Can a Landlord Break a contract?
Yes, the landlord can break a contract. The legal agreement between a landlord and a tenant comes to an end when the contract is terminated. In certain cases, landlords can break a contract during the contract period, which will be discussed later in this article. Rental agreements in the Czech Republic are usually signed for one year with the option to extend.The method and requirements for contract termination can differ based on the type of lease, local regulations, and the lease agreement’s stipulations. A lease can be agreed upon for a specific period, i.e., to a specific date, for a specific period (for 12 months from the date of signing the contract), or for an unlimited period (durable lease or open-ended lease). The landlord and tenant legislation is governed by the new set of Civil Code provisions enacted in January 2014 in response to Act No. 89/2012 Coll.
Communication
When a landlord intends to cancel the lease, they must notify the renter. The preferable and legal method is to transmit via postal mail. According to Czech law, it is not possible to terminate a lease contract verbally or over the phone. Email alerts are likewise not recommended because there is no way of knowing if they were sent by the sender or hacked, and there is no proof that the receiver received them. To ensure that the notification is delivered to the intended recipient, we recommend mailing it as a registered letter with the address and house number included.
Reasons of Termination after Ending of Lease period
It is not necessary for a tenant to give the cause for termination; however, if you are a landlord, you must present a reasonable and credible justification; otherwise, the court will declare the notice illegal. Furthermore, the landlord’s notice must provide instructions on how the tenant can register an objection and have the validity of the notice evaluated by a court of law. In the case of an indefinite lease, the landlord may also give notice if he or she requires the property to meet the needs of his or her family members or his or her own.
Immediate Termination
An exception to the above rules is defined in Civil Code Section 2291, which allows the landlord to terminate a lease immediately (without the applicable notice period) if the tenant breaches the contract in an especially egregious manner, such as failing to pay the rent and utilities for more than three months despite the landlord’s request to make amends. This type of dismissal, however, necessitates sufficient and precise justification.
The owner can give 3 months’ notice on cancellation of the contract (with or without the contract being of a definite length) based on the following reasons:
- The tenant severely violates their obligations under the lease.
- The tenant is convicted of a criminal act against the owner, the owner’s family, other inhabitants of the property, or the property itself.
- It is in the public interest for the property to be vacant (for example, in the case of war).
- In the case of other serious reasons (‘serious reasons’ is not defined, so interpretation will be up to the courts),
The owner can give 3 months’ notice on cancellation of the contract when the contract is for an unlimited period based on the following reasons:
- The owner needs the property for themselves or their relatives (marriage partner, children, brother or sister, son or daughter-in-law, or their parents and siblings).
- The property would be used by the owner or their partner when they have submitted a divorce proposal and want to live separately, or when the couple is already divorced and one of them wants to live in the property.
Note: The cause for contract cancellation must be explicitly mentioned in the cancellation form delivered to the tenant for all cancellations listed above.
Termination by the landlord
According to Section 2288, if the landlord needs to use the property for himself, e.g., because of a divorce, or for his close relatives of direct family lineage, like a child, grandchild, father, or grandfather, You can give the tenant a 3-month notice period of termination, but only if the rental agreement is concluded for an indefinite period.
Breach of contract by the tenant
There are two types of rental agreement breaches. The first is a flagrant offense, while the second is a serious violation. A gross violation is not serious and can be terminated with three months’ notice, whereas a major violation is terminated without notice.
Gross breach of rental agreement includes reason such as:
- The tenant has subleased the apartment without the landlord’s consent either all or in part.
- The tenant does not report an increase in the number of people with addition of new tenants.
- Property is overcrowded than its livable space of adequate size.
- The tenant does not allow inspection of the apartment and repeatedly neglects the routine maintenance of the apartment and neither notify the landlord the need of immediate repairs.
- Alteration and modification of the property without the landlord’s consent.
- The tenant has not paid a security deposit.
Serious breach of the rental agreement as per section 2291
- The tenant has not paid the rent and utilities for the last 3 months.
- The tenant damages the property in an irreparable manner.
- The tenant creates difficulties to the landlord or other people living in and around the property.
- The tenant uses the property for different purposes as agreed than in the rental agreement.
In order for the landlord to give notice in such instances, they must follow a specific procedure. The termination is without notice, which means it is effective immediately, and the legislators intended to give the tenant a second chance. Prior to terminating the lease, the landlord must first request that the renter cease their “defective” behavior and notify them that he intends to terminate the lease for this reason. The landlord can only continue with termination if the tenant does not improve their behavior. The property should be given up within 30 days of the notification being sent, if not sooner.
Mutual Termination
The landlord and tenant have the option to mutually terminate the lease at any time. This is known as a mutual termination agreement. The mutual termination is a negotiated agreement that can cancel the lease on any terms both parties agree on. There is no requirement for either side to consent to a mutual termination. The mutual termination terms should benefit both parties. The mutual termination agreement should at the very least specify the move-out date, what happens to the security deposit, and the amount and timeline for payment of any money owed to one party by the other.
Termination notice Time period
The notice period always begins on the first day of the calendar month following the delivery of the notice to the opposite party. Thus, if the tenant receives a notice of 8.3.2023, the notice period begins on April 1, 2023, and concludes on June 30, 2023.
Disclaimer on the nature of the information in this article. The material in this article is general in nature, does not constitute legal advice, and may not be applicable in a specific case. To acquire appropriate legal advice, you should contact a lawyer. This article was written based on an examination of legislative regulations for the year 2014. Any changes to the legislation made after that date should be taken into account when using such material.