agreement at the initiative of one of its participants is regulated exclusively by law or by the contract itself (by an additional agreement to it). Administrative acts of power structures cannot determine the rules for termination of contracts. The claim for termination of the agreement will be denied, for example, in case of cancellation of the decision on the provision of land for rent.
Conclusion
The main problems in terminating a lease agreement arise in cases of one of the parties evading or improperly fulfilling its conditions. Moreover, the situation is often complicated by the fact that the interested entity cannot immediately go to court. By law, he must attempt an out-of-court settlement of the dispute.
Undoubtedly, the possibility of a unilateral refusal to fulfill the terms of the transaction should be prescribed in the text of the main contract. Often, the presence of this clause in the agreement allows the parties to save time, effort and money on litigation, since all problems are resolved without trial in accordance with the rule of law. In difficult cases, of course, it is better to contact a lawyer for help.